Returning to work and baby won't take a bottle

[fortunecookie]

I am returning to work on the 1st April. My LO will be 6.5 months. She will be looked after by my childminder or hubby as I work a combination of days and lates (til 10pm). She will not take EBM from anything. I have tried tommy tipee back to nature, Nuby squeezy bottles, MAM, and NUK latex teats. I have also tried sippy cups. She will not suck on any of them. At best she chews the end or at worst she pushes it out with her tongue and cries. I have tried different holds and different people giving it to her but she is having none of it.

We have started BLW and this is going well but obviously nowhere near enough to fill her up. I am finding it difficult to express as it is as she is fed on demand and I have a very demanding toddler and when what little I do manage is wasted each I find it very disheartening and am getting increasingly stressed.

Does anyone have any tips or experiences? I am especially worried that she won't take a bedtime feed and will be screaming til I get home from work. TIA

 

[stephj25]

I had this with my little girl. She wouldn't take any bottle apart from Asda ones.

This site below may help. Unfortunately, it's a trial and error process, we spent a fortune on different bottles and as it turned out, she preferred the cheapest ones!!

https://www.popsugar.com/moms/Best-Bottles-Breastfed-Babies-16069693#photo-16069693

 

[SurpriseBub]

Just an idea... Could you try nursing her, and then try and trade your breast out/bottle in? I have no idea if that would work in reality... Just an idea that I would try as she might grasp the idea better (?) I can see her being totally confused if she has only breastfed up to this point. Good luck!

 

[misspriss]

It may be better if you are not around and someone else tries the bottle. She know you have the real thing under your shirt, why would she drink from the bottle? I have heard it recommended a lot before.

 

[fortunecookie]

Thanks for your suggestions ladies. I have tried inserting in the middle of feeding and being out the way completely but still no joy.

 

[misspriss]

At 5 months, have you tried a sippy rather than a bottle? Sometimes time will tell. DS did not do well with the bottle - until I was actually gone for the day, then he did fine.

It was difficult to leave him not thinking he would do well, I was so ready to come home halfway through the day. But I called home and he'd done fine.

 

[fortunecookie]

I have got a couple of sippy cups which she is taking small amounts from, but such tiny amounts at a time with no real sucking motion. Let's just hope she does well too when I'm gone. How much were you pumping at a time and was he taking it all through the day?

 

[misspriss]

I have got a couple of sippy cups which she is taking small amounts from, but such tiny amounts at a time with no real sucking motion. Let's just hope she does well too when I'm gone. How much were you pumping at a time and was he taking it all through the day?

I was pumping 3x per day, 10-12 oz. The first day he took 10 oz, the second day 10.5oz. He refused to nurse the first weekend getting nipple confusion, but we had LITERALLY just weaned off the nipple shields. We switched to the medela calma bottles, and no more confusion. He started reverse cycling after the first few days and never took more than 8oz after that, by the end he took 6-8oz, tops. I was pumping 10-12, until my cycles returned then around 10, until I got pregnant and it slowly went down to nothing, but he was over 18 months by then.

My son was 12 weeks, 5.5 adjusted though.

 

[tryfor1more]

Does she take a pacifier ? I just had the same problem and thought id try the same teet as her pacifier and it worked, she just started sucking. Also, try when she is really sleepy, maybe just when she's woken up, they suck instinctively, good luck!

 

[fortunecookie]

No she completely point blank refused the dummy/paci, whereas DS had one. Will try the sleepy time though. I have HV coming to see me next week to see if they have any advice. She is chewing and sucking slightly on a sippy cup when I have her in the gumbo now but nowhere near enough.

Misspriss, I hope that amount was total for the day, I don't think I could pump more than 3-4 oz per sitting 😝

 

[mummytobe_93]

My daughter was the same. Refused all bottles and dummies.

At 6 months I just kept on persevering a few time a day every day. She eventually took a born free bottle (from babies r us) on a hot day when she was really thirsty

You need to make sure she's not too hungry to the point she's about to get upset because she won't take it. I would get someone else to give it her so your smell isn't anywhere near it. Eventually if you aren't there and she is hungry she will take jr. And if she really won't you can try just a normal cup.

My daughter eventually took to all bottles and is now obsessed with a dummy.

Basically it's trial and error with bottles and perseverance! X

 

[noon_child]

I don't know where you live but in a lot of countries, employers are required to be flexible to support the continuation of breastfeeding. Have you spoken to them about your worries to see if there is any way to delay your return, or phase it in slowly, or not do lates straight away? I'm not talking about taking advantage of your colleagues forever; just for a few months till LO is eating more and is more likely to take a sippy you ask for some help, flexibility and compromise. Breastfeeding and employment should not be an either/or situation.

