Baby on bottle strike

G

Gracey

Registered User
For the first 2 months, my baby was breastfed through the day, and "topped up" with one bottle a night. So she was 80-90% breastfed.

This bottle was either right before bedtime, or for her middle-of-the-night feed.
Very occasionally -- like once every two weeks -- we would give a bottle if we were out and it wasn't convenient to breastfeed in public.

A few weeks ago, I finally got her to go exclusively BF through day and night, and was really happy! :) So I don't use formula before bed or during the night anymore.

Now I have a new problem -- suddenly, she is rejecting all bottles, even bottles of pumped breastmilk. It doesn't matter if she's starving, or we are outside and it's not convenient to breastfeed. She will have a fit and not take the bottle.

This is strange because, a few weeks ago, she happily went between bottle and breast. She didn't care where milk was coming from.

My worry is that it will be hard for me to go out even for one afternoon and leave her with the helper, since she feeds every 3 hours and REFUSES the bottle. Also, in a few months, I will be going back to work, and she will have to take many more bottles.

Anyone else have this problem? A baby who was OK with bottles, and suddenly is not? Any solutions?

BTW, she is just under 3 months old.
 
Try to have someone else, rather than yourself, feed the bottle. If need be, even get out of baby's sight. If they know the breasts are of close proximity, they will have their preference of breasts over bottle.
 
Other than what bonita said, my suggestion is just keep trying to give her a bottle every day or every other day (by someone else). In mine and my friend's case, it worked. Baby finally took the bottle again. Many mothers I spoke to seem to have similar situation, babies refuse bottle around 2 month.

My 6.5 month old refused bottle when he was about 2.5 to 3.5 month. He was exclusive breastfed and given a bottle of EBM when he was about 4 weeks. When he refused a bottle for that whole month, I thought I would be house bound and have a hard time weaning him later. But then, he took it again when he was about 4 month.

So keep trying and good luck.
 
Another thing to try is making the bottle feeding very different from the breastfeeding. So instead of having the baby lie in your arms face the baby outwards sitting up on your lap and bring the bottle around to the front of the baby. Another way is to prop the baby in a bouncy chair and give the bottle that way. Anything that makes it different to Breastfeeding should help.
SARAH
 
Thanks everyone!
I've tried having the helper or my husband give the bottle while I hide in another room. My baby is pretty clever -- even if she hears my voice, she knows the breast is nearby! :)
She refused it with my husband. My helper, who is extremely patient, finally got her to take 2.5 oz, but only after much crying and fussing.
Today, I left the flat entirely, so the baby had no choice. My helper got her to take a full feed of EBM, but again, only after much screaming.
We will continue like this until she's used to it. I will pump milk, leave the flat, and see how she goes.
It's so strange. When she was younger, she took bottles so fast that she would sometimes make herself throw up if we didn't stop her. She'd suck down 3-4 oz in 10 minutes. Now it takes forever!
 
I am also having this issue. I've just returned from a month in the UK with my LO who is now 4 months old. While away it has just been me who has been feeding her either breast or EBM / formula from a bottle. However I now have the situation where she will not take a bottle from either my husband or our helper. We have tried all different feed times and I've always left the room. Will try the different position/location for feeding and see if that helps. Thanks
 
I'm having similar problems with my 7 month old. I feel like I can't leave him too long as he won't take EBM, formula mixed with EBM or formula on its own. I've been trying every day, but he won't drink much from the bottle...ugh!
 
Sounds like my story. My baby shown resistance for the bottle at about 2 months. Totally rejected it at about 3 months. Been trying different positions/locations and tried feeding by my hubby. Not successful.
But we kept trying on and off every few days or few weeks.
Then suddenly at 6 months, she accepted the bottle again, though just 3-4 oz a day.
Now at 7.5 months, she will not accept the bottle from the hubby, just me and even so, still 3-4 oz.
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I'm joining this club, it seems. Baby is almost 6 months, and has recently decided not to accept bottles of breast milk anymore while I'm away at work, sometimes 11 hours! Instead, she breastfeeds many times throughout the night. I'm wondering if I should stop sleeping with her in order to help her switch back to drinking in the daytime more. Her weight does not appear to be falling right now.
 
Same here...though I don't work my baby is only drinking 4-5 oz instead of the 8oz...think it may be due to the rice cereal that I have introduced....but I shouldn't go back, right? What is the "right" amount to drink at this age? I am using formula to make the rice cereal so I'm hiding it some places...his weight is not falling though...good sign right?
 
I know this is an old thread, but my baby has started going on bottle strike today. We just took a long 10 day nursing vacation due to the CNY holidays. No bottles, no pumps - it was perfect. Now that I'm back at work she's refusing the bottle:P I hope this doesn't keep up. She'll be 4 months at the end of this week, would it be too early to start introducing a sippy cup?
 
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