DD not taking bottle - wants mommy!

[sunny2003]

Hey there - dd has been almost exclusively bf for 6.5 months though we did have a month or so of supplemental feeding. It used to be that she would take a bottle (any bottle or nipple, ebm or formula) like a champ and it did not matter if I or anyone else gave it to her. Lately when I have been out, dh has tried to give her a bottle with ebm and formula but she resists - she will take it when she is *really* hungry (even from me) but would rather wait for me to get home and nurse. Tonight dh gave her a bottle and I had to leave the room, then I went grocery shopping - she did take some formula but stopped after a couple of ounces and that nursed when I got home. I don't know if this coincides with her being on solids and going longer and shorter with feedings. What can I do to get her to take the bottle (whether ebm or formula) again? Help! We are leaving her with another couple this coming Sat night and I might be going back to work ft too so any advice would be timely!

TIA!

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03

[Xariklia]

was there a period of time that you stopped giving her the bottle altogether? because i know that you have to keep it up or else they will refuse it. Just because they take the bottle when you give it to them doesn't mean you can stop for a long period of time and then expect them to take it again. this happened to my friend. she stopped with the bottle for a month and then when she went back to work, baby refused. but it could also be that baby is eating solids like you said. they tend to nurse less as well i heard. i make sure i give dd bottle a few times a week even though i don't have to, for times that i will be away from her. keep trying as i'm sure she will eventually pick it up again. good luck.

[C99]

I don't have any advice, but Nate consistently had bottles from time to time starting at birth and until he was about 5 months, when he flat out refused to take them. He would take an ounce or two if he was really hungry, but otherwise would wait until mom was around. Some babies are just like that; I've heard of babies going up to 8 hours without eating (breastmilk or formula), so she should be OK for Saturday night.

Have you started giving her a sippy cup yet? You might want to try that, although when we first tried this, Nate looked at me like I was trying to poison him.

[sunny2003]

Do you mean trying to give her formula in a sippy cup? - interesting idea! I'll try it.

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03

[hellokitty1]

Viv-

We had issues with the bottle too. We introduced when she was a few weeks for her middle of the night feedings until about 8 weeks and then we stopped being consistent about it and she just refused after that. So it's normal that Kaley is reacting the way she is. At least she will still take it if she's hungry. As far as taking the bottle when you start work again, I would not worry about it too much at the moment. From my experience, once the work routine starts up, Kaley will learn when she has to take the bottle verses when she gets it directly from the source. I know that may not be much consolation but it wil be okay and it took time for us to get into the pattern with DD. At first, she was barely drinking anything at daycare.

As far as this weekend, just tell the couple about the situation and to be patient with giving it to her. Sometimes I've found when it is a complete stranger, they're more likely ot take it. Even DH had a hard time giving it to her, I think because she saw him as a playmate, not a feeder.

Good Luck.
HTH.

[sunny2003]

Thanks for the advice - I guess this is something we will work through and when she is hungry, she'll get what she needs. She hasn't starved yet :) Oh, and she didn't take a sippy cup - she just thought it was another toy and started using it as a drum!

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03

[hellokitty1]

That's funny about the sippy cup. We put one in front of DD to see what she would do and she just uses it as a chew toy.

[drsweetie]

I'm going to revive this topic because I'm in a similar situation -- Laura, who is now 5 months old, has always resisted taking a bottle (she much prefers to breastfeed, even though there's breast milk in the bottle), but she's just started a new day care and is completely refusing to eat at all while she's there. She seems to be otherwise happy and is her usual alert and perky self, but the not eating thing (she's stubborn enough to go for 9 hours during the day with no food) is really worrying me. I am not only concerned about whatever ill effects this may have on her, but also worried that she'll start "reverse cycle feeding" and staying up more at night, which I absolutely CAN NOT HANDLE. Do you have any suggestions for getting her to feed? (BTW, we've tried different bottles and a sippy cup, with no success. The day care people suggested maybe cereal would work better, which her ped. said was fine; would this be a good idea?)

Ellen
Mom to Laura 6/9/03

[sunny2003]

Ellen, are you not feeding her solids now? I can tell you that dd definitely nurses less now that she has 3 solid food meals a day - she used to bf every 2 hours and now she goes from 2.5-4 hours between nursings.

I also am going to try again to see if she will take a bottle since I will be starting to work in a couple of weeks and will have to take a three day business trip - please, let's share progress!

Viv
Mommy to Kayley born on 4/28/03