Bottle Feeding Advice

Hello L., I had a similar problem. I breastfeed exclusivly, but a few days a month I go in to work. On the days I worked my mother reported his feedings drastically dropped, and he would gag on the bottle. I bought the AVENT breast-to-bottle transition bottle. The nipple is designed specifically for nipple confusion. It's a bit pricey at $5 a bottle but it works like a charm.

oh L.. i totally feel for you!!

a month before i started work, we started giving my (then)3 month old daughter bottles of expressed milk. she HATED it.

it took a lot of patience and having the day/night confusion (which is very normal) but eventually after SIX weeks of spoon feeding/bottle feeding, we introduced a sippy trainer spout from born free and it works! some days are better than others, but she's taking 2-3 bottles a day with 3 oz each.

while i was at work, my husband was at home giving her these bottles. i would get 4-5 calls a day of him being so frustrated and not knowing what to do. so please know it sometimes takes a long long time, but i hear of other babies only taking a few days.

try calling ilka at the santa monica pump station. she gave me lots of great advice that i can no longer remember.

good luck!

I am curious if you are giving him frozen breast milk? I started my son on pumped breast milk and he would refuse it. Then I tasted it and yucky! It had gone sour! The reason that happened is that I froze the milk on the door of my freezer. Apparently that is not a deep enough freeze so it went sour. If you freeze it put it in the back.

Hello L., OMG I went through the exact thing. I am a 32 y/o first time mom and when my daughter was about to turn 12 weeks old the colic stopped. WOOHOO!!! I was extremely happy. Then one day, she refused the bottle. At first I thought it was because she was not hungry. Then after a couple of more hours and the "i'm hungry screaming" I tried again. I too was breastfeeding and bottlefeeding breastmilk and formula. Low and behold she would not take anything anymore in a bottle. Not even breastmilk which she had been doing fine. I tried everything from not feeding her for hours (yes I was told...if she is hungry she will eat). I did this a couple of times up to 8 hours :( and nothing. Not even a suck on the bottle. She just wanted the breast. After discussing this with her pediatrician and another pediatricain, I was told that it would pass and to try different bottles, nipples, even formulas. I even got the, "she's a smart girl...she only wants the good stuff". Well I tried every, I mean EVERY bottle, nipple, and formula out there. Including not being in the same room when it was time for her feeding as I had been advised. Nothing came about this but a huge bag full of feeding equipment, frustration from me, and anxiety because I too was going to be heading back to work. Luckily, I was able to get an extended paid leave from work and used up all of my Baby Bonding Time until she was about six months old. She still did not take anything but the breast. At four months old I was able to supplement a few breastfeedings with "solids" including fruits, vegetables, rice cereal, etc. I started with rice cereal. At 6 months I had too go back to work but decided to go part time. Two days a week, for 2 months, my daughter was brought to me at lunch time by my mother-in-law so that I could breastfeed her. At this point, she was ok with a breastfeed before going to work, at lunch, and before bedtime. What helped was that she started sleeping through the night at 4 months in her crib. Well, out of the blue, the week she was to turn 8 months old, I decided to try and give her a bottle...she took it. I did not breastfeed her again after that because I did not want to go backwards again. Of course I pumped for a couple of weeks just in case, but I did not have to go beyond that. My daughter is now 16 months old and let me tell you, just writing about this brings me back to this experience and gives me a bit of anxiety. The point of this long, detailed story is that this too shall pass. When and how is up to your baby. I tried everything, everyone's advise etc, but ultimately, I realised some babies will just do what they are going to do. Try giving a little bit of cereal now that he is 3 months old. Even if you have to spoon feed (which I also had to do). Good luck to you and your prescious one. Both you and your son will figure it out...someday!

I had a similiar problem just 2 weeks ago...my advice is trt one every day. My baby likes playtex nurser..

I feel for you!! We went through this when my daughter was 10 weeks old for about 3 weeks. She would throw a fit even at the sight of the bottle. For me the biggest help was having my husband or grandma coax her into it when I wasn't in the room. They would have to feed her walking slowly and talking in a soothing voice until she started feeding. (She refused to eat when they were sitting down at first). Also, she would never touch a bottle that came from me. So I commited myself a week or so later to feeding her the bottle. It took hours of screaming and I just refused to give in. It did take all day...but she finally took the bottle and we haven't had the issue since. I hope this helps. I know how hard it is to hear your little one so upset. Also, we did have to go through a couple different bottles to find one she liked. Using the premie/newborn nipples did help too so the flow wasn't too fast. Good luck!

