Won't Take a Bottle - Suggestions?

My son Ethan never took a bottle. He went straight to a tippy cup. I don't know if he is ready but you might what to try.
K.

Try a sippy cup. Avent makes them for 6 months and up. My first daughter never took a bottle so we had to train her to use a sippy at 3 months old but it got the milk into her :-)

I can't say that I know much about bottle rejections because we didn't go through that with my daughter. But as soon as she started eating solids we started working on sippy cups with her. Maybe he will take a sippy cup instead of a bottle. They have so many different types but that may help.

A.,you might try putting just a drop of diluted natural honey or maple syrup on the nipple of the bottle to entice him, a bit.

He may be close to being able to drink from a straw! My children learned very early, though I can't remember at what age, exactly...I'm a grandmother, now. I had several straws around, and, I would cut one to about 1/3 size. For the first few "tries", use the straw like an eyedropper, dipping it in milk, just a bit, then, I would put my index finger over the other end to retain the milk in the straw, and, give it to my baby like medicine from an eyedropper, letting the baby suck on it a bit. After a couple of days of offering this, occasionally, I would put the cut straw in a very little container of milk, and, my children knew to suck on the familiar item. Immediate gratification!! After that, it was simple. Of course, a bottle is so comforting, so, I'd definitely suggest the "honey-bribe"...good luck! vickib

I just had to stand up and rock my daughter while shoving the bottle in her mouth(ha) because once she let me get it in and I was bouncing her she started to suck. Sorry I hate that! she still refuses the bottle sometimes, but you know if they are hungry enough they will take it. My babe did that to my boyfriend too, when I went to work for a few hours, she just didn't eat till I got back, Just don't give up, its normal, He'll take it. My daughter is 8 months, oldest is 4 I went through this with my first too.

I have a similar experience, My daughter is not 10 and half months old, we were offering her a bottle of expressed breast milk once a day and about 7 months of age she also started refusing the bottle. I think it a less forgetting about the bottle as Tamsyn was practicing regularly and more of a developmental stage. Our babies can now express a preference. The only "solution" I have is persistence. We kept offering a bottle each day , she was most likely to accept it at her first feed in the early AM as she was hungriest and least likely to think about refusing. Some days she would only take an ounce or two. I would offer he a bottle one other time during the day which she would refuse, until my pediatrician suggested a sippy cup. She still only takes a couple of ounces 2-4 at a time, but now she doesn't fuss to do so. I think now she is older she enjoys her independence. WE still breastfeed 5 out of 6 feeds but everyday offer her a chance to feed herself. My pediatrician and another longterm breastfeeding friend of mine said hers went from breast to sippy cup bypassing the bottle completely. There are some transition sippy cups you can try that have a valve so they won't gush and drown your little one. I reassure myself that eventually Tamsyn will wean and I will probably be sad when she does as much as I presently wish I were a little less of a diary cow.

Have you tried using a sippy cup? My youngest wanted nothing to do with a bottle once she started "solid" foods, but would use a sippy cup. Just a thought.

A., Don't want to sound like a downer but...my daughter did the same thing. At 11 months I had to go out of town and we tried everything, the doctor told me that if she needed it she would drink...not true. By the time I got back (only three days) she had blood in her pee. We continued with a tippy cup and continued to breast feed 'til she was 2, she was happy with the cup. I felt that we had tried everything but the tippy cup was a hit very early.

My daughter used a bottle until she was about 6mon old. Then, as she started eating more solids, I wasn't working as much, and we didn't have to bottle feed. When I went back to work, instead of trying the bottle again, we moved onto the sippy cup. You might want to try the cup transition since he's not wanting the bottle anymore. Good luck.

What about a tippy cup? I am sure when he gets hungry enough that he'll take a bottle or cup.

The thing is that he wants you not the fact he won't take a bottle. All my kids have gone through the stage that only Mommy will do.

I applaud you for taking your breaks/vacations. I never could bring myself to leave my little ones behind for that long. I go out once a month for about three hours and find myself missing my kids.

J.- mom to seven

My son would occasionally take a bottle of pumped breast milk--but not in place of nursing. He would drink some (from whatever kind of bottle) and then want to nurse afterward. So my guess is that the problem isn't so much how it's delivered, but that he wants the comfort of nursing and being held by you. It's hard, I know, but babies really want their mamas. I would try (having the caretaker/dad/grandma) wrapping him in something that smells like you, holding him close and warm, maybe skin contact. Good luck!

Try using a sippy cup. It's different from the bottle (breast). When nursing, some kids never like the bottle; however, he may like the sippy cups. You can start using those at 6 months. To get him used to it, buy some and let him play with them for awhile.

Lots of luck! J.

Have you tried a sippy cup with handles? Some times things that are similar to nursing but not nursing cause more of an issue than something that is completely different.

