Breast fed baby won't take a bottle

[LauraJ85]

Hi guys, my little boy is 12 weeks old tomorrow and has been exclusively breast fed since he was a week. I tried him with a bottle of expressed milk tonight and he had no interest in taking it. I know I probably should have tried sooner but he has a large appetite and is quite greedy so I didn't think it would be a problem. I'm going to keep trying but just wondered if anyone has been in the same situation and had any tips? I'm not in a rush to leave him with anyone else yet but would just be peace of mind to know he would take a bottle if needed too. Thank you x

[Dansolo92]

I had a similar experience with my son. He was breast fed but after a couple of weeks he would only feed from one side so had to express milk from the other side and bottle feed him as well. At first he was not having it at all but in time and with a lot of patience he took it and would drink both. I have just found out I'm expecting so I am going to do both straight away to make things easier but all I can say is just be patient and he will take it xx

[LauraJ85 in reply to Dansolo92]

Thank you. I will keep trying and fingers crossed it happens. Congratulations that's lovely news xx

[kt_11]

I had very similar issues and to be quite honest I can’t say that my little boy ever really took to a bottle properly. I found it very difficult at times as he wouldn’t really take a bottle and also wasn’t a great sleeper so I felt like I never got a break.

I did keep trying though and did get him to take the occasional bottle (the only ones he’d entertain were the Nuk ones). I remember feeling really ‘trapped’ but I persevered and am now glad I continued to breastfeed until 13 months when he pretty much just got fed up of milk and self-weaned.

In case you haven’t thought of these

- try getting someone else to give the bottle ie not you, and if possible you leave the house

- try at different times of day so ha tries both when he’s hungry and not so hungry to see if there’s any difference

Once they start eating solids and drinking water, it becomes less of a worry to leave them for a few hours as you know they can have something even if it’s not milk.

You’re doing a great job. Keep trying but don’t panic if it doesn’t happen. It won’t be long until his feeds are less frequent and it will gradually become less of an issue even if he’s never keen on bottles. x

[LauraJ85 in reply to kt_11]

Thank you, I will keep trying. I did think about seeing if he would take it off someone other than me so will give that ago. I'm aiming to breast feed for a year,maybe longer if he still wants too but it would be nice just to have a few hours to myself to catch up on sleep more than anything! Thank you for the advice xxx

[Hidden]

Would it be worth trying a bottle of expressed breast milk rather than formula, and someone else feeding it to your little one? My son is already much more enthusiastic about breast milk than formula (we’re currently combi feeding and I offered a bottle for the first time yesterday and he was definitely less fussy with the breast milk option).

[LauraJ85 in reply to Hidden]

It was expressed milk but he just messed around with the teat in his mouth. I will def try someone else given it so he can't smell my milk. Thanks for the advice x

[Claireeeeeeeeeeeee]

I cant help with the bottle as my little one never has taken a bottle (14 months now), have you tried a cup as some breastfed babies are happy to have milk from a cup really early. Mine was until she realised that meant I wasn't around! Also I agree once they are on solid food not taking milk from a bottle is no longer such an issue.

[LauraJ85 in reply to Claireeeeeeeeeeeee]

Thank you, I'm goingto try a few more times with a bottle but I never thought of a cup will give it a go if the bottle doesn't work x

[Anya80]

Ah that was my issue! I was breastfeeding my son for 13months and could not and he did not wanted any bottle from myself at all. However, I’ve returned to work at his 7months and he did take a bottle with both expressed and formula milk from others but not from myself. I wished at some point he’s taking a bottle with me being next to but he refused, but I’ve planned for breastfeeding him for 12months anyway so I guess my choice!

Breastfed babies often wake up at nights as they taking smaller amounts of milk at times and need to be fed more often, as they become older and mums are out of them during the day they also wake up for comfort reasons too I believe.

There are advantages and disadvantages for this type of feeding with babies, with disadvantages being mostly associated with mums unfortunately but I think is worth it!

I’m expecting my second one soon and plan to breastfeeding it too but I might try to introduce bottle earlier then I’ve done for my son and will try to do both breast and bottle feed with my milk then who knows I might be better off this time round xxx

[LauraJ85 in reply to Anya80]

He goes between 3 and 7 hours at night but I do think your right and sometimes it's a comfort thing, especially as I think he has started teething early. It's 100% worth it, I'm sure when he goes through the night I will miss the night feeds. Just wish I'd tried a bottle earlier. Good luck with your second I hope it all goes well xx

[Seb9]

I had to express milk into syringes when I was pregnant as I had gestational diabetes so I have a bit of a build up of expressed milk. My partner has been using them when I need a rest, he uses his little finger for the suckle action and gently syringes little bits of milk in as she sucks. That seems to have worked really well for us and hasn't caused any nipple confusion with bottles.

[LauraJ85 in reply to Seb9]

My lb was syringe fed for the first few days as he wouldn't latch and he takes gripe water from a syringe now but don't think milk would work as he is 12 weeks so needs alot more than he did as a newborn. It's good to know it could work tho if I did have to leave him unexpectedly. Thank you for the advice xx

[Hidden]

Hi try the Mam bottles. The shape is good for going from breast to bottle. Not cheap but I love them and it helped me loads. She couldn’t get a good latch with other bottles/teets xx

[LauraJ85 in reply to Hidden]

Thank you, I will give it a go xx