Going back to work and LO won't take bottle...

[AK89]

What it says on the tin really!

She knows how to drink from the bottle and does very rarely.. It's just like she knows how she likes it and she'd rather stick around to get it straight from the boob!

So I'm starting to feel a bit anxious about going back to work (sometime next week supposedly). I haven't spoken to my boss properly yet but hopefully the longest shift I'll be doing will be 6 hours so I'd be gone for 6.5-7hrs.

So my question is... is it OK for her to go this long without milk..?? She's well into her solids and obviously my OH would just feed her water too.. but it just seems wrong for her to go so long without, especially if I end up doing the odd 8hr shift. Also I'm gonna start looking into nurseries soon and I don't wanna be sending her there for hours on end with no milk... they'll wonder what kind of mother I am!

 

[mummyruston]

How old is baby?

 

[Prinny_1]

Have you tried a doidy cup? They don't get same sleepiness or quantity, but was all I could DS1 to take when he started nursery and is better than nothing!! X

 

[AK89]

She's 7.5 months (sorry, I thought you'd see from my signature!)

What's a doidy cup?? Like a sippy cup type thing? We've not tried milk in it but we give her water in it all the time, but it would be VERY wasteful (and messy) if it were milk as she just spits it all over the place sometimes! I was thinking of trying it though. I wanna teach her to drink from it herself but she always just bashes it about and chucks it at the moment!

 

[mummyruston]

Does she eat any solids at all? Try her with a straw type cup - my DD drank expressed milk from other people via a straw type cup / sports bottle type cup but never from a "bottle' and not really for me either as she knew the real thing was better.

See if she accepts expressed via a straw type bottle as their sucking reflex is strong from Bfing and can usually manage a 12m type cup before bottle fed babies.

 

[ButterCup17]

Has ur oh tried giving a bottle without you around? My ds would never take a bottle from me (he only wanted to bf from me), but did when others gave it to him

 

[Zeri]

She'll probably take the bottle when she realizes she doesn't have a choice! My LO does this sometimes. For example, if DH is feeding him, or if I'm at church with him and want to bottlefeed him - he would kick up and start to cry and refuse to take the bottle. If we hold out, though, he eventually gets hungry enough to take it, . So maybe the same thing might happen with your LO - especially when she realizes you're not there and the breast is not an option.

 

[Prinny_1]

A doidy cup is an open cup, but it's slanted to help babies to drink out of it more easily. Would def be messy of she was left to her own devices with it!! X

 

[AK89]

Does she eat any solids at all? Try her with a straw type cup - my DD drank expressed milk from other people via a straw type cup / sports bottle type cup but never from a "bottle' and not really for me either as she knew the real thing was better.

See if she accepts expressed via a straw type bottle as their sucking reflex is strong from Bfing and can usually manage a 12m type cup before bottle fed babies.

Yeah she's on solids so I'm not too worried, but I didn't want her to go all day without milk.. Oooh I'll definitely try the straw cup thing... I'd be interested to see if she could work out how to use it!

Has ur oh tried giving a bottle without you around? My ds would never take a bottle from me (he only wanted to bf from me), but did when others gave it to him

Yeah we've tried everything! She still sometimes refuses it when I'm not there. Sometimes she takes half of it and then leaves the rest (as she did with my mum today) She went through a phase of taking it perfectly for OH but then she just threw the towel in! I used to really stress about it but now I'm just not that bothered about it to be honest.. especially since she's on solids now so others can look after her through the day. It's just nighttimes that she definitely needs me, and since I'm not at all interested in going out these days, and we're cosleeping, I'm fine with that!

 

[SarahBear]

Violet wasn't a fan of the bottle and although she took a good bit of milk from the bottle when I first went back to work (8 weeks old), she slowly changed so that she was taking very little during my work day but making up for it when I was at home, including night time. We bedshare so it was easy for her to do that without me being completely exhausted. Some babies really will hold out while others will give in and take the bottle. While I suspect this is a rough transition for the baby, it can still be done in a way where the baby is still getting all the nutrients and calories she needs.

I don't see your baby's age, but I see she's on solids. If she's on solids, I'd offer milk before solids and then not worry too much about what she gets as long as she's making up for it the rest of the day, including night time. If this doesn't seem realistic given your child or how you feel about night nursing, perhaps try using some sort of cup? I don't know methods of getting the milk in other than letting her make up for it at night.

 

[mummyruston]

Something like this -

https://www.nuby-uk.com/view-product?path=66&product_id=1151

I was amazed my LO used it at around 8m - she was never a fan of milk - cows milk or mine really in any format! But give it a go

I think if she's having plenty booby first thing, when you get home and at night she should be fine.

She'll just adapt her intake and times around you I guess.

