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I introduced a bottle when my baby was a few days old but I got lazy and stopped after the first month. It took her a week and a half to get back on track when she started daycare at 4.5 months!

Good luck!

I think we started my LO on a bottle around 4.5 weeks or so and she was ok with it. I just made sure to be out of the room so she wouldn't know mummy was around, and also had DH give it to her when she wasn't starving (ie she was feeding every 2.5-3 hours at that point so we gave her a bottle about two hours after her previous one). I think she drank the whole 3 ounces then and it was fine; we used the Playtex drop in bottles.

Of course the downside is that we weren't very good about giving her a bottle of pumped milk every day and by five months, she completely refused all bottles and never took one again. Sigh. All that pumped milk to be thrown away

I think someone, maybe Mrs Jacks, wrote a good post about how to get a bottle refuser to start drinking from a bottle. I know giving the bottle outside, where they are distracted by all that is around them, was one of the suggestions, but I can't remember if the post was more applicable to a tiny baby being introduced to a bottle or an older baby on a bottle strike. I'll see if I can't find the post I'm talking about....

ETA: found it! Yes, it was Mrs Jacks who wrote the post and whilst it is more applicable to a slightly older baby, you may find some of the suggestions useful now. Good luck!

http://www.hellobee.com/2012/04/20/what-to-do-when-your-baby-goes-on-bottle-strike/

@marionberry: which teat did you use with the medela? The slow flow or the calma? The calma is supposed to mimic the breast the best. We use that one to feed E and he guzzles it down like no tomorrow. I hope you find a solution maybe it will just take a few try's?

@marionberry: Yes they are!

My LO is almost two weeks old (tomorrow) and she does well with the plates nursers. DH has given her a bottle of pumped breast milk a couple of times. She does just fine going between breast and bottle.

@marionberry: Gotcha. For us, the fighting and crying got better over time. We had to offer gently, brushing the nipple against his cheek and trying to encourage him to latch, or he outright refused it. We also had to take the bottle away from him, to mimic the stop and start of breastfeeding, once he got established. Otherwise he guzzled and had a bellyache.

Try not to worry if he doesn't drink much at a time. My LO is 10 months, and can handle 2oz of pumped milk at most in a single sitting. I've always heard breastfed babies need 1oz of milk per hour you're gone once you leave for work, and that's what has worked for us.

LO fought all bottles but the playtex ventaire wide ones, and I couldn't be anywhere near her for it to work. Also, until she was old enough for the medium flow, it took her aaages to finish a bottle. Once she was in daycare taking multiple bottles a day she got a hang of it and will take any bottle now. It took her until 3 months to happily take one from me! Hang in there and keep trying different things...something will stick!