There is a Bottle that is shaped like an actual breast Adiri

http://daddytypes.com/2007/09/19/adiri_breastshaped_bottl...

I think You can only order them though. I have had friends use this bottle when there child wouldnt use any other. I strictly breast fed with all 4 of mine. Well, except with my last. I had to do both. But I didnt use a bottle. I attatched a feed line to my breast. So, I am sorry I cant give you my opinion on this , but I can only say friends have used this.
Anyways, sorry I wasnt more help. Good Luck and will say an extra lili prayer for you sweetie! God bless!!!

I had a similar situation with my daughter at around that age. I returned to work temporarily. I tried every bottle under the sun to no avail. Finally we just gave her a soft tipped tippy cup. I think it was the nuby brand. She found it fascinating, then realized she could get milk out of it. I was still pumping so for the most part she was getting breast milk. Or a mix of breast milk and formula just depending on how much was pumped and what the sitter had on hand. Since we never used a bottle there was no hard transition from bottle to cup. It worked out great. It also helped when we stopped nursing. She just loves her cups.

Have you tried a cup? 9 months is a great age to introduce a cup. However, since he has been nursing he may want a cup with a fairly fast flow. I started my children (who were also breastfed) on straw cups around 10 months and it worked well. I also used sippy cups without valves (Tupperware and First Years make good ones.) Good luck. He will be through this sooner than you realize.

Our son, now 21, did the same thing. We tried every suggestion and ended up that I would feed him one of his feedings (before which I pumped) with a bottle with a sippy-top. That worked out great, although he had to learn that if he was hungry, he would be having the bottle before food for that meal. He didn't have a strong sucking reflex, so breastfeeding was easier than a bottle because the milk lets down. I wanted to breastfeed him until 1 year, so in this way we transitioned so Daddy could feed him sometimes, then he and others could feed Baby any time. He never did care to use a straw, by the way. He was exhibiting a bit of a stubborn streak, but I am MORE stubborn, plus consistent and gentle. I won that battle of the wills and we all won in family closeness.

Try putting the milk in a sippy cup. There are many different kinds. My daughter really likes the Rubbermaid "juice box" which is in the tupperware section at the grocery store (not the baby section). After 3 months of age, there is no need for a bottle, sippy cups are fine! Good luck!

If he is holding things well, and doing well on solids- have you tried a sippy cup yet? That way it's not so much like nursing- Avent's transition ones(white spout) can be used at young ages. If he uses a pacifier, see if you can find a bottle nipple that is like it... Or try offering the bottle before he's super hungry, may ease his transition. Also let him play with it a bit during "play time" so that he can get used to having it around? HTH!

this happened to me with my son, now 22 mos. when i asked my doctor about it she said that i should try a sippy cup. just to try to pour a little in his mouth at a time, if he won't suck on the new cup. it worked. it took a little bit of time, but he figured it out, he was about the same age as your baby when we tried it. hope this helps.

try different nipples for the bottles. My son was soooo picky when he was that young and would only take one kind of nipple on his bottle. I had to go on Ebay and buy them because they were the ones he used in the hospital when he was born made buy Similac. So try different shapes and textured ones till he find one he likes. :)

Getting a nursing baby to take a bottle after the first couple of months of life is extremely difficult. And if you are successful at first but are not consistent with it, it is also extremely difficult. I had similar situations with both my children and in the end I just gave up trying the bottle and just nursed, without being able to take my babies to a babysitter or even just have dad watch them for a few hours. When my babies were 12 months old and I was ready to start them on whole milk, I introduced them to different types of sippy cups, which also was a little difficult, until I found the right one. I wonder if you could do that now and just put some of your pumped milk in the sippy cups since it is a little too early for whole milk. I tried every conceivable type of sippy cup for my son until finally I found one he would take, and it was the cups with the built in straws. My daughter took to them more easily and she liked the regular sippy cups, but now she will drink out of any type of toddler cup, sippy or straws. Maybe your baby will take to one of these cups better than a bottle since they are not so much like a fake breast like the bottle is. Good luck! CH

When my daughter was about 4 months old, I wasn't able to keep up with breastfeeding her. She had taken a bottle from her dad but never from me. When I first tried to bottle-feed her, in the usual nursing position, she refused. However, when I changed her position, she accepted it. Instead of cradling her in my arms, I sat in a recliner with the footrest up, laid her on her back on my lap facing me, and stuck the nipple in her mouth. She seemed kind of surprised, but accepted the bottle.

I don't know if this will work with an older child, but best of luck.

Hi A., it could by the boy wants to go to bedtime stories. It sound as though he's bottle broke already. Have you contacted your babies doctor or better yet his nurse? I wish you the best.

