5 Month Old Will Not Take Bottle!

My daughter was the same way. I stayed at home for 6 months and then went back to work. I pumped and tried to have my Dad (who takes care of her) give her a bottle and was lucky if she took 2 sips out of it. I went to a sippy cup and it worked. The pediatrician said it was fine as long as she took fluids. B/c they state around that age any water should be given by sippy cup anyway. As time went on she got better at it.

Girls are stubborn and only want what they want. I would suggest a sippy cup or sippy/nipple cup. See what happens.

My little girl did that for a while when she was about the same age, what we did was increased the flow of the nipple on the bottle. She found that the slow flow nipple, which was designed for her age group, was simply too slow for her. I don't know if you've tried this or not but it worked for her.

Hi K., I suggest playtex nursers with drop in liners. you need to have only one person give them to her at the same time each and every day. Pick formula or brest milk and stick to your choice. Don't change anything for at least two or three weeks. You have to at least leave the room or the house. She should be okay with it after a few days. Maybe you have given her too many "choices". Pick a time when you know she is going to be really hungry, and if possiable not quite awake helps too. That way she's taking it before she realizes it! We started my daughter on the bottle that way when she was just a few days old...my hubby would give her a bottle everyday at the same time. It really helped when I weaned her too. Good luck and best wishes!!

Hi K.,

I am sorry that you are having such a hard time with this. I know how frustrating it can be. Based on your message, it sounds like you are going back to work in August - so you are trying to prepare your daughter for that. My suggestion would be to just relax for now and she will adjust once you go back to work. Right now, she knows you are coming back, so she waits for you. But when you return to work, she may have a difficult first few days, but she will adjust and will start taking your expressed milk from the bottle. My son actually reversed his schedule when I returned to work and drank much less during the day and started nursing a lot during the middle of the night. We ended up co-sleeping so that I could sleep while he nursed at night. Everything will work out in the long run. I would say, if you don't need to give her the bottle now, then just wait until you go back to work and she will adjust after a few days.

The bottles that I used were the Playtex Ventaire and the sippy cups were the disposable ones initially and then the Nuby Sport.

If you are planning on pumping when you go back to work - I wrote an article on pumping and working which you may find helpful. Here is a link: <http://www.mothersboutique.com/woandbrtifor.html&gt;

Good luck!

J.

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I don't have much advice. I had the exact same thing happen when my son was about 3-4 months old. He had previously taken a bottle and then just stopped. I just tried every once in a while and then all of a sudden about 3 months later he just took a bottle again one day and never had a problem since. Good luck. I hope your daughter just starts up again too!

M.

WOW! I could have written this! lol
My husband had a little luck with the "Adiri" bottle (we got it on Ebay). Also, my 5 month old daughter FINALLY took a Nuk orthodontic pacifier last week, so I went out and bought up all of their bottles with the same nipple. I will keep you posted if this works...I feel for you girl...its tough not to have a break for 5 months! Feel free to email me to ask more questions or just to talk! :)
ps. I don't suppose you are in the South Hills? I was planning to go to a La Leche League meeting there or in Squirrel Hill soon to ask the other Moms about this...

I totally feel your pain! I had the same situation with my daughter. She stopped taking the bottle after a few weeks also. I was losing weight drastically and wanted to wean her off of the breast. Unfortunately I did the same thing- tried every nipple I could find (it got pretty costly!) I even called a LaLeche counselor for help. I am sorry to say that for me, nothing worked. I ended up waiting it out until she was 12 months and pretty much weaned herself onto the sippy cup (I found some really cool Pooh cups she loved to play with and that's how that worked). If your child can hold a cup,a spill proof sippy cup might work now if you wanted to try that. I hope you are more successful than I was! Good luck!

Hi K.-
My suggestion would be to enjoy the breastfeeding and continue with the sippy cup. Just relax because it's OK that your daughter doesn't want the bottle. (especially if there's no medical issue for having to use the bottle.)
Good luck.

The Advent bottle was the only bottle that I got my daughter to take. She was breast feed until she was 14 months. The nipple for that particular brand worked extreemly well. It is soft and has the most natural feel.

K.,

My second son did the same thing at exactly that age - took one earlier the few times we went out then I hadn't given him a bottle in a couple of months and I had to leave him when my friend went into labor as I was her doula. He did take a bit of breastmilk from an Advent bottle with a friend who was watching him then refused anything from my husband who ended up driving him into Philly for me to nurse him at 11pm. He didn't even end up nursing that well because he was so upset so I think he was more upset about missing me than taking a bottle. Luckily once we started food at 6 months he took to it and drank well out of a cup too so I didn't worry about leaving him for short periods. It's nice to be able to get out every so often and sometimes you just have to but it is also nice to know our babies know and prefer their mothers! :)
D.

Hi! MY Name is B.. My middle daughter would not take a bottle either. I tried every nipple every bottle even a cup but she refused. I worked for 12 hours a day and my mom was babysitting. Finally we put her on cereal. She got to be a chunk chunk but that was the only thing that worked. She is a very skinny young lady today and still on the stubborn side. Good luck with your baby!

