Baby Not Taking Feeding Bottle and Formula Milk

When you say "exclusively breast fed," do you mean he's never had a bottle or just that he's never had anything in the bottle besides breast milk?

If he's never had a bottle (of anything) before, this could be part of the challenge. A part of him is probably thinking, "What the heck is this, and why should I put it in my mouth?" Since he is 6 months old, you could skip the bottle altogether and try giving him a sippy cup. My kids looked at a sippy cup and didn't know what to do with that, either. So I used either a Playtex or Gerber and took the valve out (so that it dripped). Didn't take them long to get the idea of what a sippy cup was for. Do you have any expressed milk? If you do, you could put that in the sippy cup so that he's familiar with it.

If he's had a bottle of breast milk before and it's the formula that's the problem, you can try a couple mixing the formula with breast milk until he gets used to it.

It sounds like he's mad that you're not just nursing him. But if you think he's getting sick because the formula is upsetting him, I think Nicole is right and you need to call your ped. He might have an allergy that you don't want to ignore.

Finally, solid foods. At 6 months, he's probably still very new to solid foods and might just be adjusting. You could always try something that he can pick up with is fingers - small pieces of a whole wheat bagel, graham cracker, Gerber biter biscuit or snack. It doesn't necessarily have to be something nutritious right now, just something safe that will help him learn what to do with it. My kids both rejected being spoon fed, so I had to get creative with finger foods.

Try to relax. He really will figure it out. Good luck!

Call your pediatrician right away. There's a problem if he's immediately vomiting the formula up. Try a different formula. He may need soy or the kind for a sensitive stomach, but definitely check with your doctor. Don't force him to drink something that's making him sick.

Can you have someone else try to give him the bottle? If you are there, he will want to wait to feed from you. If someone else feeds him, he will get adjusted to it. If not, try a sippy cup with formula in it. He may like trying a new cup. If he refuses to take any, use an eydropper or syringe to get milk into him. Talk to the doctor if he still has trouble. It may take some time, but he will eventually settle down and take it.

Good luck~

Start pumping milk and try to give the baby the pumped milk from the bottle. Try different types of bottles or different flow of the nipple. If you are using a slow - flow nipple, he may be getting frustrated.

Ask your spouse to do the bottle feeding since he may expect you to nurse and will not accept the bottle from you.

Try switching formula if you want, but exclusively breastfed babies may dislike the taste of formula and won't accept it.

Try feeding with a cup or small bowl (katori) in case he still doesn't take the bottle but this will not be an acceptable feeding option at daycare.

All this is new to him. Please start pumping breastmilk. You can freeze it, and when you need it, warm it up and put it in a sippy cup with the valve out. Then when you tip the cup up, the warm breastmilk will drip out into his mouth and he'll get the idea. You might need to get someone else to try this, if he won't take it from you.

After he understand what the sippy cup is for, then try some formula for sensitive tummies since it sounds like he won't tolerate the regular formula. But don't expect him to like it right away. Start out mixing 1/3 formula with 2/3 breastmilk, so that it tastes pretty normal to him. Then, over time, increase the ratio of formula to breastmilk. It will take a little time, but it will work and you still have a month.

why not pump milk and skip the formula? I have a few friends that do this.