6 Month Old Wont Take Bottle - Fall River,MA

Updated on February 18, 2010
E.G. asks from Fall River, MA
15 answers

My 6 month old daughter still refuses to take a bottle... even the few times I have left her with my mom for a few hours she holds out as long as she can. I just want her to take a bottle when were out or if I need to leave her with a sitter. I have tried everything from the breast bottle to avent.... any suggestions??

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K.D.

answers from Boston on

My son did the same thing. My sitter held him the same way that I did when I breastfeed him, then stuck the bottle in his mouth. It was a bit akward but he got used to it.

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M.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

My kids only took the playtex ones that are supposed to be textured like a real nipple.

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S.H.

answers from Hartford on

My son stopped taking expressed breastmilk (even when freshly expressed) from a bottle right around 6 months when he began teething. This must be a fairly common dilemma. I tried to coax him back into it at first by giving him faster flow nipples, but not only did he not care for the faster flow, but his interest in bottles continued to wane and now he just chews on the nipples with absolutely no interest in consuming its contents.

When he was teething and I couldn't get him to take the breast or the bottle, I gave him some all-natural applesauce mixed with breastmilk and fed it to him with a spoon without any problems. Since he is still exclusively breastfed at 7 months, I tend to plan my solo outings around his nursing. Refusing bottles was a big deal to me at first, especially since I had come to rely on my handy dandy breast pump, but to be honest with you, it is kind of nice giving it a break.

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M.H.

answers from Boston on

I had the same problems with both my daughters and my husband was not available to give them bottles. So I changed the experience/environment and made it not at all like a breastfeed, it's more like a different meal/drink for them. It took a couple of weeks, so perseverance is the key. I lay her down to feed (not cuddle like b'feed) on a floor mat propped up slightly on a pillow. I sat down beside her. I used the Medela bottle. I also use formula for this feed, cause I threw out a LOT of breastmilk during those first weeks and again, it's a different experience for her. At first she screamed, but over the days, she got more used to it and would play with the teat and occasionally suck some milk. Now 2 weeks later she takes the bottle. Try when they are not too fussy or tired but hungry (not starving). So now every day my 6 month old has a small 2oz bottle of formula at about 4pm. Just to keep her used to it.

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M.L.

answers from Portland on

sippy cup? 6 months is certainly the right age. You may have to go through a few to find one that she likes. Also, she is big enough to drink right from a regular cup (with assistance, obviously). And this is when she starts eating solids, (and eating off a spoon is such fun!)so you can blend food with your breastmilk - all ensuring that she is getting the nutrition she needs so you can relax when you're not with her ;-)

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L.F.

answers from Boston on

The Nuby sippy cups with a very soft spout and no valve worked for my girls who wouldn't take a bottle. The only problem with them is you have to watch them carefully because the silicon tops rip pretty easily and then the milk will come out too fast. Good Luck.

K.C.

answers from Barnstable on

Yup - mimijumi, which I carry. Hard to find, boob-like bottle (and let me tell you, I went through so many frigging bottles to find you that a breastfed baby would take). I started carrying them for the working moms who were having the same issue. As always, use the boob when ever you are with your child and reserve the bottle only when absolutely needed. Here is the link to mimijumi (I do have them in stock):

http://www.mymammasmilk.com/Mimijumi.html

PS - I am right near the Sagamore Bridge

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M.K.

answers from Kansas City on

If you are breastfeeding and trying to put breast milk in the bottle, make sure the milk is not sour. My milk would stay fresh in the fridge, but would spoil when I froze it. It turns out I had an enzyme, lipase, in my milk that would do that. The solution was to scald the breastmilk on the stove. I learned about it on the Medela website.

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D.W.

answers from Indianapolis on

All breast milk has lipase in it - when you freeze your breast milk, it changes the composition of the lipase and makes the milk taste/smell sour. Be careful with boiling it to remove the sour smell-the boiling changes other critical proteins/fats that are essential in breast milk and compromises the nutritional value.

My kids just got used to the difference in taste the more they were introduced to it.

Avent is a great bottle, but it doesn't mean that she likes the nipple that you're using. We had to go through several different brands before we realized that our children (they both went to a bottle when I went back to work around 9 weeks + nursing) were having nipple confusion issues. Because your daughter is older, she's more accustomed to your nipples and is likely why she's refusing.

My sister had to use latex/rubber nipples with Platex nursers for her daughter. We found our kids did well with the Platex drop-ins, Avent, Dr. Browns.

She's old enough to start experimenting with sippy cups as well. Just look for those designed for younger children or that have soft (almost nipple like) parts to drink from.

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C.M.

answers from Boston on

try a sippy cup we did that with my oldest. Also try the bottle call Nuk it has a hole on top to feel like a breast flow. good luck.

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A.M.

answers from Boston on

I don't have a lot to offer, except to tell you I'm in the same situation. My son took a bottle of breastmilk for the first 6 weeks of life, then just stopped. He has refused a bottle ever since (6 months old now). I have even left him for 8-10 hours with family and he still won't take a bottle (he does eat oatmeal, so that holds him). I think I'm going to give up on the bottle and go to a sippy cup. I've been trying the Avent naturally magic cup and he seems to like it...not drinking much, but will at least try to suck on it (more than he would do with a bottle). Good luck. I know what you're going through! Hopefully things will work out for us...

M.M.

answers from San Francisco on

I had the same problem with my son.
So I gave up, since I decided to stay at home, I don't need to worry about leaving him with anyone. However, I wish I was more persistant and patient when he first got it.
We tried it at 2 months of age, and when I saw that he got it, I decided to stop and continue later, bad idea. The Playtex worked really well.
Anyways, here are some things you can try:
-warm up the bottle nipple and pur some of your breastmilk on it
-try feeding her the bottle during the night (this may take a lot of patience)
-have someone else do it
Finally
-try a sippy cup. That's what Im triaining my son to do

Hope this helps

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K.L.

answers from Dallas on

Will she take a sippy cup instead of a bottle? Maybe you could find one of those that's similar to a bottle. I am going to assume you are breastfeeding her and she would rather have that over anything else. My sister's son would never take a bottle of breastmilk but he would take a bottle of formula. Have you tried her on formula? My daughter's both used those NUK bottles. They loved them. They are similar to the Avent as far as the shape and size of the bottle and nipple. They aren't all that cheap so I would hate to buy them and have her not like them. But it's worth a try. Hang in there.

C.M.

answers from St. Louis on

Try giving her the 6+ month sippie cups and see if she likes that.

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I.G.

answers from Seattle on

My daughter would not take anything but latex nipples (gerber NUK OLNY!).
Once I had that figured out she was fine. However she was never particularly fond of the bottle and only drank what was necessary to tide her over. I was constantly worried about her intake of pumped milk (10-12 oz over 10 hour work days...) but she kept nursing mornings/evenings and nights and grew just fine.
If you are just gone for a few hours (say 2-4 hours) I would say don't sweat it. Just nurse before you leave and after you get back.

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