Going to Work MONDAY, Need Help Getting Baby to Take a Bottle

[JuniperMama]

I was such a worry wart about pumping the first time around with DS that I thought with our new DD I'd take it easier and not freak out so much about the bottles, etc. I've been on maternity leave for 18 weeks not and return this coming Monday. We've given sporadic pumped milk bottles that have always gone fine but apparently I fell off the schedule much further than I thought and now its been a few weeks since we'd given her a bottle. I didn't realize it had been so long but now that I think about it...

Anyway, I pumped some milk for a bottle and DH tried to give it to her. She's not interested. She'll mouth it a bit and suck a tiny bit but mostly she wants nothing to do with it. It was approx 3 hrs since her last feed so she's prob pretty hungry but she was having none of that bottle. Finally I went ahead and nursed because she was getting super upset and I didn't want her to get a negative association with the bottles.

The au pair arrives tomorrow. This is not good timing. I'm already kicking myself for not "practicing" more.

What should we do? How do I help her accept a bottle? Anyone BTDT? What'd you do to get things worked out? Help!

Thanks.

[Ellien C]

So she's taken the bottle before, but not in a few weeks? Try to get someone other than YOU to give the bottle. You've got the breasts and you smell like milk. She wants is straight from the source.

[JuniperMama]

Yeah my DH has been the bottle-giver except for the attempt while nursing today. He is upstairs trying again right now with a different bottle. I'm "hiding" downstairs so she won't be looking at or smelling me. I'm hoping that helps!

I just wish that she was a bottle pro so this was easier. Boy, never thought I'd say that! Now that she's a BF pro, I want her to be a versatile milk consumer.

[blessedwithboys]

i worked as a nanny yrs ago and the little girl never learned to like bottles. i finger fed her for 8 mos. maybe your au pair could try another feeding method?

[bluebunny]

I did the same thing: gave my DS a bottle at about four weeks but when I went back to work at 10 weeks, he wouldn't take a bottle. And he never did! I worked full-time
(40 hours per week) and pumped. My caregiver tried everything--every bottle, nipple, etc. Occasionally she gave him milk in a cup to tide him over. I ended up nursing him at lunch every day. DS compensated by reverse-cycling, cluster feeding in the evening and nursing every 2 hours throughout the night. Co-sleeping saved my sanity.

All that to say that a baby won't starve herself. Your au pair could probably finger or cup feed enough to tide her over or else she will end up taking a bottle. Most BF babies will not take a bottle with mom right there and if you are in another part of the house, she might sense that you are still there.

Another tip that the LC gave me was to have the caregiver wear a shirt that I had slept in while trying to give the baby a bottle. GL!

[MtBikeLover]

At this point, I think you should forget the bottles and go straight to cups. My DD never took a bottle. I waited until she was 6 weeks to introduce it and she couldn't get the hang of it. We tried everything - even the LC at the hospital tried to help me and she just screamed the whole time. It was horrible and I was so worried about going back to work at 12 weeks.

She would not take the bottle from anyone so DH who was a SAHD (now ex-husband) would bring her to me at work during lunch so she could get one feeding in. And sometimes I would go home for lunch.

At 16 weeks, he started feeding her milk on a spoon with a little bit of cereal mixed in to get something in her belly. That worked to hold her over til I got home and then she would nurse all evening long and into the night.

Finally, around 20 weeks, she would drink a little from a cup. We also started solids (no flames please - it was the right decision for her and she was ready. I am not advocating it...just saying how we handled the fact that we knew DD needed to have something in her belly during the day).

Good luck!

[Carita]

Try some different bottles - especially wide mouth bottles with soft nipples. And when DH gives her the bottle, leave the house. DH will figure out how to get milk into her - weather by dropper or cup or bottle. And just do what you can.

DS would only take Dr. Brown's widemouth bottle to begin with. Took us 2 weeks so convert him to the medela bottles that I had a whole stash of.