I think not enough people enter in to a dialogue about it and end up stressing themselves out thinking it is something they have to solve on their own. You might be surprised by the help your employer suggests. If they can't be flexible you haven't lost anything by asking.

 

[fortunecookie]

I am in the UK. I am a police officer. I work about 10 minutes away from home so if the worst comes to the worst I will have to pop home, especially for the bedtime feed, but obviously can't say what will be going on at that time because my work is somewhat unpredictable lol. My boss is supportive and I'm sure she would understand, but I'd rather remedy the problem before I go back so I'm not worrying when I'm supposed to be working. I can't afford anymore time off unfortunately.

 

[noon_child]

My boss is supportive and I'm sure she would understand, but I'd rather remedy the problem before I go back so I'm not worrying when I'm supposed to be working. I can't afford anymore time off unfortunately.

Don't take this as a personal attack on your situation (it is more a general annoyance with societal norms) but phrasing LOs refusal of a bottle as a problem rather than understandable normal behaviour puts the emphasis on you and your baby to change or fix something that has been working great for the both of you. If you think your employer is understanding then please explore your options with them. It might actually be easier for them if your feeds were timetabled in to the day rather than a sudden unexpected departure. In no way do I want women to put their careers on hold but I firmly believe that as a society we need to view breastfeeding as compatible with working, not standing in the way. Rant over...I hope you find a way that works for you in such a valuable job.

 

[fortunecookie]

No offence taken, and it was probably a wrong turn of phrase. However, bills have to be paid and work has to be done and I am afraid real life has to go on. I just want my baby to be happy and fed, and she seems to have no real schedule as she is fed on demand it makes it kind of awkward. It is new for me as DS did take a bottle.

 

[flump1]

I know this probably isn't a popular answer but have you tried formula in a bottle instead? my ebf LO wouldn't take my milk in a bottle but she happily takes formula from one when she needs to. if you still pump while you are at work and breastfeed her while your home it shouldn't make any difference to your supply (the same as if she was taking your milk in the bottle while your at work) and once she gets used to bottle maybe she would take your milk from it eventually, that's if you are happy for her to try formula. You don't have to waste the milk you pump you can freeze it and save it to mix with foods when you start weaning onto solids.
Other thing that meant my LO start drinking from the bottle was a fast flow teat! I bought the slow flow as everyone sais that's what breast feeders are more used to but actually my milk comes out really fast so I think a fast flow teat was more close to what she is used to. good luck! Im sure you will find a solution soon

 

[Feathers]

I had this with DS and he has never drunk from a bottle. I was incredibly worried as I cannot leave my job to feed him part way through the day. I did a very long phase in to nursery with him, but in terms of milk he took a sippy cup. Something he only took a little from at home!

But when I wasn't there and no boob was coming, the cup suddenly became acceptable. Even now he still won't want a cup from me LOL but will take one for OH or nursery now.

 

[JenX]

What about trying a straw cup? They are supposed to be better for oral development than sippy cups anyway. I think they are easier to drink from than sippy cups, too. There is a kind that is squeezable, my lactation consultant recommended it to some moms who were having trouble getting their babies to transition to a cup. I think it was the Rubbermaid Litterless Juice box. So, since you can squeeze it to push the liquid up into the straw, it is a little easier for them to get the hang of it. I haven't used that particular one, but my LO was able to drink breast milk from a straw cup at 4 months old. We started with the OXO tot straw cup.

 

[Kiwiberry]

I am having the same issue with my baby girl. She won't take any bottles or pacifiers. I want to try and get her to take a bottle so when she is old enough I can start giving her rice cereal mixed with BM at night so she sleeps better. I also want her to be able to take a paci so that she does not use me as one all day long and I can get some things done (she is not hungry she just loves to suckle).

What I have been doing is just buying different brands to try them. So far she has not taken 3 different brands of paci and 2 different brands of bottles. I hope we can find the right one soon. I was hoping the MAM ones we bought her would work but so far no luck.

 

[misspriss]

I am having the same issue with my baby girl. She won't take any bottles or pacifiers. I want to try and get her to take a bottle so when she is old enough I can start giving her rice cereal mixed with BM at night so she sleeps better. I also want her to be able to take a paci so that she does not use me as one all day long and I can get some things done (she is not hungry she just loves to suckle).

What I have been doing is just buying different brands to try them. So far she has not taken 3 different brands of paci and 2 different brands of bottles. I hope we can find the right one soon. I was hoping the MAM ones we bought her would work but so far no luck.

I believe mixing cereal with milk is a choking hazard, you might want to check with a doctor before you do that.

Pacifiers are just hit and miss, some babies like them, some don't...we used one on occasion with DS, but he never really took to it. It only worked when I wasn't around (surprise!)...