5 month old refusing bottle, about to start daycare - HELP!

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[Post New]12/07/2011 12:39
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Anonymous
My 5 month old is refusing a bottle. She's never been a huge fan of the bottle and we didn't push it (our fault). She's been fed from the bottle once a week or so since about three weeks old. She'd fuss, but ultimately drink from it. Now, suddenly, a month out from daycare and she's refusing the bottle and has a complete meltdown when we try to feed her with it. The temperature of the milk is warm, it's "fresh" milk (I pump it for her to consume right away), and she seems to like the nipple (Nuk nipple).

What do we do at this point? I'm trying not to freak out.
[Post New]12/07/2011 12:42
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Anonymous
You can use a cup, a spoon, a syringe...

are you the only one trying to use the bottle? If you leave and give it to someone else they might succeed.
[Post New]12/07/2011 12:55
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Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:You can use a cup, a spoon, a syringe...

are you the only one trying to use the bottle? If you leave and give it to someone else they might succeed.


This is the OP - I'm not sure that a cup is going to work. She's 5 months old and doesn't hold her bottle, let alone a cup. Not sure the mouth mechanics are there to sip from a cup either. And a spoon and a syringe don't seem adequate vehicles for her day's worth of milk - she'll be drinking about 12 - 16 ounces at day care.
[Post New]12/07/2011 12:58
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Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:You can use a cup, a spoon, a syringe...

are you the only one trying to use the bottle? If you leave and give it to someone else they might succeed.


This is the OP - I'm not sure that a cup is going to work. She's 5 months old and doesn't hold her bottle, let alone a cup. Not sure the mouth mechanics are there to sip from a cup either. And a spoon and a syringe don't seem adequate vehicles for her day's worth of milk - she'll be drinking about 12 - 16 ounces at day care.


FTM, right?

Relax OP, people have been doing it for years... There are techniques for each of the options I've mentioned... And it does work. If your childcare provider is indeed experienced she'd have done some of this before.

How do you think children with birth defects on the face, mouth, lips, etc feed?
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:05
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Anonymous



and at 5mo you can add a bit of cereal to thicken it and avoid wasting the milk.
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:08
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Anonymous
This happened to me and it's hard. For me, I really had to wait until I was back at work. It just didn't work before then because I always came in and fed my DS after he refused the bottle. When you are at work, at some point (maybe day 2-3) he will realize that he needs to eat from the bottle because you are not an option.

I tried various bottles because while he ended up taking a bottle on day 2 when I was back at work, some days he didn't drink much. When I finally switched to breast flow he drank the bottle in 5-10 minutes instead of fighting it for 30 minutes and drinking 2 ounces.
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:09
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sybersus
Member Offline
I have a baby that is refusing a bottle and will be starting daycare soon. My doctor recommended starting now with as many bottle feedings as possible so she gets used to it now. Will your baby feed by bottle at all? Mine will, but she screams the whole time, and it takes an hour to get her to take 3 oz. I think this will only work if your child is willing to take some bottle, however unwillingly.
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:38
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Anonymous
OP, I wouldn't fret too much, a hungry baby will eat from *anything*. Start by introducing more bottles now. I've found that with my DD, she eats the most when she's calm and sleepy.
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:45
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Anonymous
I posted a little bit ago with a similar situation, a 5 mo who refused the bottle and continued to do so after she started daycare. We tried tons of bottles, including the Breastflow, different nipples, different temperatures of milk. Despite that and me being away for the entire day, she would take 1, maybe 2 ounces, tops. We decided to try a sippy cup. I got the playtex kind (they say it is 4 months on) and removed the valve so the milk would flow. They tip the cup into her mouth so a little bit gets in and she drinks. She still does not drink a ton during the day, but will drink anywhere from 6-10 ounces, so better than it was. (She feeds on demand when we are together and eats at night to make up for the day.)

