baby wont feed from bottle - help!

Bethany is 9wk 1 day today. Last week i tried expressing and feeding her from a bottle for the first time. She had about 1oz then just started playing with the teet with her tongue and smilin - it was so funny. Anyway, my sister tried to give her my milk this week when i needed to go to the hospital for a scan on my ovaries and again she wouldnt take it and was just playing with the teet again. the thing is i'm just abit worried because within the next couple of months i need to go into hospital to have an operation (its key hole surgery so will only be in hospital a couple of nights) and obviously i'm gong to have to express and adams going to have to give her bottles. What do i do if she still doesnt take to a bottle? Any suggestions?

Well the only suggestions i have is keep trying and if all else fails you can either spoon feed, syringe or cup feed ( different type, its a small cup )

I know a lady who had to go into hospital and her partner cup fed, its a little round one the size of a medicine cup, and it worked fine, he still got all he needed, just took abit of practice.

But then thinking about it, your little one will proberly be old enough in a couple of months to have a sippy cup, Olivia had one then as she never took the EBM in a bottle.

i'd never heard of those cups will defo have to look into that then! thanks a lot!

:aww: No problem

Here is an article about cup feeding

http://www.breastfeeding.org/articles/cup.html

two of my babies refused to have a bottle but i found a bottle thats supposed to mimic a boob willow took to it no problem, not sure what its called but i will look now and get you a link to the site. it could just be that willow is a guts though!

Have you tried the Tommee Tippee Closer to Nature bottles. Ellie took these when she was young with no problems at all, but couldn't get on with the self-sterilise boots ones I wasted my money on.

What I could recommend is try tips from below, one after another, or combining few together:

1. Offer 1/2 to 1 oz bm in a bottle and only when baby is not hungry as a "play" thing. No more as its a shame to waste bm and no less as it will be not enough for her to have taste.
   
2. Encourage baby to open wide for the bottle like he should be for the breast by stroking his lips from nose to chin with the nipple, until he opens, then gently allow him to accept the bottle into his mouth and allow the milk to flow into the nipple.
   
3. You could try to get someone else than yourself to offer bottle to baby, as she is associating you with breastfeeding which is not only way of eating but source of comfort and pleasure.
   
4. Offer only when she is not hungry;
   
5. you could wrap bottle in your tshirt or nightie, so it smells like you;
   
6. Instead of pushing the bottle into baby's mouth, try laying it near his mouth and allow him to pull it in himself. Or, tickle baby's mouth with the bottle nipple to get him to draw it in.
   
7. try different temperatures of milk- some babies like milk warm some like it cold;
   
8. Bring bottle teat to room temperature;
   
9. try out different types of teats: silicone and latex; different brands, but keep in mind to use only newborn size teat,as this one brings milk to baby in a closer way to breast nipple;
   
10. try different possitions;
    
11. try offer a bottle when she is asleep;
    
12. continue with trying out different method of feeding: cups, spoons, syringes, droppers, etc. http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/alternative-feeding.html
    

more on http://www.kellymom.com/bf/pumping/bottle-feeding.html


I strongly encourage you to read about nipple confusion https://breastbuddies.forumotion.com/breastfeeding-and-nutrition-f24/nipple-confusion-t333.htm

Emily never took to a bottle but would take from a sippy cup.

hi ive found the website that i got the bottle from, its a bit expensive but willow does drink from it so i think it was worth it (aeryn even had a go!) its: www.totsmart.co.uk the bottle is called a breastbottle! when you see it youll see why!! good luck hope you find a solution x x :aww:

can i just ask - what is a sippy cup? god i sound so thick! lol. is it just a normal childs cup cos i can only find them for 4mths onwards?

one of those cups with lid and spout most of them are spill proof.

Helen did you ever have any luck with this?
I have been trying to get Emily to take a bottle for a few weeks now or a cup & shes not interested at all. I need to get an eve job or cant pay the bills but cant leave as shed rather scream ubtil shes so tired she will sleep rather than have anything but me.

emmiesmummy wrote:Helen did you ever have any luck with this?
I have been trying to get Emily to take a bottle for a few weeks now or a cup & shes not interested at all. I need to get an eve job or cant pay the bills but cant leave as shed rather scream ubtil shes so tired she will sleep rather than have anything but me.

Nope never had any luck - she just thinks bottles and cups and fun things to play with in her mouth!

Its funny though she'll take a bit of water from a cup but not breastmilk i guess she just wants bm from me. I am still um'ing and ar'ing about returning to work i dont think i will be though even though we cant afford it. Adams shifts are funny hours so it'll be hard to fit a job around him.

aybe she likes her milk straight from a tap

Oli never liked it from anything but boob