problems introducing the bottle

[magnus]

My daughter is 6 weeks old today and we've been trying to introduce her to a bottle with expressed milk for about 4 days now. She is totally uninterested. We started with my husband doing it because I've heard that I shouldn't be the one to do it to avoid confusion with nursing. HOwever, he works a lot and has been pretty stressed, so I have been trying it during the day to get her going. She started out sort of tasting the nipple and exploring it, but has not really moved on to sucking and swallowing. I'm using the PLaytex nursers that a friend swears by and they are slow flow nipples, but milk still just drips out when I ease it into her mouth. Generally, she lets me put it in her mouth, but then she starts crying and spits out the milk.

I"m not sure what to try changing?? Do I need a different nipple? I"m trying to do it before she's too hungry, but that doesn't seem to work. I've tried the milk cool and also warmer and it doesn't seem to make a difference. Do you think it is because it's me giving it to her? I'm just not sure how to proceed and I'm getting super frustrated. I knew it might not happen the first time, but I thought I'd at least have some sucking by now.

Thanks for any ideas you have!!!!

[freestyler]

Why do you feel compelled to offer her your wonderful milk through an artificial means, if she is nursing well and you are not working? Without knowing your story, I don't understand why you would WANT to give her a bottle. Nature has furnished you with the perfect breasts for your babe. Throw the bottles away and forget they exist, that's my two cents. Of course, if you are planning to go to work soon, that's another story. But I think bottles are so icky. All that plastic in your baby's mouth, it's just not ideal. The breast is so....perfect in every way.

[Juniperberry]

I agree with everything freestyler said.

Unless of course you have to go back to work... there's really no need to bottle feed!! By 6 weeks you're only just establishing good breastfeeding, and if she's breastfeeding well then you're already winning!!

[Kikelet]

From what I know, some babies just won't take the bottle for months or at all. If I were in your situation I would try switching nipples. I am planning on trying to introduce the bottle because I simply will not be able to feed my baby 100% of the time. I registered for 3 different bottles with slow flow nipples to see which one works best for switching occasionally from breast to bottle. I am trying Dr. Browns, Medela, and Born Free. Definitely stay with a slow flow nipple, but see if you can get her to feed off a different brand, perhaps?

Also, I feel like mentioning, and this once again is just my opinion, if she starts to actually prefer a bottle over your breast, stop bottle feeding asap. It is just my belief that although babies can always continue to get expressed breast milk if they start to prefer a bottle over breast, having the baby actually nurse off your breast is so much more fulfilling than having to stop and pump. See if you can re-introduce the bottle at a later time, like in a few weeks if this does indeed happen. If you simply cannot go without the occasional bottle, then see if there is a nipple that she will better transition back and forth from.

Hope that helps. I will probably in your boat in a few months

ETA: I agree that babies should be exclusively breastfed, like the previous posts, but I know there will be situations where DP and I are going to need to be away from baby for a few hours from time to time because of our job. Although the situation will be rare, I would prefer that my little one at least knows that she won't starve if mommy can't be there. I'm going to have daddy and grandma/grandpa feed the baby with my breast milk occasionally from a bottle and see if it works. If it doesn't, we'll just be stuck with the boob :P

[Llyra]

It's not good news, but some kids never take to the bottle at all. My DS refused bottles entirely. I had to have surgery once, and was away from him for six hours, and he flat-out refused to take anything at all. And when I started working part-time again, he used to just wait for me to come back, and then nurse like crazy all night.

And some kids, when they do take a bottle, start refusing the breast, and then you have a whole other problem.

So I agree with the PPs-- if you don't HAVE to bottlefeed, it's probably better not to open that can of worms when baby is still so new.

That said, if you have a situation where baby must be away from you, and bottlefeeding is necessary, I think the best thing to do is let somebody else try it. Leave the house entirely, even if you just go sit outside or in the basement or something, so baby thinks you're really not there. Experiment with different nipple styles, different situations and times of day, and different feeding positions. Hopefully baby will pick up on it. With some kids, you want to wait until they're really really hungry. With others, that makes them too impatient, and it's better to nurse a bit first, and then try the bottle.

My DD2 would refuse the bottle if I held her cradled, but if I set her down in a baby seat and held the bottle for her that way, she'd happily take some if she was hungry.

If baby does refuse bottles, and you really must be away from baby, don't panic. Some babies really will just take their longest stretch of sleep while you're away, and then make up for it when you get back. And if the time is too long, baby can be offered milk in a medicine dropper or a tiny medicine cup, and that will usually be enough to hold baby over until you can come back.