S. R.
Washington State

These two things helped my son take a bottle:
1. We started giving it to him during his dinner time--since he loved solids he was just more into trying new things at the table. We gave him the bottle while he was sitting at the table in his chair. And, he got to try it on his own time--we weren't pushing it on him, he could try it if he wanted to try it. There wasn't any pressure to take it, and I think I even put water or formula in it because I didn't want to waste breastmilk if he wouldn't drink it.
2. For whatever reason he would take a bottle from me, but not my husband in the beginning (we reintroduced the bottle at about 6 months since we hadn't tried giving him one since he was a couple of months old...). So, he would alternate between nursing and drinking the bottle--this is completely contradictory to what ever book says. Now he takes the bottle very happily...Good luck!

I agree with Juanita S. My son would never take the bottle. You're fortunate that he did. He also started drinking from a sippy cup with a soft spout at 7 months. You might want to give up on the bottle altogether and try that. My son loved it. It gave him more control & made him feel like he got to do it himself. I hope it works for you.

My daughter never took the bottle so I know what it is like to be stuck. Your son is old enough to try a sippy cup or open cup. Start now and try different types if needed. My kids always prefered the soft tip sippy cups. My daughter finally took the sippy cup around a year, buy was very excited about the open cup much sooner. I would just pour a very tiny amount in the open cup and she would pick it up and drink it. Be prepared for a mess! It at least gave us options so we could go out without the kids and know they would be fine and not starve while we were gone. Good luck!

I had almost no luck with bottles for my three children. They went directly to open topped cups and sippy cups even while they were still nursing. (I prefer the sippy cups with valves to minimize spillage) I never would have beleived it until I saw German and Swiss moms when I lived there. Little ones really take quickly to cups - you just need to have pretty small top.

Try a sippy cup and if that doesn't work try a little cup so he can at least get some milk in him to calm him down. If that doesn't work you could even try a dropper and drop it in his mouth a little at a time (but he should be old enough for a sippy cup). My daughter had the same problem when I tried going back to work when she was 3 months old. I ended up only working 4 days b/c she started to not even drink from me b/c she was so upset and went 8 hrs with nothing and even now at almost 3 yrs of age she is still particular about everything. Good luck. J.

Neither of my children would take a bottle, but the would start drinking out of a regular cup with help. They wouldn't even drink out of a sippy cup. It had to be a regular cup like they saw us drink out of. It might be worth a try.

try using a spill-proof sippy cup that has a straw or soft end. My daughter likes those and for her they worked, but at two she is still nursing and that snuggle time with mommy is her favorite. but she can be with daddy or grandparents without fussing. My other trick with her is to make "yogurt milk" but get plain or vanilla or any flavor as long at it is smooth i tried fruit smoothies but the peices of fruit get caught in the tip. A spash of chocolate, strawberry, blueberry juice or syrup, not that I want or let her load up on sweets, but she is older, and it gets her out of my arms for a while so I can get things done. But she does want mommy milk when it is time to sleep.
jeni

Have you tried a tippy cup? Avent makes a transition tip that young ones seem to take to...you could try the big boy routine and give him the cup. Also, you could try to train him with a straw as well. Many cups come with straws and to get him to use it go get a really good milk shake and you suck it up the straw for him and then take it out of the cup and let him suck it off the bottom of the straw while you control it with your finger on the top of the straw to control flow. Hope one of these helps.

my daughter never took a bottle. She's been breastfed. At 6 months I started used a sippy cup with meals and when we were out. She started with a sippy cup with a soft spout but I have heard some kids need to try a few sippy's before they take to one type. my thoughts were why try to get her hooked on a bottle when it wasn't necessary for feeding and have to wean her from it later.

Hi A.,
It is true that many babies are picky about which bottle they will take and you have to do some experimenting; preferably starting with pumped milk, and given by someone else while you are not home. You could also simply offer solids when you will be gone, and nurse when you return if it is a short absence. All of that aside, I would not push the bottle at all. There are plenty of soft tip no spill sippy cups out there now; I would suggest, since he is 9 months, going straight to the cup; if he resists the sippy spout, offer an open cup with adult assistance and with him in someone's lap on a towel. That way he can see it as something totally different and fun, instead of a replacement for the breast. DEFINITELY use pumped breastmilk, not formula; it is SO very much better for him, and without all the potential allergens formula contains. AVOID all soy and nut and cow products for that reason; too much potential for allergic reactions.
Is there any way you can take him along in April? He is SO very young to be away from you that long; and you may find him upset, avoiding you, and unwilling to nurse (at least for awhile) if you are gone so long. You will also need to find regular times to pump during those 4 days if he is not with you, which may end up decreasing your supply slightly. In both April and May, if he will take a cup with pumped milk, some solids, and some alternative comfort strategies, he will be fine nutritionally.
It is also important not to make it a big emotionally charged power struggle; try introducing cup or bottle as a toy to explore, and using it to feed at times when baby is satisfied and not anxious to nurse. If you and caregiver are anxious or stressed about it he is more likely to resist and wait to nurse. As a final note: make sure you are able to pump enough while you are away, and KEEP NURSING!! Babies need breastmilk at least through the first year; the WHO (World Health Organization) says to age two or longer. So good for you for nursing!!
E., IBCLC

A.,

Call a breastfeeding consultant or La Leche League for more advice, but if it were me (and it was) I would try a sippy cup or giving him solid food to fill his tummy while you're gone. This is o.k. for short absences, but the 4 and 7 day separations will be trickier.

