How to get bf baby to take a bottle?

[Melissa]

I am looking for some advice on how to encourage my 8-month-old to take bottles of breastmilk. My husband is home for a three-month parental leave, and I am supposed to be writing my thesis, but unfortuantley, we were lazy and did not introduce the baby to the bottle early...we did it a couple of times when he was very young and it was OK, but now he really refuses...He also refuses to take any solids, so I am truly his only source of food. My 4 year old was the same--he did not eat any solids till after 12 months, and he ABSOLUTELY refused any bottles. Until now I have been feeding on demand, on no schedule at all, night and day, and I would like to continue doing that but with the bottle for times when I'm not at home in th emiddle of the day...But nothing we have tried so far works. Any suggestions? experiences? It is so disheartening to keep pumping and having to throw the milk down the drain.

Thanks!

[z-girl]

Have you tried a sippy cup? My 6 month old loves to drink water out of one.

[Deni]

Definitely try the sippy cup - DD took the bottle initially, but but wouldn't take either if I was around. I had to go upstairs or another room when dh gave it to her. Good luck.

[Mommiska]

I third the sippy cup idea. And if I were you - I would just leave the house for about 4-5 hours. My daughter refused to take a bottle, and was iffy about the sippy cup. But I was going back to work when she was 6 1/2 months old (an overnight shift), so she'd have to take something.

It was amazing, DH said, how quickly she took that sippy cup when I wasn't around and she wanted a drink. Wasn't a problem at all once I just wasn't available as the alternative.

Carolyn

[Pallas]

I fourth!

Cub WAS introduced to a bottle at 6 or 8 weeks, and said "Ptui! No way!". So even if you'd tried earlier, there's no guarantee your baby would have been accepting of the "fake mommy".

Sippy cups work MUCH better with Cub. He likes drinking out of 'grownup cups' at this point.

Good luck!

[Melissa]

Thank you!

Thanks for the suggestions. We are trying the sippy cup today. We have tried me going out for several hours--in fact, that's what we do all the time, but even with me out of the house, he is very, very definite about not taking the bottle. So, we'll hope for better with the cup.

[flutemandolin]

Found this thread on a search and I have a couple of questions. First, would a sippy cup work for a baby 3 months old who is until now exclusively breastfed? And, does anyone have any suggestions for types/brands of cup?

Thanks!

[Melissa]

cup for 3-month-old

I haven't had much luck with any of this, but even so, my guess is that it could work and if you are having trouble with a bottle, it's worth trying. I'm not sure about brands, but I would look for one that has a supple rubber-type sippy spout rather than hard plastic. I think Avent makes one with their bottle stuff, but maybe others make them too (and others might be cheaper). The other advantage of the sippy cup, if you try one that does NOT have a spill proof mechanism, is that you can sort of squirt a bit of the milk into the baby's mouth to get things going...it hasn't really worked for me, but that's what others have told me has worked for them, and it makes sense. I just wouldn't try a sippy cup with a spill proof mechanism that means the baby has to suck super hard...if you have to work hard to get anytihng out of it yourself, chances are that at least at first the baby won't get anything.

Good luck.

My own baby still refused the bottle--or anything else except the breast for that matter--so we've just had to admit defeat for now!

[rainsmom]

sippy cups

the sippy cups I have NEVER leak, they're EVenflow.

And I tried to get my dd to take a bottle at 6 weeks. She never did. When she started teething I gave her a bottle of water, and she loves sucking on it now. Now that I dont care if she does or not!!