This is week 2 for an 11 mo old baby starting in my care. She is breastfed. I advised the parents that she needed to be completely comfortable with bottle feeding before starting care.

Day 1 was a nightmare, and it got better throughout last week and she was doing well by Friday. She is back today and refuses to take a bottle here again.
She has been pretty much crying all morning here. She finally took a small bottle and is napping.

I texted the Mom to see how her weekend went and to find out if she had been given any bottles over the weekend. Dad was out of town, so she had not.
I am sure that is why she is struggling today.

I want to support this Mom, but she has to support me also. I have 6 other children to care for in addition to her baby and cannot have her unable to eat at my house.

Any suggestions? Has anyone ever been through this before? I have had other babies her age here before that were breastfed and did fine with the bottle, so this is new to me.

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I would be frank with mom about your expectations for care as well as suggestions to make this work. If the bottle issue is becoming one where this child is inconsolable for hours every day, mom needs to know this situation has to progress or you wont be able to provide care. I would also suggest going to a sippy cup. At 11 months, it may be easier to transition to a sippy cup instead of a bottle.

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