Any helpful advice appreciated...I have to return from maternity leave next week, and our two-month old absolutely refuses the bottle. We have left her several times with the babysitter, with my husband, and my mom, and she'll have none of it. I left her today for about five hours and she drank an ounce, maybe. We have tried multiple bottles. My son fought this initially too, but caught on much quicker. I HAVE to go back to work Monday. What should we try? Will she truly just eat when she gets hungry enough?
My firstborn did the same thing. I was going to school full-time and then straight to work for four or five hours. My sister babysat and had him for six to eight hours, depending on the day. He never did take to a bottle. He drank just enough to survive until I got there and then only wanted to eat until he went back. He started baby food at three months because it was so hard. I hope your son isn't as stubborn as mine was!
My 3rd child was like this. Luckily, she was at the daycare at my work, so all breaks and lunch were spent breast feeding! She was in a sipper cup at 5 months though. She never took a bottle or passy. It was torture. You may want to try an easy flow nipple for the bottle, that way the baby doesn't have to work so hard
I just wanted to say I know how you feel. My DS was like that, and he would only eat enough to get by and then when I got home he would nurse like there is no tomorrow. It was really hard on my MIL who watched him, he would cry a lot. I ended up using a sippy cup instead of a bottle and he would take that more readily. He never really liked the bottle. My DD was the same way, so with her I went to sippy cups sooner and that seemed to help. None of my kids were big bottle drinkers. Good Luck! I hope she starts taking a bottle soon. ETA: I did find one bottle that they would kind of drink if they had no choice (and I tried a lot). It had a nipple inside another nipple. It was called Breastflow by The First Years. It was supposed to more closely mimic BF and they would take that one at times.
We've tried that one...up next is Dr. Brown's, which I've also heard good things about. I feel bad for our babysitter too - she also cares for our two-year-old with D, and I feel like I'm already asking a lot of her.
Dr.Brown's has a wide neck nipple, which is supposed to be kind of like breastfeeding. My son preferred that over the others.
I was in a similar situation with my first child. With my last child, I had a different situation and a speech language pathologist specializing in infant feeding issues helped us tremendously. She helped me find the right bottle for my child's mouth structure. She has a Facebook page and a book and I just found her website. http://www.breastandbottlefeeding.com/Bottle.php The website does have some information on choosing a bottle. I thought I had tried a ton of bottles, but until I found the right one...
I had the same problem with both of my kids. It was so hard to leave them, because I just knew they were hungry and crying while I was out. My situation was different because I wasn't working, so it happened infrequently. I discovered that they would take a bottle if there was formula in it, just not breastmilk. I don't know why... maybe it was that they associated the smell and taste of milk with me, and didn't understand why I wasn't there. I don't know. Anyway, I'm not advocating that you supplement in order to go back to work, my kids were older, and it was infrequent. I just thought I'd throw that out there. I hope you can find a bottle/nipple that will allow you to continue to breast feed. Good luck!!
if he takes a paci, find a nipple that is similar and choose a flow that is similar to yours. ie: I had a fast letdown so I choose an easy flow nipple sooner rather than latter. I second the trying a formula instead of pumped breastmilk or a mixture of the two. Also make sure that the bottle i as hot as your normal breastmilk.
Thanks for all of the great advice! We all survived the first week, and by mid-week she was successfully drinking three 3-ounce bottles of pumped milk while I was at work. We wound up using the Dr Brown's bottles.
My daughter had the same problem. My wife had pumped and stored a lot of breastmilk so that it could be used when she was not around, like late at night when I let her sleep, and when she started back to work. Sadly, It turned out for us that, as with many other woman, that she produced a lot of a substance, lipase, that did not freeze well. The stored milk all tasted putrid. I do not blame my daughter at all for not wanting to drink it. My advise - taste the milk. If it taste sour or metallic or soapy then you can google that to learn more. It is said the milk can be heated to restore its taste but we did not find that helped much. Milk with this problem cannot be stored for more than (I think) six hours in the fridge and not at all in the freezer.