If you're leaving your son with someone who cares for him on a regular basis, the two of them can probably muddle through, but if he has trouble separating from you no matter who is caring for him, my advice would be to not leave him overnight just yet.

At nine months old, he is developmentally incapable of understanding that you will come back to him. I'm not sure exactly when "object permanence" kicks in, but I think it's around twelve to eighteen months.

Good luck Darlin',
D. T

hi i have 3 sons and my oldest is 10, middle 4, youngest 5 mos. All mine were the same way but you just have to stick to it. I found that the playtex nursers are the most like the brest. the ones with the clear nipple cuz they are soft and bendy not stiff like some of the others. the baby wouldn't either for 3 months but now at day care he is doing great I guess consistancy is the key. he faught it for hours sometimes. may be you should try it in a sippy cup instead. that is what my girlfriend did with her daughter. she went straight from hte brest to a cup. we also found that if the milk is REALLY warm he takes it right away! WRAP him up cozy and rock him when you try to give hima bottle and give it aleast a full 5 minutes before you give up and just keep trying it. good luck! K. from Beaverton

Hi A. -
I can totally relate to you. My son got sick at 10 months and decided he didn't want to nurse anymore. He wouldn't take a bottle at all. I talked to his doctor and he let me put him on whole milk early and with a sippy cup. I had always given him water in a sippy cup so thankfully he did take that. Talk to your son's doctor and see what he thinks. There is a few different cups out there that he might take. It is worth a try.
W.

Have you tried the Nuby sippy with the straw? A lot of the breastfed babies in my playgroup have used this instead of transitioning to a bottle.

Good Luck!

my daughter never took a bottle, just absolutely refused. my girlfriend's daughter did the same thing, so... we introduced a regular old cup and then a softer sippy cup. it took a bit of time and one of the biggest reasons for our need to stick to trying was not only do i work out of the house somwtimes and coming to my work each day i work was getting tiresome but, she was having extremely hard poops. it took two or three weeks for her to get the hang of it but now a month and a half later she is drinking from a regular cup or sippy like a champ. we started this at about 8 1/2 months on the recommendation of our pediatrician after we has to take her in for a suppository because she wasn't getting enough fluids, even with breastfeeding 6 or so times a day. lenghty response but my friend and i went through the same thing and it does eventually work. good luck!

Hi, I have a 3yr old and an 8 in a half month old. Both kids ended up refusing the bottle early on. I use the medela softfeeder with both of them. You just put your breastmilk in that and feed it to him with a big soft flexible spoon. That seemed to work for us. You can google it and check it out. There is also the Adiri Breast Bottle that looks more like a breast if you want to keep trying a bottle. Many say that you have to keep trying, but that didn't seem to work for us. I also switched to sippy cups early on too. So that's another option for feeding him, either the hard cups or soft. Unfortunately, it becomes a trial and error case. I hope this helps.

K.

My kids would not take a bottle or a nuk. My pediatrician suggested that we skip the bottle and just go straight to the cup. It worked fine. He took a few days to get used to it but we started with a little water in a sippy cup and worked into some breast milk. I even put a little rice cereal in the breast milk and spoon fed him to make it stick longer to his ribs. It helped when I waws away for a few hours. he only needed juice or water while i was gone.
Hope this helps a little.

He's definitely old enough for a sippy cup. This is what I did with my exclusively breast-fed oldest son. He never took to the bottle but LOVED his sippy cup.

If you want to stick with the bottle (or introduce the sippy cup), make sure to give it to him before he's upset or hungry!

Just read the rest of the posts and I'm alarmed by Vicki's suggestion to give honey. It's pretty well known not to give honey to an infant under 1 y/o: http://pediatrics.about.com/od/weeklyquestion/a/04_infant....

I would also steer completely clear of juices, even watered down juice. Dentists do not recommend juice.

I also agree with those who have suggested that you reconsider leaving your son for several days at this age. He will not understand this and it will be difficult for all involved and likely not worth it in the long-run. If these trips are absolutely necessary, then perhaps there is a way your son could travel with you along with someone to help you with him.

--------------------------------

Have you tried having him drink from a regular cup (no sippy top lid needed) or take little sips off a spoon? He may not need the breastmilk during the time you will be away. Maybe he will drink something else to stay hydrated--water from a cup. My daughter had a hard time taking a bottle but she finally got it. She sipped water from a cup starting at around 4 months.

I am wondering if he screamed for so long because of pain from teething or something else and he is used to finding comfort from breastfeeding.

