bottle feeding a breastfeeding baby. trouble.

[Coco Tutu]

Hi moms! I have a question regarding bottle feeding a breastfeeding baby.

Loulou Maya is almost 11 weeks old and while she has taken a bottle two times in the past (around 4 and 6 weeks) when we tried 2 weeks ago and then a few more times since then, she refuses. We have 3 different bottles and nipples, but it is not an issue of sucking, because she won't even suck. She just starts crying/screaming once the bottle comes close to her mouth. the most success that we had was last time that we gave her the bottle (my husband) right after she woke up from a nap. She didn't drink at all, but she did play around with the nipple, licking it and putting it all in her mouth. After a while she got frustrated, of course. It is always my husband who is giving her the bottle and not me. And it is always my own milk, not formula. Things we have tried so far:

1.Giving her the bottle when she is hungry
2.Giving her the bottle when she is not so hungry
3.Giving her the bottle after she drinks from the breast for a while.
4.Tried with different bottles (difrax, avent, hema)
5.Me being in the room, close to her.
6.Me being away (so she can't smell me)

I am working from home, so it's not that she *has* to take it, but it would be nice for me to be able to go away from her for a bit longer. Also, we are going back to Greece for a month in September and it would be awesome if the grandparents could take care of her for a while.

Waiting for your words of wisdom
TIA

 

[Lindsay109]

Stalking because we have exactly the same problem. We've tried the same things as you with no success so far. He used to take a bottle of EBM, but we stopped giving him bottles regularly when DH went back to work and tried again a few weeks ago with no luck, he just gets really upset.

 

[Hoping4peanut]

I am going through the same with my 7 week old. We tried bottles at 3 weeks and she took one but on the advice of a pediatrician stopped for a week to get to a month. At the month mark we decided to try...and it's been nothing but screaming since. We tried 6 bottles...all the conditions you tried....nothing.

The only success we had was she took the adiri bottle when my mom did it when both hubby and I were gone. Baby was faced awAy from her body and she got it in. Her mouth to really latch on to the mound part of the bottle..not just the nipple. She took it a little...got mad..then after calming her she got her to take it.

My hubby tried again the other night and got her to take it a little but then she was mad.

This is the dirty side of breastfeeding. After a month it is so established that the babies wise up and won't take it. But pediatricians say to wait a month. The same pediatrician who advised me to wait admitted that all pediatricians say that bc they want breast feeding so established, but he realized that by having me wait a week she would likely never take the bottle. He feels since I am not working I should just schedule my life around baby.

I am completely frustrated bc I don't mind living for baby right now but it would be nice to get a sitter for a few hours just to get a small break with my husband. Or even leave her with husband for a while...more than an hour at a time.

Sorry to not have much advice...I get where you are coming from though. Maybe look into the adiri? It's the only one we have had any success with at all.

 

[Coco Tutu]

Stalking because we have exactly the same problem. We've tried the same things as you with no success so far. He used to take a bottle of EBM, but we stopped giving him bottles regularly when DH went back to work and tried again a few weeks ago with no luck, he just gets really upset.

I am sorry you have the same issue Lindsay. I know I should feel grateful that breastfeeding goes so smoothly for us, but some times I just with I had the option to be away for a while. Like, you know, 3 hours?!

 

[Coco Tutu]

I am going through the same with my 7 week old. We tried bottles at 3 weeks and she took one but on the advice of a pediatrician stopped for a week to get to a month. At the month mark we decided to try...and it's been nothing but screaming since. We tried 6 bottles...all the conditions you tried....nothing.

The only success we had was she took the adiri bottle when my mom did it when both hubby and I were gone. Baby was faced awAy from her body and she got it in. Her mouth to really latch on to the mound part of the bottle..not just the nipple. She took it a little...got mad..then after calming her she got her to take it.

My hubby tried again the other night and got her to take it a little but then she was mad.

This is the dirty side of breastfeeding. After a month it is so established that the babies wise up and won't take it. But pediatricians say to wait a month. The same pediatrician who advised me to wait admitted that all pediatricians say that bc they want breast feeding so established, but he realized that by having me wait a week she would likely never take the bottle. He feels since I am not working I should just schedule my life around baby.

I am completely frustrated bc I don't mind living for baby right now but it would be nice to get a sitter for a few hours just to get a small break with my husband. Or even leave her with husband for a while...more than an hour at a time.

Sorry to not have much advice...I get where you are coming from though. Maybe look into the adiri? It's the only one we have had any success with at all.

Hoping4peanut I get your frustration sooo much! Especially now that Loulou is sleeping from 7 o' clock each evening, it would be nice to be able to go to the movies instead of watching them on the lap top. Ahh the simple joys of life

A trick that a lady on facebook told me was to put a pantyhose on the nipple, as it gives it a texture more similar to that of the breast. I will try that out and let you know if it worked.

