I need to go back to work but baby won't take the bottle!

538 Views 9 Replies 7 Participants Last post by squintz22, Jun 11, 2004

Joannect

Discussion Starter · Jun 9, 2004

Hi mamas! I was supposed to go back to work at the beginning of May but DS would not take the bottle. We're still trying- all different bottles, nipples and sippy cups and still nothing. He's almost 4 1/2 mos old and has been exclusively BF. The only bottle I haven't tried is that really expensive Adiri Breast bottle. Any suggestions? I've tried, DH has tried, with me at home and with me gone. We've tried with him hungry, starving and in between. Now I'm getting stressed becaus of the $ issue. I've been off of work since December because of preterm labor and $ is getting scarce. Thank you

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hallesmom

· #2 · Jun 9, 2004

I have this same issue with my now 10 month old. I've been working saturdays for almost 3 months. And, sadly the issue hasn't gotten much better. It was so bad one day I was fearful that she was going to get dehydrated.
Have you tried the NUBY brand sippy? The spout is soft and you kind of have to chomp down on it to get anything out. Also, maybe spoon feed a slushy form of your BM?
It is very hard, and I know my advice isn't that great-especially for a smaller baby. I hope someone else has some more comments.

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loving-my-babies

· #3 · Jun 9, 2004

I'm sorry you are going through this. I hope things get better for you and your babe.
The other day while browsing online I came across these artificial breasts that are bottles but have the same exact shape as the breast. I don't know the name, though, but maybe you could do a search online for them.

Sorry I couldn't help with anything else...

's to you!

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samuelsmom

· #4 · Jun 9, 2004

How long do you have to be away from your baby? When I went to work when ds was 4 months, he refused a bottle, too. Our LC said that he might just wait for me to get home, which he often did. We did start some rice cereal with him to keep him satisfied. Then I ended up working it out to come home to nurse him at lunch time. That seemed to take care of things, he just nursed like crazy in the evenings! I hope you find a solution that works for all of you--it's a very hard time on everyone, I know.

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dawndup

· #5 · Jun 10, 2004

I had this problem with DD - she still didn't quite have the hang of the bottle when I went back to work. She was 3 months old.

For about six weeks, I would go to her daycare every day at lunch to nurse her. Could you do that? At least then your baby would get one feeding during the day to tide him over. Or, can you go to work part-time? Drop baby off at daycare, and pick him up after 4 hours or so?

With our daughter, she would only eat from the bottle if she was calm... we could not starve her into taking it. Some things that we tried were:
- I nursed her for 5 minutes first so that she wasn't starving
- We would wait until she was calm in her bouncy seat, then sneak up behind her and put the bottle in her mouth
- Walk, rock, and sing... walk, rock, and sing... get her very calm and then rest the bottle nipple on the side of her mouth and let her decide if she wanted to take it.

I know you said you've tried all kinds of bottles... have you tried Dr. Brown's? We found that other bottles either flowed too fast or too slow, but the Dr. Brown's nipples were perfect for DD. That is still the only kind she can latch on to. She will also latch onto a breastbottle, but as you say, they're expensive. It may be worth ordering one just to see. The Avent bottles are supposed to be breast-shaped, but DD can't latch onto them. She hates them. She can only latch onto the normal "bell shaped" nipples like the Dr. Brown's.

If they keep trying at daycare to feed him bottles, he'll have rough days but he will eventually learn to take them. It took us like 6 weeks at home and then another 6 weeks at daycare, but then DD was a champ at the bottle and she still nurses with no problem too. Be patient and good luck to you....

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Joannect

Discussion Starter · #6 · Jun 10, 2004

Thanks for all of the support and hugs. I'm tired and I needed them

Here's the deal. I work really long shifts. I'm a RN and I work 7am to 7pm and by the time I get done giving report and then drive home it's a 14 hour day. I work in a REALLY busy unit (ICU) and breaks will be hard to take (even to pump). There are days that I didn't even get a lunch or a break.

So, it has to be a bottle. I've tried Dr. Browns, Avent, Gerber, Playtex and 3 different sippy cups one was Avent and I can't remember the others. I just might have to invest $16 in the Breast bottle....sigh. Thanks again.

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dawndup

· #7 · Jun 10, 2004

Understood, sweetie... so you can't nurse him on breaks, which is a bummer, but he'll get there. Do try the breastbottle.. it's worth a go. And try the others again. He will eventually latch on. You mentioned you've tried with him hungry and starving... also try with him not-hungry... just calm and mellow.

There are pacifiers called Soothies that are in the same shape as a bottle nipple... I also wonder if getting him used to Soothies would help him take a bottle? You could offer him a Soothie to help him get to sleep, or just when he's chilling out at home...

Just throwing all the ideas I can think of at you. I was there. I understand!
Hugs!

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Ligmom

· #8 · Jun 11, 2004

Have you considered feeding him with a syringe or medicine dropper? I know he's not a newborn, but if he won't take a bottle or sippy cup this would be an option to keep him hydrated without introducing solids before he's ready. It would be slow-going but all of the babies I've ever seen fed this way (only 3

) don't seem to mind

. Also, medela makes an infant feeding cup that doesn't have a spout at all--it's very pliable so you can allow just a little bit of milk out at a time...I think they have a website--you could check into that. HTH...let us know how the adjustment goes

eta: link to the page on the medela site with specitaly feeding products
infant cups and feeders

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squintz22

· #9 · Jun 11, 2004

I went back to work when my youngest was 4.5 months old. She would not and still won't take a bottle (she's now almost 9 months). For 3.5 months I spent lunch every day driving out to feed her. She was getting EBM from a sippy cup with no valve on it in the mornings and afternoons. She still refuses a sippy cup too. We started her on some veggies at about 6 months, and that made life infinitely easier, but she is still a boobie only girl. I've just accepted that that's all she wants. Now she gets some water, but I still usually feed her at lunch.....

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squintz22

· #10 · Jun 11, 2004

Oh - and we did try the Breast bottle (got one on ebay for about $12).

She didn't like that either.......though now she thinks it's a fun toy!

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