Good luck! Let me know what works!

C.

Hello. My first son was the same way. He wouldn't take a bottle from anyone, he just wanted me. So at about 5 months we tried giving him his breast milk in a sippy cup. He actually took it, which allowed me to leave him for more than a couple hours at a time. Especially at 9 months, your son would start feeling like a big boy (not that you want him to grow up that fast) and would be good for his motor skills too! So maybe you could try it and maybe it will work for you like it worked for us! Good luck!

hi A.! first let me say congrats on exclusive breasting for as long as you have--it's great! i have a few questions of my own for you. are you wanting to continue breastfeeding? who will be taking your young'n while you're away--your parents? are they, (or whomever) supportive of you breastfeeding a toddler? it's important, cuz if not, it's gonna get tricky.
cuz when you return, that's what you'll have..a toddler. don't get me wrong--i LOVE that idea--i'm asking cuz i'm a lactation nurse, and 9 months is a common time for adjustments in the feeding routine. no, that doesn't mean stop. BUT, see if your care giver person is up for a few practice runs, with doing cuddle time and using other ploys for soothing--ie, cozy blanket, books, favorite toy, etc. what about giving him his breastmilk in a cup--he's big enough. once he's had a tummy full, the milk hormones should make him ready for cozy time, and chances are, if he's accustomed to falling asleep in your lap while breastfeeding, he'll want the same routine (warm lap) with someone else that he's familiar with. it wouldn't work that way with a more distant acquaintance, of course.
anyway, there's always the cold glare that youngsters sometimes give their moms after a short absence, moms are rarely ready for it. and sometimes thats the last feeding from the breast there is--so relish the time with him now. a 9-month old is not apt to take a bottle now, i'd give up that idea. but a cup is realistic. especially with daddy--kids can and do learn other ways to be nurtured, especially with someone as close as Daddy.
And, just like you did when he was born, take your cues from your little guy--he's telling you what he needs--sometimes its just hard to read it. maybe its too soon for a week away from the little guy. it might be hard for YOU to really enjoy yourself, worrying about how hes doing.
Good Luck! M. w

Try a tippy cup....or experiment with different nipples on the bottle. I had a horrible time trying to get my son to take a bottle...if it isn't regular, it doesn't seem to happen.

I have tow boys and believe me I know how hard it is to try and slowly ween your baby from nursing. I have a couple of suggestions for you. The first is to make sure you consistantly offer the bottle. You will probably have to leave the area and let your husband do the work though. You may think about offering a sippy cup instead of a bottle.A lot of nursed abies do not like the taste and feel of a rubber nipple. Evenflo does make a nipple that worked well for my first son though. My youngest is 2 now and would have nothing to do with a bottle. He would use a sippy cup though. You could also try having them give apple or pear juice and forget trying to give him milk when you aren't able to nurse if he is like my son, nothing but you will do when it comes to milk. He can have approx. 4-6 oz of juice a day. I love to dilute it with water though. I know it is hard to figure things out and no one can tell you what YOUR child wants. I did find that taking advice from as many people as you can enabled me to eventually arrive at the perfect combination for my child. Ultimatly he will get over it, the fussiness can make you want to give in. Hang in there though. He will not stave himself. He will give in.

We had the same problem with our son. We ended up going to the Pediatric ward at a hospital, and purchasing "preemie" nipples they use. The are also shaped like a mother's nipple, and our son took right to those. The rubber is much thinner and softer, and didn't feel as foreign in his mouth. We had tried everything before our nurse neighbor suggested this.

Hi A.,

I would suggest if he won't take a bottle don't try to get him to take it. This way you won't have to break it later and he is old enough to drink from a sippy cup. My daughter now 11.5 months only took a bottle sporadically when she was younger and then when we went for a few months without giving it to her she refused it too. She has also been exclusively nursed or breast milk from a bottle when younger at times. What I started doing when she was about 7 or 8 months was offering her a sippy cup of water when she ate. At breakfast, lunch and dinner. It took her a while to get good with it but now she is a pro. She didn't like the normal sippy cups from Playtex or Advent but I found one she loves it is called Nubby. They are a 10oz cup size and come with or without handles. The "spout/nipple" is much easier for them to drink out of they are no spill and not parts to put in them. They are sold at Wal-Mart, Target and some Fred Meyer stores. I just love them and so does she. If your son won't drink water if he likes juice you can do that too, or if you have pumped milk put that in the cup for him to start taking it. Now if I need to give my daughter pumped milk if I am away she takes it from her sippy cup. I am so happy I don’t have to break a bottle habit unlike some of my friends that nursed and used a bottle. Once they were done nursing they transitioned to a bottle and now they have to try and break the bottle habit.
Hope this helps, Good luck.