L.,
Go on-line and look at the Adiri bottle; it looks like a woman's breast and many babies that have difficulty, often take to this bottle. I don't recommend changing bottles if your little one doesn't like them - that can just add to the nipple confusion that he already is experiencing. You must be patient - so often it is the parent who gives up too quickly - babies have a natural tongue thrust and will naturally push the artificial nipple out. I do not like the avent bottles because the "nipple" part of the bottle is much longer than a natural nipple and the "areola" part is much more narrow than an actual breast. You want to find a bottle that is as close to your breast as possible. The Munchkin nipple, which fits on the avent bottles is a better nipple - as are some of the playtex nipples (that fit on the disposable "drop-in" style bottles). However, I also agree with the woman who stated some concern about dehydration - you must get fluid into this baby. Dehydrated babies sleep a lot - be very careful.
J.

My first question would be, are you the only one trying to feed your baby bottles? It is not unusual for a breastfed baby to refuse a bottle from his mom or to not accept the bottle from someone else if Mom is in the room. That said, there are still some babies relunctant to take the bottle even when Mom isn't around. As an infant teacher, I was always sucessful in getting these infants to drink their bottles, even when others were not sucessful. Here are some tips for whomever will be caring for you infant: 1. make sure the milk is very warm, but not hot. 2. If at all possible, the baby's cheek should be held against the caregiver's chest. She or he, should place their hand around the the ring of the bottle so when the bottle is placed in the baby's mouth, the caregiver's hand touches the baby's face; this simulates the breast touching the face. 3. If there is a song you sing to your baby or something you often say over and over to your baby, the person feeding the baby can say or sing the same thing. In other words, your child's routine should be the same whether bottle or breast feeding. 4. Try different brands of bottles. I personally prefer the Avent bottles for breastfeeding infants. 5. It is very important for the person doing the feeding to stay calm and relaxed no matter how much the baby cries or refuses the bottle. If the adult is relaxed, the baby is more apt to relax and drink.
Feel free to email me if you need any more help.

My daughter did the same thing. She took a bottle once every week, then all of a sudden refused it and only wanted the breast. She threw a fit at the sight of a bottle. Does your son take a pacifier? Sometimes we would try to settle her down by giving her a pacifier and eventually could sneak in a bottle after a small fit. Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't. I would recommend staying with the bottles/nipples you have been using. If you keep trying new bottles and nipples, he will just get more frustrated. If you know he will (or would) take one, stay with it and keep trying. I made my husband do the bottle feeding since my daughter knew she could get the breast from me. He eventually made a break through after many frustrating attempts. Then we gave her at least one bottle a day (we still do that and she is 6 months old now) to keep her used to it. Good luck!

I don't know specifically what it is. But, be SURE he is getting enough intake... if he does not, he can get dehydrated... lack of intake can also affect their growth/development/weight gain. If he gets dehydrated, this is very DANGEROUS for an infant. Click this link to get informed about symptoms of dehydration:
http://www.kidsgrowth.com/resources/articledetail.cfm?id=...

Who is feeding him now? Does this person "know" how to feed a baby and is nurturing? Is this an unfamiliar person your son has not "bonded" with yet? Perhaps your baby is just thrown off because you are not there to feed him now.

If he sick or anything? Are his ears okay? Sometimes they get ear infections/aches.

Please make sure he is feeding and getting enough intake. Dehydration also causes lethargy.

It's not his sleeping I would be worried about, it's his lack of intake. Sure, a baby will eat if he's hungry...sometimes not. Some babies are not good feeders and don't have hunger cues. That does not mean we don't feed them. I"ve seen this happen in a baby once, and she went into the "failure to thrive" percentiles, and she got dehydrated twice by the time she was 3 months old...she had to go to the ER and get IV's. It's not normal for a baby "not" to feed.

Babies this age generally drink about 4-5 ounces and feed about every 3 hours. 3 months old is ALSO a growth spurt time...and they feed more at these times and at any growth spurt period.

take care,
~Susan
www.cafepress.com/littlegoogoo

Okay... I will be the crazy one to say it..

Why aren't you staying home? If there is any way you can do it, please do. Even at this young age, he understands that he is supposed to be breastfed. I'm sorry, but as politically incorrect as it is, I just have to point out that you have mammary glands for a reason.

L.,

My biggest advice is patience, patience, patience. Going back to work is hard on both of you. You just have to have your caregiver keep offering the bottle and be patient. I know it is tough. *sigh* as if going back to work wasn't stressfule enough! I went through this with my first child. Fortunately my second was a mellower kind of a child.

:-)T.

It sounds like your son is reverse cycling so he can breastfeed. Here is a link from Kellymom.com that might be helpful. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/normal/reverse-cycling.html

Good luck!!