Breast Fed Baby Won't Take A Bottle!!!!

[sahm2three]

By about Friday I have her taking one, but then she is home Sat-Mon. She is screaming bloody murder because she is hungry, but she just gags on the bottle. We have tried about 10 different bottles/nipples and nothing is working consistantly. Any advice???

[Abigail]

Does the mom pump and use a bottle part time at home? I would recommend she does or the baby will stay dependant on her.

Just keep trying. Maybe the dad can give baby a bottle once or twice over the weekend to keep it up. Make sure you're only using slow flow nipples. Check out this link for tips also

http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html

Originally Posted by Abigail

Does the mom pump and use a bottle part time at home? I would recommend she does or the baby will stay dependant on her.

This. Mom has got to bottle-feed at home. Not necessarily exclusively, but if she wants the baby to eat during the day, she has to put some extra work in for awhile.

[Symphony]

Try swaddling and rocking til dcb is almost asleep, then try giving the bottle. Sometimes when they are overstimulated it is harder to get them to latch.

Are the bottles the lowest flow? Eating at the breast requires much more work and a stronger suck than a bottle. It is not uncommon for babies to suck too hard at the bottle and get too much milk at a time, which can cause the gag. A bottle nipple, no matter how hard they try, will also not truly replicate the positioning of the breast in the babies mouth. Gagging can also result from the difference in placement.

I would absolutely NOT ask mom to pump and bottle feed over the weekends, but maybe have dad or grandma offer the baby a bottle once a day in order to prevent the relearning each week. Hopefully, before long baby will get the hang of switching back and forth.

Good luck and good for you for being supportive of breastfeeding!

[tulip1969]

I had this problem with a daycare baby when she first started. I would squeeze the nipple and let the milk spray lighly into her mouth so she got the taste of it (it was the pumped breast milk). She would fuss and cry but I didn't give up. I fiddled around with the nipple in her mouth till eventually she would latch on. I sang to her which calmed her a bit as well. The parents did not give her any bottles over the weekend so every monday was a set back but after a few weeks she did eventually catch on and now loves her bottles with me. It is tough but they eventually do get it. Good Luck!

What I have always done when feeding a bottle to a breast fed baby is to hold the baby as though you were going to breast feed the baby and slip the bottle into her mouth and really snuggle her up as though she was being breast fed. This worked great for me.

[SimpleMom]

Some bf babies I have worked with needed to be in a swing or infant seat...snuggled up with a blanket and my arm (maybe) before they would CONSIDER taking a bottle from me. It can be tricky, but it will happen..or they make it up at night

I agree--good for you for supporting breastfeeding!! good luck and keep looking for the right tactic it's out there

I also agree to have someone OTHER than mom feed baby the bottle--bm or formula.

[broncomom1973]

When I went back to work after having my 2nd dd, dh and I did alot of homework about baby bottles. That is when the whole BPA issue was coming to light. Dh found these bottles called Adiri Natural Nursers that are made to be very similar to a mothers breast. They have been a bit revised since 2007, but are basically the same. Here is a link http://www.amazon.com/Adiri-Natural-.../dp/B0018BY2FY . They are a soft material, not a hard plastic like most bottles. Maybe mom could shop around and find something similar. I think I have heard that some other brands have started manufacturing something similar.