[jenniepaige]

And it makes me so SAD! We gave him the bottle at like 3.5 months and now that's all he ever wants. He nurses at night and right in the morning and that's it. Other then that he just screams when I put him to the breast. Well, he will suck for a few seconds and then scream. Or fuss, or wiggle, or bite me. He doesn't like it anymore. I only wanted to give myself a little bit of a break because I was loosing my MIND, not ween him. I wanted to nurse at least a year. I feel so terrible and guilty. What do I do? As soon as I give in and give him the bottle he all but jumps at it and calms down and takes it happily. He grabs at it even and then cries when I try to nurse him. It's not fair. It's not what I wanted. He only takes it at night because he's half asleep.
I tired just refusing to give him a bottle and that lasted a few min. till he just screamed and screamed and I felt so terrible because I KNOW he's hungry and wants a bottle. I feel so terrible and selfish and dumb.
boohoo

 

[alegna]

That's the problem with bottles. You CAN get him back to the breast (it's great that he's still nursing!) You have to make the bottles NOT AN OPTION when you're together.

good luck!

-Angela

 

[Katica]

I agree that it`s a good sign that he is willing to nurse. My son also had this problem. He got used to the faster flow of the bottle and was unwilling to nurse. And of course, it`s hard to not feel rejected when a rubber nipple is preferred.

But, it can be overcome.

There were a number of things that helped with DS.
#1-Skin-to-skin contact. I stripped him to his diaper and myself to the waist and laid him on my stomach to nurse. The warmth of mommy`s body and the comfortable sound of your heartbeat will relax him and he`ll want to nurse.
#2- taking a warm bath together. It`s the same effect as the skin-to-skin, my son is 2 but he still *has to* nurse when we are taking a bath together.
#3- at around 4-5 months babies start to discover the world around them and often get fussy and impatient with nursing. Have you tried a nursing necklace? It`s just a necklace with colorful beads on it or different shapes and sizes. Your DS can play with it while he is nursing.
#4-You say he is willing to nurse at night? That`s wonderful. If you can dim the lights where you are nursing and minimize distractions that may also help.

You are doing great! Nursing is challenging and it`s something people don`t like to talk about. I struggled with a wiggly, distracted baby for most of the first year of his life. But, now more than 2 years later he is still nursing. It will happen. Hang in there

 

[jenniepaige]

I will try the bath, that might work. I just gave in and had DH give him a bottle after trying and trying. The most he would do is suck for less then a min then pop off and scream. So disapointing. And I feel like its all my fault too.

 

[alegna]

When you are available, avoid the bottles. If he WILL NOT nurse, use another method to get milk into him like syringe feeding, spoon feeding, cup feeding, finger feeding, etc

www.kellymom.com has lots of info and directions.

I would get rid of bottles all together.

-Angela

 

[rhiandmoi]

It's easier to get milk out of a bottle than a boob usually, so you could try slower flow nipples. Once it becomes the same or more amount of work to get lunch out of a bottle, that will make the boob more appealing.

http://www.amazon.com/Philips-Avent-.../dp/B000056W6G

 

[TiredX2]

I would also get rid of bottles altogether.

That said, are you still using newborn nipples on the bottles? You should be--- they have a slower flow.

Personally, I think that at that young of age nursing is necessary (whenever possible). I wouldn't want my baby to cry, but it would be like going in the car seat.

Are you sleeping with baby? Can you encourage him to nurse more during the night?

 

[babygrant]

Quote:

Originally Posted by TiredX2 I would also get rid of bottles altogether.

Yep. Chuck 'em out.

 

[Katie T]

It sounds like he doesnt want to wait for letdown. Try inducing letdown before you put him to the breast either manually or with a pump. I had a similar prob. and this resolved it good luck.

 

[jenniepaige]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I worked really hard with him the other day and things started to get much better yesterday and today. He still fusses a bit and seems impatient but I guess that's just him. I don't ever really feel a let down but I know I get full and then empty after he does nurse. It's really usually short periods of times except at night and he still is soooo distracted most of the time but hopefully he will grow out of that?

 

[claddaghmom]

Starting the nursing session before he is all out hungry might help, too.

 

[alegna]

Yay! Sounds like progress! It's okay to not feel let down. I've felt it fewer than 10 times between both kids (nursing constantly for the last 4 years...)

Keep at it! And good luck!

-Angela

 

[Nan'sMom]

Sounds like you're doing well. You've gotten some great suggestions. My only additional suggestions are:

(1) make bottle-feeding simulate a wait to letdown, in other words, hold the bottle so your baby has to suck a few times to get the milk to start flowing, then tip it so he can get some out (you can do this during the nursing session too);

(2) squirt some milk in from the breast as soon as he latches on so he knows milk is on its way (you can experiment with a spot to press on/squeeze on your breasts to do this);

(3) try to latch him on any time he's sleepy or about to nod off.

Good luck and keep up the great work!