 

[redneckhippy]

following

 

[prettyunicorn]

^Bump^

 

[redlemonade]

I'm following this too! I hope you can manage it soon coco! I have no desire to be away from my LO tbh though We're like two pieces of Velcro and I'm happy with that. I've no idea how I'll manage when I go back to work! At least that's still a way off

 

[Coco Tutu]

I'm following this too! I hope you can manage it soon coco! I have no desire to be away from my LO tbh though We're like two pieces of Velcro and I'm happy with that. I've no idea how I'll manage when I go back to work! At least that's still a way off

I feel soooo grateful that I can work from home, at least for now, and I get to be with Loulou all the time. I have huge respect for all moms who go back to work and learn to live away from their little ones. I know it is really hard, at least the first weeks

That said, I did like my life before Loulou a lot and even though I can't imagine it without her now, I still remember how much fun I had with DH, just the two of us I would enjoy a few hours of that every now and then. If we had family close, that could be done easily, but now we have to hire a baby sitter and I am definitely not ready at all to leave her with a stranger, regardless of bottle issues.

 

[pinkpolkadot]

We find touching the teat to the roof of LOs mouth gets her sucking. We had to leave her with the in laws today for a funeral and they said she wouldn't take the bottle at first so FIL had the idea to give her her dummy for a minute first and that worked (no good if your LO doesn't have a dummy though!)

We started both of them on bottes of EBM at 3 weeks and try to give a regular bottle (at least one a week) so they don't forget!

 

[Hoping4peanut]

Coco I am so here with you on this! I love baby so much but I miss being alone with dh. Even though I love our new family I just need a little break and hubby time. Truthfully it would be kind of early to really enjoy right now...but eventually it would be nice! So I feel the same as you! All mommies need breaks sometimes especially when baby can't comfort to sleep or eat any other way. Mine refuses the pacifier too. Other people can rock her to sleep but not me...she wants that booby!

 

[redlemonade]

I'm following this too! I hope you can manage it soon coco! I have no desire to be away from my LO tbh though We're like two pieces of Velcro and I'm happy with that. I've no idea how I'll manage when I go back to work! At least that's still a way off

I feel soooo grateful that I can work from home, at least for now, and I get to be with Loulou all the time. I have huge respect for all moms who go back to work and learn to live away from their little ones. I know it is really hard, at least the first weeks

That said, I did like my life before Loulou a lot and even though I can't imagine it without her now, I still remember how much fun I had with DH, just the two of us I would enjoy a few hours of that every now and then. If we had family close, that could be done easily, but now we have to hire a baby sitter and I am definitely not ready at all to leave her with a stranger, regardless of bottle issues.

I know what you mean, I miss how things were with my DH before DD was born, not that I'd change a thing. But we did have loads of fun and had a good life just the two of us. My mum is bugging me to 'take time off' and leave DD with her for a few hours (she even suggested a week while DH and I go on holiday!!!) but I just don't feel ready. And no way I'd ever leave her for a week! I think it's mostly because of the difficult start that we had. I still feel like I'm 'making it up' to her

You're so lucky that you can work from home. My job is so hard, and I'd hate to be away from her. I hope to win the lotto before I need to go back

 

[FleurDeMai]

Have you tried cup feeding? It's trickier than giving a bottle but if she won't take a bottle... Breastfed babies usually learn fast how to drink from a cup
How you do is that you use a small cup and tip it just so milk touches her lip. You don't pour milk directly into her mouth! Then the baby should use her tongue to drink, a bit like a cat.
There are videos on youtube if my explanations are not clear
If you try it, I'd advise you to swaddle your LO or else she could knock off the cup and you'd lose some precious milk...

 

[Coco Tutu]

Thank you for your great ideas ladies!
Cup feeding? Wow, that's interesting! I don't think that my old school mom or mom-in-law would feel confident to try that though. But I can still try it out

Oh Red, I have a close friend who gave birth three weeks before me (and you ) and went back to work two weeks ago and she is having a hard time. BUT she works from home once a week and tries not to bring work tension back home and it is getting better. Of course she misses her baby a ton, but she thought she could not cope and she does. And her handsome guy does great at day care. Still, I do wish you win the lotto

 

[redlemonade]

Good to hear your friend is coping well. I still have a fair bit of time before I have to go back so I'm trying not to think about it

 

[redlemonade]

Coco have you had any luck with giving Loulou a bottle? We failed at giving Indi a bottle, which was surprising as she used to take a small amount of fennel tea from a bottle when her wind was bad. It's been about a month since she took a bottle, but still!

 

[Coco Tutu]

Coco have you had any luck with giving Loulou a bottle? We failed at giving Indi a bottle, which was surprising as she used to take a small amount of fennel tea from a bottle when her wind was bad. It's been about a month since she took a bottle, but still!

no luck, but we did not try much either. I did read quite a few posts on facebook mama-groups about babies who keep refusing the bottle though, so I am not super optimistic. But right now it's not worth the struggle for us as well.

I hope you have better luck with Indi!

 

[redlemonade]

Coco have you had any luck with giving Loulou a bottle? We failed at giving Indi a bottle, which was surprising as she used to take a small amount of fennel tea from a bottle when her wind was bad. It's been about a month since she took a bottle, but still!

no luck, but we did not try much either. I did read quite a few posts on facebook mama-groups about babies who keep refusing the bottle though, so I am not super optimistic. But right now it's not worth the struggle for us as well.

I hope you have better luck with Indi!

A friend of mine told me today that the medela bottles/teats are best as they're most nipple-like? But then another friend just told me that as soon as she gave her bf baby a bottle, the baby started refusing the breast and now her milk is drying up! Her baby is 5 months. So I'm terrified of that happening