Introducing bottle for older baby

[Furball]

I hope someone can help me . I have searched the threads and can't find anyone with same problem.

My baby is 5 months old and has been exclusively breastfed since birth, however I would like to introduce one bottle feed a day of formula. I have used avent and TT bottles but he will not accept either. As soon as I put the teat in his mouth he will start squirming and crying whilst pushing it out. Or he will start gagging.

Any advice anyone can give me will be much appreciated as it is really upsetting me. He is breastfed on demand but I would like to stop because of poor weight gain and sleep issues. I do not want to use a cup yet because I think he is too little.

 

[Jemima]

Hi there,

There have been a few of us with the some problem, me included. I will find out the threads in a sec and post the links for you.

I have only managed to get Poppy to take a bottle once and that was for a night feed when she was half asleep.

I have kind of stopped trying now. I have been told that when you wean baby, they get used to something foreign in their mouth (ie spoon) and are more receptive to a bottle. Are you weaning yet?

Apart from that, I think it's mainly perserverance. Let him play with the bottle, have someone else try to feed him rather than you, try different positions (ie him facing out, facing you etc), I am not convinced that different bottles help, I personally have tried around 7 different teats/bottles and they have all been rejected!

Good luck with it! x

 

[Jemima]

Here are some threads for you to have a read through:

OMG...She Just Drank From A Bottle!

Refusing a bottle??

daycare : breast to bottle question

Won't take bottle

 

[Serene123]

Could you try putting breastmilk in the bottle, then moving onto formula?

 

[Always&4ever]

I would suggest what Toria said x

 

[bluebell]

Could you try putting breastmilk in the bottle, then moving onto formula?

I did this and it worked Jay has been exclusively bf since he was born but I wanted to introduce a bottle of formula a day so I can wean him really slowly off bm and also help him gain a bit more weight

The first time I gave him formula about a week ago, he screamed his head off and refused to take it so I bf him instead. I had two feeds of EBM in the freezer that I gave him in a bottle for two days in a row and by day 2 he took it really well. So started him on Aptimel the next day and he drinks it fine (he actually seems to really like it )

I use Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles and the variable teats.

I'm going to keep going like this for a few weeks and then start giving him 2 bottles a day and so on...

xx