 

[ButterCup17]

Yeah I probably wouldn't worry about it either than If you've tried everything. My son won't drink regular milk since we've weaned from bf. I tried every type of milk I could get hands on. He'd take a sip and be done. But he eats all kinds of foods and loves dairy. So I keep offering and he drinks what he wants and then I make sure he has yogurt once a day and put I put cheese on a lot of things he eats

 

[AK89]

Violet wasn't a fan of the bottle and although she took a good bit of milk from the bottle when I first went back to work (8 weeks old), she slowly changed so that she was taking very little during my work day but making up for it when I was at home, including night time. We bedshare so it was easy for her to do that without me being completely exhausted. Some babies really will hold out while others will give in and take the bottle. While I suspect this is a rough transition for the baby, it can still be done in a way where the baby is still getting all the nutrients and calories she needs.

I don't see your baby's age, but I see she's on solids. If she's on solids, I'd offer milk before solids and then not worry too much about what she gets as long as she's making up for it the rest of the day, including night time. If this doesn't seem realistic given your child or how you feel about night nursing, perhaps try using some sort of cup? I don't know methods of getting the milk in other than letting her make up for it at night.

She's 7.5 months. Is my ticker not in my signature anymore?? I'm on mobile so not sure!

Yeah we bedshare too, and to be honest she's been nursing more through the night than through the day for about 2 months now! That way she's not wasting precious playing time feeding through the day it doesn't really bother me cos I barely wake up now, the only slight inconvenience is that she wakes for a feed a couple of times before I come to bed so it breaks my free time in the evening up a bit, and it means I can never go out past like 6! But I'm a home bird these days anyway!

I've heard they often start to nurse more through the night when you go back to work cos they're making up for lost time with you. That's so sweet! I've said it before and I'll say it again. .. Thank god for bedsharing!!

Yeah so I'll just tell OH to offer her milk first then solids and water. I'm sure she'll be fine. Maybe she'll catch on soon that I'm actually not there on a regular basis rather than I've just nipped to the shops or I'm upstairs while her dad feeds her, so if she wants milk she's just gonna have to take it from a bottle (or cup!)

 

[fortunecookie]

I went back to work when DD was 6.5 months and she was still refusing a bottle. She eventually took some from a Nuby bottle with a valve spout. At first she would only take an oz at a time, but over the months she has taken up to 3.5-4oz at time, not every time and it has been a bit of a trial but she still seems to be gaining weight ok and she eats very well. She now only tends to have one feed in the night now too. I don't think she'll starve and will take what she wants but it is a worry as they should be getting more of their calories from milk than anything else. Hope things work out for you 😊

 

[SarahBear]

Violet wasn't a fan of the bottle and although she took a good bit of milk from the bottle when I first went back to work (8 weeks old), she slowly changed so that she was taking very little during my work day but making up for it when I was at home, including night time. We bedshare so it was easy for her to do that without me being completely exhausted. Some babies really will hold out while others will give in and take the bottle. While I suspect this is a rough transition for the baby, it can still be done in a way where the baby is still getting all the nutrients and calories she needs.

I don't see your baby's age, but I see she's on solids. If she's on solids, I'd offer milk before solids and then not worry too much about what she gets as long as she's making up for it the rest of the day, including night time. If this doesn't seem realistic given your child or how you feel about night nursing, perhaps try using some sort of cup? I don't know methods of getting the milk in other than letting her make up for it at night.

She's 7.5 months. Is my ticker not in my signature anymore?? I'm on mobile so not sure!

Yeah we bedshare too, and to be honest she's been nursing more through the night than through the day for about 2 months now! That way she's not wasting precious playing time feeding through the day it doesn't really bother me cos I barely wake up now, the only slight inconvenience is that she wakes for a feed a couple of times before I come to bed so it breaks my free time in the evening up a bit, and it means I can never go out past like 6! But I'm a home bird these days anyway!

I've heard they often start to nurse more through the night when you go back to work cos they're making up for lost time with you. That's so sweet! I've said it before and I'll say it again. .. Thank god for bedsharing!!

Yeah so I'll just tell OH to offer her milk first then solids and water. I'm sure she'll be fine. Maybe she'll catch on soon that I'm actually not there on a regular basis rather than I've just nipped to the shops or I'm upstairs while her dad feeds her, so if she wants milk she's just gonna have to take it from a bottle (or cup!)

I see it in your signature now. I'd stick with what you're doing. It may be a pain to have no free time in the evening, but I feel like that's just part of being a mom of a baby. It will change as she gets older. If you're letting her wean herself, she will likely be nursing for years to come, but she won't need nearly as much and you can start putting limits on it when she's older. In the grand scheme of things, this time is short and it will be over as she starts eating regular meals and just needs the milk as supplement and comfort.

 

[Izzie74]

Been stalking this thread as going back to work myself in 4 weeks. Varying success with expressed bottle ranging from 20-80ml, but this morning lots of crying. Going to persevere and maybe try a sippy cup. Thanks to everyone for the advice, despite this not being my post!