3 month old doesn't want anything to do with bottle/cup/finger feeding

[jenfl]

I have a 3 month old son who is EBF. He was tongue tied and still has some trouble nursing (losing latch frequently), but I think we're finally at the point where I'd call it "well established". Because of his troubles, we didn't even try a bottle until 10-12 weeks.

The first few times DH tried it, he gagged on the nipple and vomitted up what he'd eaten (barely any). Another time, he just chewed on the nipple. Now he just won't take it.

We tried a cup (he took maybe 1/4 an ounce before refusing) and finger feeding (wouldn't take anything).

We've tried both frozen milk and fresh milk.

Now, I'm not on any timeline to get him to feed from someone else (I'm a SAHM), but there's stuff I'd love to do with DD alone, and DH would like to have daddy-baby days. I don't need responses from people who think no one but I should feed DS.

Any suggestions for how to go about this? Techniques? Similar experiences?

Thanks!

[alegna]

Have you tried an open cup? I know a baby who wouldn't take bottles at all but would happily take enough from an open cup to wait on mama to get home. It takes patience on the part of the feeder, but is do-able.

good luck!

-Angela

[mom2happy]

I know its so frustrating.
Just keep trying everyday with the bottle.
Try different nipples.
Will he suck on your finger for comfort?
My dd is 2 mos. and she will not take the bottle. When I try she kind of lets the milk fall in and swallows it. Im trying everyday, just so I know if I have to go somewhere or there is an emergency she'll be able to eat.
You could try getting a faster flow nipple so that some just spills in.
My little brother had cp and couldnt latch onto anything, so my mom pumped and make the nipple holes big.

[tzs]

i've heard eyedropper as a suggestion before.
mine also wouldn't take a bottle (and i tried them all) until i put formula in it. but by that point she was already 5 months old and i figured i might as well since she was about to start solids anyway, so what's a bottle of formula every once in a while. i think because the bottle was not the boob and she was so mad that whatever was in it had to be totally different also. i dunno.
good luck.

[Super~Single~Mama]

I wouldn't try it immediately, but a straw in a few months might do. My son started using a straw young and prefers it to anything but the boob (although he will take a bottle now at night from his dad when he stays at his dad's house).

Also, in a few months, spoon feeding slushi milk might work well.

My son was EBF as well, but took bottles a few times a week (I was in class) until he was 12weeks - then, no bottles. He refused. Mommy was better I guess. So, you might just have to hang in there b/c theres no guarantee that he will take a bottle at all anyway.

[smpayne]

Originally Posted by jenfl

The first few times DH tried it, he gagged on the nipple and vomitted up what he'd eaten (barely any). Another time, he just chewed on the nipple. Now he just won't take it.

We tried a cup (he took maybe 1/4 an ounce before refusing) and finger feeding (wouldn't take anything).

Were you home at the time? Sometimes it helps if you actually leave for an hour or two. I know my ds could smell if I was home. I even tried just going outside for a while, with no luck. It wasn't until I left for a longer period of time that he would take the bottle from dh.

I would leave before he got hungry and when I came home, dh said he took the bottle just fine.

[rhiOrion]

For us it took actually leaving her at daycare to get her to take a bottle. I think it was something about being not even at our house. Plus those people just have some sort of baby magic.

Not saying you should put sprout in daycare, of course But maybe try sending DH away with baby? Even just down the street to a park or something?

[blessed2bmommy]

My dd refused a bottle. We finally got her to take one specific kind and ONLY that bottle. Its called breastflow by the first years. I've recommended it to other EBF moms whose LO's wouldn't take a bottle. All have had success with it. It's supposedly specifically designed for breast fed babies!
Good luck!

[tzs]

breastflow is the one that finally got my babe as well.

[elmh23]

We used a medicine dropper for my second child until he got the hang of nursing (around 4 months.)

[cristeen]

I was going to suggest different nipples, too. Some babies really show a preference to nipple type/shape/size. I have force fed my guy at times when he was sick - a medical syringe with a tube on it. It's not terribly pleasant for either of us, but if he'll take a finger or paci or something similar but just won't suck on it, you can always slip the tube in with it, and feed him that way.

[jenfl]

Thanks, guys. We've tried the Breastflow and 2 other types of bottles, with no luck. I've left the room but not the house during feedings. I guess that's the next step -- let DH and DS figure it out on their own for a while....

[laughingfox]

Have you tried MAM? They're the first type of not-my-mommy feeding my DD would take. The nipples have some kind of slight texture to them that's supposed to make them feel more like skin, and I'm no nursing expert (learned that the hard way), but it looks to me like the shape of the nipple puts her mouth in a good nursing-type latch.

[dahlialia]

I never had much luck getting mine to take anything. They would both just wait for me to return :

That said, I would come up with a list of options (cup, bottle, eyedropper, etc), decide between you and DH which ones you think are most likely to work. Set DH up with what he needs to try those options, make sure DS is well fed and go ahead and take DD for some fun time.

DH can call you if it's a disaster. Or DS will learn to eat a little more by one of the methods. Or he will wait until you come back.

[ellairiesmom]

i hear ya mama. we tried all the diff nipples, bottles, med dropper, open cup etc. dd2, now 5 mos, will take sips from some of those but she will not latch on enough to satisfy the need to suck. i haven't been able to leave her w/ dh or my mom for longer than 2 hrs before she freaks out.

she sucks her thumbs/hands when i am around, but when i am gone, she knows it & will not self soothe. smarty pants.

i am going to start the sippy cups now & we just started bm ice cubes for the teething mesh feeder. i am hoping she will cut us some slack soon. lol

[ladymeag]

A friend of mine that's an ER doc had trouble with her EBF baby because she couldn't get her to take a bottle once her maternity leave was up at six weeks. They tried all kinds of things - bottles, cups, sippy cups. They borrowed bottles to dry about ten different kinds. What finally worked? A spoon. She'd take milk *and* formula from a spoon. She moved on to bottles at about six months when we visited and she saw my son (five months) having a bottle - she just had to try it! She came over to take his bottle and try it.

FWIW: Breastflow did not work for us at all. After about five or six bottling systems, we tried the Avent (with the adapter ring, the honey-colored ones leaked all over me all the time) system and it's been a winner since. Keep trying.

I hope you find your solution!