https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 17 May 2026 18:45:59 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2150583 Mon, 20 Apr 2015 19:57:33 +0000 FaithFertility 2150583@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Following<br /> DD now 4 months stopped taking a bottle about 6 weeks ago...<br /> I thankfully am not back to work until August but do want the freedom of a bottle here and there<br /> We have tried all the tricks, many different bottles and nipples, hot/cold you name it<br /> She gums it for awhile then will get angry<br /> DH swears she forgot how, and I think she is just stubborn and smart<br /> Saturday I left for the mall and a pedicure from 11-4 and she didn't take it and he offered it twice she played and gummed it and got about an ounce over all but when he went to try again at 4 as I waited in driveway she flipped a lid :( </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147794 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 13:38:15 +0000 gingerbebe 2147794@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>My son fought bottles from 3 months to 5.5 months and we were using bottles almost exclusively! (I pumped with 1 bottle of formula a day). Even with me, feedings took like an hour. It was driving us NUTS. Doctor said it was fairly normal and that he wouldn't starve himself. We did have 2 times where his pee was dark and I freaked out and force-fed him with a syringe for hydration purposes but it did end one day.</p> <p>DS takes bottles fine now BUT one thing we learned from the strike is that he basically finds feeding boring (same with solids now, frankly). He's a highly distractable baby so during the strike we started hoarding small toys next to the feeding chair - crackly soft books, rings, jingly rattles, etc. We would feed DS with one hand while holding up a toy over his face with the other and he'd be so distracted by it that he'd drink for a while. Once he started fussing, we'd switch to a different toy or start singing him a song really animatedly.</p> <p>I managed to do this while holding him. My mom and DH had better luck putting him on the Boppy and facing him. </p> <p>We still have to do this now at 7.5 months.</p> <p>Oh, one thing we did occasionally when he was just freaking out was swaddle him really tightly and feed him that way. We used the Halo swaddle sack and did the song/toy routine and we could get him to take SOMETHING that way. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147425 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 09:08:55 +0000 SleepyMonkey 2147425@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went thru bottle rejection too. From weeks 6 to 16. The only thing that worked was going back to work. It took a couple days for her to be better with it but she eventually ended up taking it. But she vastly preferred breastfeeding and would only take a bottle from my mom (who was watching her while i was at work). She took maybe one or two bottles from dh, ever. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147358 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 08:32:38 +0000 MrsF 2147358@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Oliviapope: after I posted somewhere that this worked for us someone else said that they used the car seat to do the same thing. Obviously not an ideal place to eat, but my DH only had to do this for a few days and now J will take a bottle from him in any position. For some reason the position change just helped him to get adjusted to the bottle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147322 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 08:17:11 +0000 Oliviapope 2147322@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@MrsF: We don't use a bouncy seat but maybe this is reason enough to get one! </p> <p>@Corduroy: I'm so glad to hear it worked out! That is a great idea to have DH observe at daycare (if all goes well!)</p> <p>Did you bf at morning/night and on weekends? I'm worried it might make it difficult for her to be ok with the bottle if I bf her a couple of days in a row. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147311 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 08:12:47 +0000 Corduroy 2147311@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Oliviapope: We could not get my LO to take a bottle for anything. We tried a couple 9 hour bottle boot camp days at the end of my maternity leave but my stubborn LO would stick it out. I called LO's pediatrician before daycare started and she assured me LO would eat eventually. It ended up taking 3 days of daycare in a row before she took a sip. </p> <p>My DH also watched LO one day a week. Once daycare got her to eat he went and watched a feeding and copied it exactly. </p> <p>Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147233 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 06:52:50 +0000 MrsF 2147233@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We had this problem right before I went back to work. The only thing that helped was DH sitting on the couch and having J sitting facing him in the bouncy chair. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2147219 Fri, 17 Apr 2015 06:44:47 +0000 Oliviapope 2147219@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: so good to hear that things are good now! I'm nervous because we only have a few days, not a few weeks, to figure this out!! But I'm gonna give this a try - makes a lot of sense! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2146928 Thu, 16 Apr 2015 21:07:46 +0000 Mae 2146928@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So we had this problem for a long time--- LO would take a bottle for me but no one else. If DH tried she would just cry and arch and spaz out. One thing that sort of worked for us was to have him hold her while I gave her a bottle. She would take it if I was holding it, then after a few minutes he would take the bottle from me and she'd continue eating. That worked for a little while, then it didn't. The thing that ultimately worked for us was that DH started trying to give her the first bottle of the day. That is when she was hungriest and most likely to eat. At first she'd only take like half the bottle from him but we kept at it and after like a week she was taking full bottles from him. After a few weeks of that he tried giving her a bottle during the day and she took it! Now she eats for him as well as me :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/tips-to-help-dad-give-lo-a-bottle#post-2146911 Thu, 16 Apr 2015 20:56:58 +0000 Oliviapope 2146911@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>DD is three months old - I have been breastfeeding fairly successfully which is great. We supplemented for the first few weeks, and DH always fed her. She also took a bottle a day in the early weeks from DH while I slept in.</p> <p>We got comfortable and stopped doing a bottle a day, only doing it when needed - when someone would watch her for a couple hours, or if we were out and about. Other family members, who DD sees at most once a week, are able to give her a bottle.</p> <p>I've left DD with DH a few times a week for the last few weeks and it's been rough. She won't take a bottle, she screams and angry cries, and then she falls asleep after a while. If he's lucky she will maybe take .5-1 oz. He tries feeding her 2-3 hours after her last feeding, when she's happy, different positions, sitting/walking, etc. it very rarely works.</p> <p>This is so frustrating because he was the first one to successfully give her bottles! And I know it's wearing on him. And part of me feels almost guilty or responsible - could it be because I breastfeed her and she's holding out? I need her to take bottles from DH for my sanity so I can get out. Also I will be traveling for work. And also it's creating a lot of stress in our household.</p> <p>I return to work next week and DH will watch her one day a week (she'll also go to a day care three days, and be watched by my sister one day a week.)</p> <p>I am so stressed. Should I just relax - she'll figure it out and eat? Should I switch to EP so that it avoids confusion for her? Any tricks to make it work better? We had one great day last week where she took two bottles from him and finished them but not much luck since. </p>