A.,
Try offering him a Gerber brand sippy with a straw style top. They have inserts for inside to control flow and prevent spillage. Also try Vanilla flavored soy milk. Soy Dream brand. You can get it everywhere even at Winco. It is sweet like breast milk. This is how we transitioned our son from the breast to sippy. He wouldn't take a bottle.
A.

Same thing happened to my first born, about the same time. We tried everything as well - she just preferred me. Finally on a lark we tried a pacifier during a road trip - she took it, then took the bootle. The other thing is you might start him drinking from a cup instead.

If he wont take a bottle try giving him a soft tip sippy cup.

Have you tried giving him a sippy bottle instead or starting to teach him how to use a cup? I have 2 girls that both refused to take bottles when I went back to work even though I introduced it prior to going off of maternity leave. My husband was desparate and eventually he just brought the kids to my place of work every evening so I could breast feed them (at 3-5 months old). At six months he was able to get them to drink from a cup-something they need to learn eventually anyway it just happened sooner in our household. My children are 51/2 and 21/2 and thriving. Yours will thrive too, good luck!

I have breastfed three children until their toddler years. We never used bottles at all. All three used sippy cups from about 6-8 months on. He can have help holding it, but might like sitting up and drinking. When a breastfed is being cradled for a bottle, they have nursing on their mind. A sippy cup is better for sitting up and drining. Even a bottle will make him have to tilt his head too far back. I think Avent makes a good one that is called "my first sippy cup". Good luck!
M.

Hi :) I don't know if you still need help or not.....My daughter did the exact the same thing. She refused a bottle at about 4 months. I tried everything and I tried all different kinds of bottles. I always nursed her at night and used a boppy. So I decided to pump and I held her the exact same way I would when I was nursing. The lights were turned down and she actually took the bottle. I was soooo amazed. If that didn't work, I was going to try and sneak her a bottle in the middle of the night when it was dark and her eyes were most likely closed :) I bought all kinds of bottles and ended up using the ones we had in the beginning. They are Avent. I personally don't think it was the bottle, it was just her :) Good Luck!

Well, it looks like your boy is big enough to feed him with a spoon. Try sippy cups for drinks. Get one with soft top.

Try a sippy cup - best kind, I think, for a reluctant sipper is the Nuby - you can get them at Walgreens, QFC, lots of drugstores. They're good because the baby doesn't really need to suck - when they mouth the cup, the milk will come out, and then they usually get the hang of it. They're cheap and easy to clean too - no valves and all that jazz.

If that doesn't work, try a regular cup - babies even younger than this can be taught to drink from a cup. It will be messy, but it'll work!
:)
M.

Have you tried a "sippy cup"?

My son was the sameway, we could not get him to take any bottles. We tried the training cup and it worked.

Hi there, I went through the same thing with my daughter. At 5 months and 2 weeks to go before going back to work. I finally got a bottle at Babies R Us that worked and has ever since. It's called breast flow by first years I beleive. The whole nipple fills up and is very much like a breast, wierd as that sounds. I would try it, make sure the flow is right and that you are out of the house. It took some screaming matches but finally she got it and we have been fine ever since. That bottle saved us...good luck!

Forget the bottle - work on the sippy cup! Try several types until you find one that he loves. Offer a cup of something (breastmilk, formula, diluted juice, water) at every meal. Try putting ice cubes in it to make it more interesting. Soon enough he'll figure out that the cup is a good thing. Good luck!

I have a girl who refuses all pacifiers and would not take a bottle but I had some luck withthe playtex nursers as one of the other women did. I would definetly try to call La Leche, they are great about advice. I am sorry to say that some babies just refuse bottles, even if they had them before. I really hope that you get this figured out and are abl to enjoy your getaway:)

Our first child would never, ever drink from a bottle. I started working on my Master's part-time when he was probably around 8 months (he's almost 17, so some of it is a bit blurry!). We finally just put the pumped breast milk in a regular cup and my husband held it at his mouth and he just drank it. He also quit nursing cold turkey at 10.5 months and we eventually got him to drink from a sippy cup. Sometimes I think the bottle is too much like a nipple for some babies--if it's not a breast, it needs to be something different entirely! ;-)
Enjoy your little guy!
~S.

I had a similar problem! Someone finally put me on to first year "breastflow" bottles. The nipple has an inner chamber that the baby must compress to recieve milk. Hope it helps

My son refused a bottle because he couldn't figure out how to suck on it. He did finally take it 6 hours after I quit nursing. Your son will not starve while you are out of town!