Hi,

My friend had the same problem, and what she did was she would nurse in a dark place, but when it was time to switch to another breast, she would switch to the bottle.

I hope it helps. Good luck.

Monika

If you don't mind me asking why are you trying to "force" her to take a bottle. I don't mean "force" in a bad way. By nature, babies want and need to be close to their mothers (even at 5 months). If she has been exculsively breastfed then no matter how hard nipple manufacturers try they will never fool a baby:) Neither of my 2 kids would take a bottle or a pacifier. I don't know what you've tried in the past but do you nurse before you leave the house. Sometimes babies need to be a little hungry to accept a bottle? That being said they will normally reject it if they are too hungry. Hard to out-smart them :) If you are not in a hurry to introduce a bottle I would suggest just waiting a few more months until you introduce solid foods then that will open up more choice for your husband and other family members.

Good luck and keep breastfeeding,

T.

I was in this situation with my 2nd child until she was 9 months old. She would eat cereal, but not drink anything from a bottle, cup, etc. Then I noticed that if I was drinking anything with a straw, she wanted it. I got a cup with a straw for her, and she loved it.

I wasn't too concerned before that with her only wanting to nurse, because it is so good for babies, but it would have been nice if I could have given her a bottle occasionally with expressed breast milk.

This was totally different from my first dd who nursed, but only if it was absolutely quiet in the room. If I tried to nurse her in public, in the church nursery, at friend's houses, she would not nurse but was constantly looking around to see what was going on. But she would take a bottle, so I could feed her when we went out and didn't have to stay home all day long!

Sorry K.-
I am in the same situation except my daughter is now 8 months old. She has never liked a bottle of any kind. Since she is starting to eat a lot of solid foods she nurses less frequently, but, it is still all me. Last week I started helping her hold and drink from a sippy when she is not hungry. I put either water or formula in it. After a few days and a lot of coaching she now brings it up to her mouth and is starting to drink a little. I think this is a good start. Unfortunately, I think you might be waiting till your baby is a little older for this to work. Good luck.

Five months is too soon to start weaning or even taking a sippy cup, I believe. ENJOY the next six months -- try weaning again at 9 or 10 months. In the meantime, just keep trying every once in awhile to give her a bottle; mine always liked the ones that were a little bit "bent."

Good luck and enjoy your time.

I'm a SAHM and my son is 7 months old and I am going through this same thing! He would take an occasional bottle when he was younger, but we got out of the habit. I am going to be out of the house more often in the next few weeks, so we've been pushing the bottle issue lately. He'll take a little bit from someone, but I think he stops when the initial hunger subsides. It takes a long time to get him to take the whole thing, and last night he didn't even take the whole bottle. We've tried sippy cups and many different people feeding him. We've been using the Avent bottles and I've tried different nipples on those. I guess I'll go look for some new bottles today (that's why I ran into your post -- I was looking for advice, too!). But, I'm not giving up. I liked someone's idea of giving the bottle at the same time every day. I didn't push the issue when my son was younger because my husband's mentality is "why get the baby all upset when he nurses so well." And I'm glad he does - but Mommy needs some friend time, too! I did start cereal around 5 1/2 months and my son loved it. He is now eating veggies and fruit, too, so I know he won't starve if I'm out. And he likes to drink water out of one of our adult size cups. Still working on the sippy cup. Best wishes to you! Just wanted you to know you're not alone!

Hi K.-
My second born was the same way. I nursed him for a year and he never took the bottle. The only thing he would sip from or take if I had to leave him for a few hours was the avent early cup. It's the bottom of an avent bottle with a spout for the top. I am not even sure if they make that style anymore, but it did work for us. Hang in there...you are doing great! If it makes you feel better- my oldest has never drank a drop of milk (she's 8)after we took her bottle away. My son that never took the bottle lives for milk. He even buys it at school every day. So go figure! Take care. T.

.

My daughter is 6 1/2 months, and I felt like I could've written your post because we have gone through EXACTLY the same thing! Our daughter also took an occasional bottle early on, and then later completely refused feeding in any form other than breast. We also tried everything, including having Daddy or Nana try feeding her, to no avail. I have to say I did notice that when we introduced solids, she seemed more accepting of the bottle, instead of screaming hysterically at the sight of it. I think it was because she was less hungry during the attempts. Another poster already suggested what eventually worked for us.... after breastfeeding as usual at the late night feedings (10pm for us), my husband or I tried giving her about 2oz more by bottle. She was tired & no longer hungry, so she didn't "fight" the bottle as she previously had. It definitely took some persistence (we did this every night for a week or more), but it finally worked and she will now accept feeding from a bottle! I am NOT trying to wean her, as another poster seemed to assume you are. Our motivation in getting her to take a bottle is so I can enjoy a night out every now & again, without worrying that my baby is home screaming in hunger. Until now, I could hardly leave the house without her for more than 2-3hrs. So I completely understand the frustration when your baby won't take a bottle.
I hope this helps, and wish you luck. Hang in there!