Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

My DS is 3 months old. He had been taking bottles just fine but then I had an oversupply of milk, and to regulate I stopped pumping and started exclusively breastfeeding. Once the oversupply was regulated we tried giving him a bottle and he refused. i have been trying on and off for 2 weeks now and he will not take a bottle. Finally, this morning he let me put the bottle in his mouth without screaming, but he would gulp and then let all of the milk fall out of his mouth.

I don't know what to do to get him to take a bottle! Luckily I dont have to go back to work as I am a SAHM, but I just need a few hours off! It doesnt help that he is also a frequent nurser and sometimes wants to nurse every 45 minutes to an hour.

Has anyone else experienced this? I've tried almost every bottle out there including the breast flow, playtex nurser, avent, etc. My mom is picking me up a Dr. Brown's bottle today but i doubt that will work any better.

I think i just need to hear from others out there that they had this problem too and that they were able to resolve it. i am getting depressed thinking that i am going to have to breastfeed my son exclusively until he can drink from a cup.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

No advice because DD has no problem going back and forth between bottle and breast just some hugs and good luck ... i know how exhausting it can get BF ALL the time

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

Unfortunately, I'm a BTDT mother in this area. In a nutshell, DD took a bottle (occasionally, 2-3x/week) from 4 weeks to 11 weeks and then one day just decided bottles were no longer for her.

Very unfortunately, I was returning to work when DD was 4 mos. We tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried and tried (do you get what I'm saying? ) with every bottle out there in every scenario possible. DD just would NOT take a bottle.

I was literally going insane. In fact, looking back, I have no idea how we all survived!

What ended up happening was that DD was fed by a DROPPER (yes, the kind you give medicine with) for a whole month and a half while I was at work. I BFed her in the morning and BFed the SECOND I walked in the door and then again at night. She was only getting about 4-8 oz. of formula while I was at work ... and just so you know, the dropper was NOT easy, either. DD wasn't a big fan at all.

So perhaps I have digressed here and made this post all about me ... BUT ... in the end, DD DID (and still does!) take a bottle! Just one day, she accepted it from our nanny. That was a beautiful day.

I hope my story gives you some hope. Because I felt pretty hopeless throughout that whole time. My advice is just KEEP trying.



(As a side note, I'm pretty sure that if I was a SAHM, I would have just BFed DD and given up on the bottle completely - and I bet I'd still be BFing today!)

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

yep. My DD never took a bottle at all. We went straight from breast to cup. It was very difficult

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

I have 3 no bottle babies Never took one. Tried having others give them, me leaving the room... nothing ever worked. Its only a few months so I just stuck it out.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

Those of you that never had any success, can you tell me at what point they took a sippy cup? TIA

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

I haven't had this problem but my sister had the same problem. She left BIL at home with the baby for almost an entire day and the baby finally took the bottle. I know that sounds painful but my sister had to get my niece to bottle feed as she was going back to work.

My lactation nurse also suggested that if babies struggle with bottle feeding to leave for a while and let daddy handle it. Babies can smell you and milk and when they know its available they won't take a bottle.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

DD is 4 months old and refused the bottle. I was very concerned b/c I'm not a SAHM and my maternity leave was winding down. My ped told me not to worry that she wouldn't starve herself - and she hasn't. She now takes the bottle from MIL, SIL and her daddy with no problem. My mother, well, that's still a problem, but I think there are other issues causing it.

I would go back to whatever bottle he was taking just fine before you had the oversupply issues instead of trying to introduce something new.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

Yup! DD NEVER took a bottle and I've been BFing for 10 months now. She'll have water in a sippy, but other than that...it's only been boob!

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

DD stopped taking a bottle from weeks 15-26 or so - she had no issues taking pumped bottles before this time - but she just refused to take a bottle afterward for about 10-12 weeks. She would play around with the bottle in her mouth and laugh -then cry b.c she was hungry and wanted to be fed. One day she just decided to start taking the bottle again. I just kept trying on and off.

My ped said some babies can be tricked into taking a bottle but my DD wasn't going to have any of that He suggested putting some fruit flavored pedialyte into a bottle and trying that - then when she takes that a few times to switch it back to milk.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

We were going through this. DD would scream. It was terrible. We stopped for a month and then I realized we had to try again cause we have weddings and things coming up. So I tried the adiri bottle and I would rub milk on the tip. She started taking it. I know how stressful it is, and I've decided that I'm going to wean her from the breast because I don't want her to regress and refuse the bottle. I know a mom on here (I think Matteosmom) had a great success story with the gerber sippy cup. Good luck!

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

2 out of 3 of my kiddos were no bottle babies. Luckily I was a SAHM with the last two and I just stuck it out. Went straight from breast to cup.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

For my dd, my ped told me it was dh's job and I needed to leave the house for the day and make him do it. I did and it worked. She complained everytime for about 3 weeks, but now she takes bottles like a champ again. There is hope, but I would do it now.

My son also refused a bottle and started a sippy cup at 5 months. He was able to drink from it proficiently by 7.5 months. He never had a bottle.

Message edited 4/6/2008 10:14:23 PM.

Re: Anybody have a BF baby that refused to take a bottle?

I had a trick to get my DD to take the bottle that a few ladies on here used, successfuly.

It's the old bait and switch. TMI, but, I would bring her up to my lap, start the "BF" routine by pulling up my shirt, unlatching the bra, and just as her mouth opened to latch on,I would sneak a bottle into her mouth.

Worked like a charm