Try giving him bottles with watered down juice (he is allowed 4 oz of juice per day). It is hard for him to accept a bottle as a replacement, but if you offer it as a fun and tasty treat, he may take it. Once he is willingly sucking down bottles of juice/water, you can try the milk again. He ought to take it then with very little fight. Your son is also old enough for a sippy cup. You could try the same approach with a soft spout sippy cup.

hi---only have a second because my 11 month old needs breakfast, so I will make this quick. question? does your babe need bottle/breast to fall asleep? mine usually does, however...my husband gets her to sleep much better than I do by putting her in a sling and rocking her (while standing) and singing nursery rhymes. So here is my suggestion: start having your babe drink from a glass (it took her awhile, but she got the lip formation down pretty easily---within a day) of course, you will have to hold the glass for him. Anyway, why not try feeding him (food) a lot then topping him off with breast milk from a glass, then rocking him to sleep? Another thing to try is when you are feeding him food, put the bottle there for him to grab and see what he does, see if he will actually grab it and want to suck from it? hope this helps, gotta go.
kathy

I only breast feed my daughter at first and then I was going to go back to work when she was 3 months old. So at 6 weeks we tried the bottle and it was a nightmare! Needless to say I was blessed and didn't end up going back to work until she was almost 11 months old. We did start her on a sippy cup at 6 months and it worked out very well. Her first drink of breast milk from a sippy cup was hysterical. She knew that wasn't right. Anyway, try the sippy cup. You don't want him dependant on a bottle and then you have to ween him from the breast and take away the bottle too. This is what happened with our second one. You think you learn from your mistakes and then you end up making new ones. Good luck, I really do know what your going through.

Hi A.,
my daughter never took a bottle she just wanted to nurse as well, so at around 9 months of age some one suggested using a sippy cup. I would have never tried to introduce a sippy cup with my first child this early, but he took a bottle with no problem. Anyway I tried the sippy cup and it worked, she actually drank from it. It's worth a try anyway. We tried every bottle known to man with our girl even one shaped to look like a breast from one step ahead and nothing. I hope this helps.

T.

Hi A.,

With me personally, I was breastfeeding my son, and one day I went out to do some errands and my husband told me he screamed until he fell asleep. This was when he was 4 mos. He completely refused the bottle.

So I would make sure that he was well fed before I went out with him somewhere. Also, I would take one of his security blankets and put it up to the car window, if there was not a sitting place in the ladies restrooms.

I breastfed him completely from 4 mos. until about 15 mos.

Hope this helps.

Take care,

D.

I have a 3 month old, who is also exclusively breastfead and struggles with the bottle. Now your son is a few motns older and I have been told that at that age it is ok if the child does not take the bottle as long as you are substiuting the calcium intake with yogurt or cheese. My 3 year old son had the same problem and I ended up stopping nursing at about 9 1/2 months. I also had gone on a trip for 3 days and was not able to nurse. I personally felt satisfied with the length of time that I nursed him. He is now a healthy, full of energy boy! Good Luck!

When my son was 2 weeks he stopped gaining weight so I had to introduce a small amount of formula onto of what I was breastfeeding (my milk supply was real low) Anyways, even after we didn't need to formula anymore (I started taking supplements and my milk came back) I still continued to give him a small amount of formula at night before bed to help him sleep better and to keep him use to both breast and bottle and formula and breast milk, just incase soemthing were to happen to me, that way I could be assured he would eat. Anways, around 3 mo. old he decided no more bottle, it didn't matter if it had breast milk or formula he refused! For a week I tried everything, the only thing that I found that worked was to turn the fish screen saver on on my computer and he would get so into watching the fish swim that he forgot he was mad about the bottle in his mouth and he would drink the whole thing! After a few days of watching the fish (3 to be exact) he started taking his bottle again no problem, even without the fish. Once he started with rice cereal we stopped the bottle, and he will only drink water and apple juice from a sippy cup. My advice to you is try to find something that will help distract him while you feed him the bottle. Also, you should try doing a bottle sometimes when you are there to give it to him, sometimes it can be better if you are there to reassure him about it all. You can also try a sippy cup (Sigg and Kleen Kanteen both make great non-toxic sippy cups) my son love his sippy cup!

my son now 4 loved the bottle and weaned himself from breastfeeding at 10 months so I was completely out of sorts when my daughter now 2 would not take a bottle no matter what I would do- we also tried multiple types etc and nothing worked. She also LOVED food. Have you tried cups- either the sippy variety or with a straw? That is what worked for us- I don't know it may have been that she just wanted what her older brother had but I caught her drinking water out of his straw cup at about 9/10months and she started picking up his sippy cups shortly there after too. If your son is eating real food and will even take water by cup he will probably fine. Also if you are gone I would guess he will get desperate enough that he would take breast milk anyway it was offered.
Good Luck, J.

My son was bottle fed and at 8 months, he just refused the bottle one day. No matter what i did he would not take the bottle, he would cry for hours and still not take the bottle. The only thing that worked for me is a tippy cup and pacifier. This is the only way we could make him happy since he refused the bottle.

HOPE THIS HELPS A LITTLE,
C.

I say never mind about the bottle, just skip to sippy cups. When my son was nine months old he had no problem with sippys and only used a few bottles a day and mostly sippys anyway. The day my son turned one... bye bye bottles.

