Is anyone else not bothered that baby won't take a bottle?

It hasn't been an issue thus far that DS won't take a bottle, so I have to say that we haven't kept trying. Should I be concerned? We're really never seperated more than a few hours. We've tried all methods that I knew of to get this kid to take a bottle. (Have to admit, though, it just got to where it was more trouble and frustration for DH and myself than it was worth.) At 5 1/2 months, DS won't take a bottle or sippy cup of anything just yet. No ebm, no juice, no water. Surely that is likely to change in the coming months, right? DH maintains that if an emergency situation arose, and DS got hungry enough, he would take the bottle. Do you guys find this to be true? Do you feel I should take up trying to give him the bottle again? Is there anyone else out there who just gave up on fighting with the kid over the whole bottle thing? TIA. I'm really anxious to find out how others how feel about this situation.

We pretty much gave up, too. I did have to go without nursing for 24 hours for a test when James was about your DS's age, and he did take a few ounces, but not nearly what he must have been consuming normally. I even gave him a few ounces by medicine syringe (orally, of course)! That was the hardest time, and we made it through okay. Any other time I left him for a few hours, he might take a couple of ounces by bottle or might not, and then he would usually just nurse extra to make up for it when I came home (and I would wake him up to nurse when I got home if he was asleep (I knew he'd wake up soon anyway). Once he started solids I felt better knowing that someone could give him something he would be likely to eat. Honestly, if you're not bothered by him not taking a bottle, I wouldn't worry about it anymore. Soon you'll be giving solids, sippy cups or straw cups or open cups, etc., and you'll be more comfortable leaving for longer periods.

Elizabeth, Mom to James, 9-20-02

[lisams]

We were in the EXACT same situation as you. We tried everything, every bottle, every trick and it all came down to her stubborness. We finally gave up after trying every night for a month or so. Then around 6 months she actually started sucking on a sippy cup, so we decided it would be silly to try and introduce the bottle then. During that time when she wouldn't take anything I did worry a little about the "what if something happened to me", but I'm sure that if it came down to it, she would eventually take a bottle. We just had no real reason to keep tyring since it would end up with her screaming and me and DH feeling like failures. It turned out to be no problem at all. DD is 14 months and never had a bottle, and is doing great now with her sippy cup. I wouldn't worry about it!

Lisa

My first didn't take a bottle until she was 8 months old, my second never took a bottle but started the sippy cup at 11 months and Ryden doesn't take a bottle or sippy yet. W/ the first two it didn't bother me that they wouldn't, but there are times w/ Ryden when I wish he would. We've tried, he's just not interested. But I know we will survive and soon enough breastfeeding will end (or dwindle down considerably) so I really don't push it. As for emergencies, I guess I just assume that if he were really hungry and I wasn't available, he'd take the bottle. Worse case, he would survive on peas and cheerios, his two favorite foods and someone else would have to deal w/ the mess of him drinking out of a cup (which he does do, I just don't care for the time/mess issues).

I went back to work at 5.5 months and Sara was the same way... and frankly she didn't reliably take a bottle (with gusto!) until she was fully weaned last week. I would keep working with her on it.

[wendmatt]

dd never took a bottle either and I agree, it became more hassle than it was worth for us. She started sipping from a sippy cup without the valve around 5 mths as I was trying to get her to drink water as she was constipated, but would never drink ebm or formula from it. If you are not at work and don't feel it's a problem I wouldn't worry about it. Try now again with the cup just to get him used to it, but if it doesn't worry you, don't stress on it.