Anonymous wrote:I’m having the same issue, OP. My EBF four-month-old is refusing the bottle. I’ve left the house; I’ve taken her out of the house; and I’ve tried different bottles (Nuk, Gerber, Comotomo, Dr. Brown, and Avent).
I’m going to try another bottle this weekend—MAM. I’ll repost if it’s successful. I’ve read good things about Medela Calma, too, and I’ll try it next. *sigh* I’m returning to work next week.
LOTS of experience with this!
Try some or all of these things:
swaddle when you feed, some babies really like this
when you feed, walk around the room or house (like back and forth in a hallway) REALLY REALLY FAST - or stand still but twist your body fast. Some babies seem to be distracted from the "horror!" of the bottle nipple in their mouth because they are getting the movement. It's like they can't focus on both so the movement is what they focus on, and they'll drink. Eventually (like in a month!) you won't need to do this any longer.
make the breastmilk in the bottle is REALLY WARM - like not HOT but just before that, I think some babies are really picky and/or some women run hotter or make hotter milk, LOL.
don't let the baby get starving, or he'll be upset already
be patient - even if he takes only one ounce, the next fee he might take 1.5 oz, then keep increasing
only fill the bottle with 1 ounce of breastmilk so nobody gets frustrated if the baby doesn't take much and you have to throw it away. you can always increase it as the baby takes more at each feed
also look up pace feeding