I'm afraid you might be out of luck... what I have heard is that you really need to introduce the bottle early (which you did) and continue on a consistent basis (which you did not do) to ensure baby will take a bottle when you need him to.

However I also have heard of lots of babies around 9 mo who successfully learn to use a cup -- it has to be held for him, but this might be an alternative method of giving him his milk.

good luck.

I would try it when he is hungry and before he has any solids . . . maybe even first thing in the morning. If it is getting closer to April and he is still not going for it, I would try a sippy cup that doesn't require a lot of suction. Good luck!

Have you tried a sippy cup? He may be old enough to transition to a sippy cup and forget the bottle.

Hi, I had a baby that would only nurse and not take the bottle, binky, nothing. I finally found the platex nurser bottles and finally she would take them. I don't know what type of bottles you have used but if you haven't tried these maybe they will work. They worked for me and saved some of my sanity as well!

Good luck! P.

First off-try not to let your stress show-I really believe they can sense it and as soon as they detect you are worried-then they are worried. I have a friend this happened to and after trying many bottles-her little one drank the breastmilk from a sippy cup-otherwise the nuby sippy cups that look like bottles worked for us-you can get them at target or walmart. Tell your husband to be confident and it might be bad for a little bit but there is no way he won't eventually eat-maybe get him out of your regular environment. Our other friend child is very particular about the temperature he drinks his breastmilk. I watched him once and he would not take the bottle and I had to phone them and the daddy said-try warming it one more time in the warmer...and that was it-he sucked it down-if only they could talk. Also, they have a funny way of knowing when you are really gone...good luck and hope the sippy or temperature helps.

My second kiddo hated bottles and my attempt to go back to school at the time was disasterous. Try a sippy cup that has a sippy that protrudes pretty far so it is easy for him to get his mouth around. Let him pick it out by choosing two very brightly colored ones and holding them out to him about the same distance from his hands. Buy the first one he grabs. It might help if he sees an older child or even you and your hubby using it too. You can also try leaving alternative foods for him while you are out. Fun stuff he doesn't get at all when you are around. Little snacks he can pick up himself or juice in a bottle or sippy.

I agree with the other suggestions to try a sippy cup - particularly the Nuby soft spout cups. Those worked well for us at about that same age and are easy to find at Target.

My daughter who is now 3.5 years old never took a bottle either. She nursed for 13 months. We like you tried everything we could think of. We finally tried a sippy cup around 12 months and she took to that. I know your son is younger but it might be worth a try.

My neice has gone through this and what my sis did was try one of those medicine syringes and it seemed to have worked...she's since (the baby, she was 3lb 9oz when she was born!) taken to the change...hope this helps!But she is still breastfeeding (Baby is now over 12 months old) and she's just allowing her to "pick the time" when she is ready to "be done"...(Mom of 16yr old, 4 year old and 16 months)

HI my name is S.. My son was breastfed exclusively for 15 months and he never once took a bottle. He did however take a sippy cup. Try introducing that instead of the bottle with the breastmilk. However remove the valve so that he doesnt have to try too hard to get the milk out. Eventually once he gets used to it you can put the valve back in so it is less messy. Also I have a 2 1/2 year old daughter with special needs who is still breastfed. She too wouldnt take a bottle so what we did was use a medicine syringe to squirt the milk into her mouth. It took a lot longer to feed her but she got what she needed. She now occasionally takes a sippy cup of watered down juice with her meals occasionally but i do still breastfeed her about 5 times a day. I hope these suggestions help with the feeding situation. Keep up the good work you are doing as a mom. This will pass eventually. Everything will work out. Have a good time on your trip.

S. B.

Hi there
I was having the same problem with my daughter who is also nine months old. I kept trying different bottles, breastmilk and formula. Eventually, my husband and I had his parents watch her overnight a few weeks ago, so that we could have a nice evening to ourselves. She took a bottle for her night time and morning feeding. I think that she needed to be thirsty enough to take it. I also had a little success with her taking some formula from a sippy cup. I had stopped pumping because it didn't seem worth the effort for awhile because it was going to waste. My cousin went through the same thing around this time when she went back to work, but eventually her daughter starting taking a bottle as well. So, if you have the option of doing a trial overnight that would probably be my suggestion.

After this overnight, she is now taking a bottle after her nap with her babysitter once a week and she took a bottle for us last night. We also discovered she will take a bottle more readily right after waking up from naps or night time sleep. I hope that you have some success soon. I know how frustrating and challenging it can be.

my recommendation is that you try to give hime liquids(breast milk or water-not much juice! Perhaps rice milk or almond milk)from a cup instead. and I would rethink leaving him for so long in the upcoming months. I love nursing my babies (I have had 5)and by this age if you are so comfortably and exclusively nursing, i think that the bonding time is what your son is most concerned about, and leaving him for many nights before he is one years old could certainly lead to trauma. For me, I would probably be the one traumatized!