My son refused a bottle for a while, too, but he adjusted after a couple weeks in daycare (he liked his milk really warm) and started drinking from a bottle just fine.

So, having gonen through it twice, OP, here are my thoughts: try the bottle with your providers and try a few different types of bottles and nipples. Try different temperatures of milk. Have somebody else do it. If your DC still will not take a bottle, there are other ways, like the sippy cup method I just described. However, be prepared that your DC may not drink as much as you expect (less than the 12-16 ounces you described) and be prepared for DC to reverse cycle and want to nurse more when you are together and at night.

Good luck!
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:46
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:I posted a little bit ago with a similar situation, a 5 mo who refused the bottle and continued to do so after she started daycare. We tried tons of bottles, including the Breastflow, different nipples, different temperatures of milk. Despite that and me being away for the entire day, she would take 1, maybe 2 ounces, tops. We decided to try a sippy cup. I got the playtex kind (they say it is 4 months on) and removed the valve so the milk would flow. They tip the cup into her mouth so a little bit gets in and she drinks. She still does not drink a ton during the day, but will drink anywhere from 6-10 ounces, so better than it was. (She feeds on demand when we are together and eats at night to make up for the day.)

My son refused a bottle for a while, too, but he adjusted after a couple weeks in daycare (he liked his milk really warm) and started drinking from a bottle just fine.

So, having gonen through it twice, OP, here are my thoughts: try the bottle with your providers and try a few different types of bottles and nipples. Try different temperatures of milk. Have somebody else do it. If your DC still will not take a bottle, there are other ways, like the sippy cup method I just described. However, be prepared that your DC may not drink as much as you expect (less than the 12-16 ounces you described) and be prepared for DC to reverse cycle and want to nurse more when you are together and at night.

Good luck!


Did they try the open cup and syringe like PP suggested?
[Post New]12/07/2011 13:54
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Anonymous
we had this problem and the only thing that worked for us was to offer breastmilk in a bottle every 45 minutes from 7:30am - 12pm and then she took it and downed it. Ever after that she was absolutely fine with it. Now incredulously it has been a chore getting her OFF the bottle.
Anyhow, trying a zillion different nipples and bottles didnt work, diff temps didnt work, distracting her didnt work, taking me away didnt work....making her understand that she needed to drink from a bottle by withholding the breast DID. I was very reluctant to do this and tried everything before we went on a BF strike but this is finally what did it for us.
[Post New]12/07/2011 14:03
quote
Anonymous
Anonymous wrote:
I posted a little bit ago with a similar situation, a 5 mo who refused the bottle and continued to do so after she started daycare. We tried tons of bottles, including the Breastflow, different nipples, different temperatures of milk. Despite that and me being away for the entire day, she would take 1, maybe 2 ounces, tops. We decided to try a sippy cup. I got the playtex kind (they say it is 4 months on) and removed the valve so the milk would flow. They tip the cup into her mouth so a little bit gets in and she drinks. She still does not drink a ton during the day, but will drink anywhere from 6-10 ounces, so better than it was. (She feeds on demand when we are together and eats at night to make up for the day.)

My son refused a bottle for a while, too, but he adjusted after a couple weeks in daycare (he liked his milk really warm) and started drinking from a bottle just fine.

So, having gonen through it twice, OP, here are my thoughts: try the bottle with your providers and try a few different types of bottles and nipples. Try different temperatures of milk. Have somebody else do it. If your DC still will not take a bottle, there are other ways, like the sippy cup method I just described. However, be prepared that your DC may not drink as much as you expect (less than the 12-16 ounces you described) and be prepared for DC to reverse cycle and want to nurse more when you are together and at night.

Good luck!

Did they try the open cup and syringe like PP suggested?



The poster who uses the sippy cup here. No, we did not try an open cup or syringe. We just went straight to the sippy cup without the valve on the recommendation of my midwife who did that with her daughter when she refused the bottle. I figured it would be a bit neater than an open cup.
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