So, I know this topic has been discussed a million times, but I am desperate! I can NOT get my 3.5 month old to take a bottle. She used to drink from it before I returned to work, but since starting daycare she had refused. We've bought about a million bottles, have tried different positions, different people feeding her, me there, me gone, shirts that smell like me...nothing! The best that I can do is to pour a little milk into a lid and slowly pour sip by sip into her mouth. It works, but I don't think that our daycare teachers, however patient, have time to do that. Does anyone have any advice for us?
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Honestly, she will just drink it when she gets hungry. If she took the bottle before, you know it isn't the bottle issue.
We had a bottle boot camp the weekend before R started
day care. She wouldn't take it most of the time. We did it the hours she would have been at day care she got a bottle. It took an hour a couple times but she took it and even from me.Hang in there!
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We had the same problem. I just kept offering it, over and over. It was annoying but eventually he took it when he was really hungry. Good luck!
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We just got over this same issue. I think the biggest factor for us was the temperature of the milk. My LO took a bottle from about 6-12 weeks then decided she only wanted the boob from 12 weeks-5 1/2 months. So stressful! The day I went back to work was the first day she took a bottle since 12 weeks. My DH was home with her and said she kept refusing it so he finally decided to make it warmer (like body temperature warm) and she finally took it. She will still refuse it if it's not warm enough, but as soon as he heats it more she downs the entire thing. She is just high maintenance I guess. Worth a shot?
ETA: the bottle she took initially was tommee tippee. Once she started refusing we spent SO much money on different bottles thinking it was the bottle that was the issue. Nope, she takes the TT just fine now. So I say stick with the bottles your LO has taken in the past.
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For us, it turned out to be nipple flow. I had an overactive letdown and my milk always came FAST, so LO never really had to work very hard for it. It didn't matter the bottle, as long as the nipple was fast flow (even at 3 months).
Hang in there!
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My LO was the same way and it took a week at daycare before she drank a good amount. She also likes her pumped milk at a very warm temperature!
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So...warm milk and don't give up! She's been at daycare a week, and so far nothing (I've gone out there to make sure she is getting food). I had some luck today pouring it into her mouth with a shot glass. Here's hoping this is the week! (Also, I'm definitely still open to more tips!)
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@babypugs: Hugs!! It took my LO about a week at day care before she drank at all. It was tough to go back to work and think about my hungry baby. They really will drink when they are hungry and they get the message that you're not going to be nursing any time soon.
When you say you've "gone out there to make sure she's getting food" does that mean you're nursing her at day care during the day? That might be making things harder since she could be expecting that.
My best tip is to not offer full bottles until it seems like LO might actually drink. I wasted more than 100oz on bottles she never took one sip from. I still kick myself for doing that.
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@Corduroy: Yes...we tried waiting it out all day once, but I'm gone about 9.5 hours and I felt like that was just too long for her to not eat. So the past couple days, I went during my lunch break. I'm just afraid that she'll stop gaining weight if I don't! She's still pretty little, only 12.5 pounds. Ahhh...dilemmas. maybe I should not go out there today, but just leave earlier than usual if she doesn't eat? Hmm...thanks for the advice! You're right, it's SO hard watching precious milk be thrown down the drain!
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Update-she finally started taking the bottle last Thursday and did so well through Monday. Then today, she refused all over again. Ahhh! Anyone else have experience with this? Do I just have the most stubborn baby in existence?
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Are you breastfeeding? For the first few weeks my daughter would struggle after a weekend of nursing all weekend, or if I nursed at lunch she would fight the bottle after that nursing session. It took probably 2-3 weeks before she totally quit fighting it. It also can not be cold at all, and she needs to be hungry otherwise she has no interest in it.
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Also I just recently saw a bottle that was supposed to be the best simulation of the breast, it was soft I think... I will look for it and see if I can find it and post a link.
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