Dads bottle feeding

The first couple of bottles I gave our 8 weeks old daughter (started giving her bottles about two weeks ago) were tough. Then we switched to a low flow nipple and it went much better. But the bottles over the last few days have not worked at all. She won't latch on, or she latches on for just a second or two. I tried moving it to the sides of her mouth or dripping milk in...she just keeps crying. It doesn't work even after she burps.

How do I get her to latch on? My wife seems to have no problem bottle feeding her.

Re: Dads bottle feeding

Maybe try having something that your wife's scent is on, like a t-shirt, near the baby when you feed her. That might help soothe her a bit, give her a sense that mom is around.

Re: Dads bottle feeding

Honestly I think you have to keep trying. Some feedings will go smoother than others. The baby is hungrier, less tired, less silly whatever.

Sometimes I have luck facing DS by putting him in a bouncy seat or rock and play or even swing. We've also had to hold him and gently sway the movement helps sometimes.

I think just stick with it and she will get it. Also take breaks as baby won't latch if they are in the middle of a tantrum. Soothe and then try again.

Re: Dads bottle feeding

Aww, I'm so sorry. I've been there. My DD went through the same thing at about the same age - just when I was getting the hang of pumping and really itching to get out of the house, she went on a "bottle strike" and wouldn't let ANYONE feed her from a bottle. I was literally not able to be without her for more than 2 hours at a time, ever, and was miserable. And my husband just wanted to help, but she wouldn't let him.

What we had to do was try, and try, and keep trying. We went out and kept buying different combinations of bottles and nipples. What finally worked was the Playtex drop-ins with a latex (the brown) nipple. That's all she would take. But once we hit on that combo, she'd take a bottle every day. I don't know if that was the magic bottle for her, or it was just that our persistence wore her down. Either way, she got it eventually (took about 3 weeks of daily attempts) and your baby will too.