Tips for getting your breastfeeding LO to take a bottle

[Noelle]

Here's a link with some great advice for helping your bf baby to take a b o t t l e
 

http://www.index.php?topic=64926.0

[jollynikki]

i wanted to introduce bottle at around 5 months. i thought it would be easy as she had supplementary bottles in the 1st month. But no she screamd every time i came near her . so i tried when she was hungry , when she was full , tried my partner but she still screamed. After a week of trying i finally found out that if i gave her breast till she was almost asleeep but with eyes closed i could then sneak a teat in while i was breatfeeding . if she opened her eyes she would still freak but after persevering every feed ,after 3 days she would take the bottle .

[Noelle]

Hi 

Try this...
http://www.index.php/topic,9215.0.html

If that doesn't work, you can go to the breastfeeding forum. It is a sticky on the top of there as well. 

[Liam&Ethan'smom]

Hi,

I am new to the site and I hope you can help.  My DS is 9 Months old and is BF but also takes a sippy cup with formula or water around mealtimes.  My dilemma is that I would like to stop breastfeeding but he does not seem to get the same "relaxed" feeling from the sippy cup as he does the breast. I do BF at naps but he does not fall asleep, but is relaxed enough to put in bed awake. Is it to late to introduce a bottle, and how do I go about it. Do I just stop altogether. I only BF 4 times a day now.

[Debonair]

Jam on the teat 

[Elphyrafire]

I'd been trying for months to get DS to take a bottle and everyone kept saying to try different nipples and bottles. Finally found the right one after 6 different types! Just keep trying!
Tip: if your baby take a paci then try to find the nipple that looks like the end of that.
For me: Paci was AVENT and the matching nipple was Playtex orthodontic latex-( the kind that go in the bottle with liners: the "old fashioned 1970's" ones).

[jules_is_cute]

Elphyrafire, Thanks so much for your post...I'll try that tonight I bought that kind of nipple my 3 mo old DD won't take a bottle and I've been back at work since Monday.  The longest I'm gone is 2 hours so far, but I can't MAKE  her eat before I leave, so she has just cried until my return the last 2 days.   Poor girl.    

[Elphyrafire]

Yikes! Poor lo and poor mom! I hope you find the right bottle! I think my DS liked those orthodontic ones b/c the Avent pacis are the same basic "flat" shape and he "knew" what to do with it more than the "nipple" types, kwim?
Oh also.... another thing that helped us: make sure the nipple part is warm, too. And DS also likes the milk very very warm.

[Caseysmomanddad]

It took me three weeks of trying everyday (and lots of tears) but it finally worked! My LO was taking a bottle once a week since birth then flatly refused at 3 months. She would scream bloody murder if anyone came near her with a bottle. Finally I took some advice and suggestions from this site and it worked.

What worked for us:
Put her in the bouncy chair, sat on the floor beside her.
She could still turn her head away and didn't feel trapped like when she was sitting on my lap.
Tried a bottle of EMB everyday. Only 1 ounce at a time. Threw gallons away, sniff.
Did it in the afternoon after her second nap. (Now she takes it anytime.)
Rubbed a drop of maple syrup on the nipple after warming it up with very hot water. (Honey is not recommended because of botulism, corn syrup could work too)
Used Playtex slow flow silicone nipples on a four ounce feeder with disposible liners.
Put my face close to hers and the back of my free hand against her cheek.
No talking or she smiles and wants to play.
Re-warmed the milk and nipple every few minutes.
After every attempt I showered her with kisses and tickles. She began to associate the bottle with fun rather than torture.
I wouldn't breastfeed her after a failed attempt for at least 20 minutes. I did a diaper change, or played a bit or walked outside to distract her.

Keep trying! A lot of babies seem to go through this phase of rebellious independence. It's like they suddenly grew the brain cell that distinguishes boob from fake-boob. I hope this helps someone out there...

[jules_is_cute]

Thanks for the maple syrup idea, is that okay for a 3 mo old?
 I'm thawing out a new bag of BMilk in the fridge for tomorrows efforts.  I'm very sad too, about how much has been wasted, all those hours of feeling like a cow, litterally!! 
I've only just wised up to the idea of only putting 5 ounces in a bottle to offer her, instead of wasting a whole pump!!  We learn as we go, huh?   

[Elphyrafire]

Thanks for the maple syrup idea, is that okay for a 3 mo old?
 I'm thawing out a new bag of BMilk in the fridge for tomorrows efforts. I'm very sad too, about how much has been wasted, all those hours of feeling like a cow, litterally!!
I've only just wised up to the idea of only putting 5 ounces in a bottle to offer her, instead of wasting a whole pump!! We learn as we go, huh?

Jules is Cute:
Someone told me about freezing BM in an icecube tray and then transfering to a Ziploc. Each icecube is 1 oz. They defrost quickly under warm water. I would only waste one cube at a time. EBM is precious!

[jules_is_cute]

ooh, good idea   

[Caseysmomanddad]

About the maple syrup, I only put one drop and rubbed it all over the nipple. I don't think it's any worse than jam, juice or sugarwater. I only put the syrup on three times until she took the bottle easier. For some reason, my LO won't take frozen-thawed EMB. My friend suggested storing it in glass jars rather than plastic freeze bags (I have the Medela pump freezer bags). The ice-cube tray thing is a good idea - I was planning on using one for pureed-solid foods later.

[jules_is_cute]

I'll give it a try, but I don't know why she'd be more likely to suck on it because it's sweet...she mouths the nipple now, and only cries if I keep offering it, I'm getting her used to seeing it and that milk comes out by offering it when she's not really hungry.

[emsandmegan]

When my lo came out of special care she took a bottle once a day quite happily. I was really pleased with this as it had taken at least 3 weeks to get her to breast feed properly (she had a gavant tube) and she seemed to not mind bottles at all. A couple of months after she cam home though she started refusing bottles and even when totally starving she would take 1 oz at best. So we kept trying but eventually it was too stressful for all of us so I accepted that she would have to be exclusively breast fed.
Then it go to a month before I was due to go back to work and Megan was taking over an hour to complete a bf so I decided we had to sort the bottle problem out once and for all. I tried every teat on the market but in the end we had success with the NUK teats.Walking around with her in my arms while feeding was good too. I stopped bf from 5pm onwards so if she refused her 5pm bottle she would be really hungry after her bath so more likely to take the bottle. We had a really tough few weeks but eventually she started to take some milk without too much fuss. However I was still not happy with her total intake and I suspected she was starting to make up for it with longer bf in the morning and middle of the night. I stopped the late morning and early afternoon bf and replaced them with bottle feeds. This made quite a big difference and she suddenly got the hang of it. My boobs calmed down quickly too so I dropped the early morning bf too. Then she started waking up twicw a night for feeds (still bf for convenience) so I stopped these too. She still only took 4 oz max until 3 weeks ago then I introduced the size 4 fast teat. Now she has 5-7oz which is fab. We have switched back to avent mainly because we had lots of their bottles that came with our steriliser and breast pumps. Its so worth just going cold turkey to wean off the breast I think it is probably the only way megan would have given up her boobie time!!!