Breastfeeding Support Group

While breastfeeding is recommended by many doctors, it is not as simple as it seems. This is a community dedicated to parents who are choosing to breastfeed, providing a safe place to discuss everything from pumping, to questions of whether baby is getting enough, weaning, breast care, scheduling, supply, and more.

258 Members
1,879 Posts
0 Online
Children's Health & Parenting
/ Breastfeeding Support Group

Daughter wont take bottle of EM

homeogenic
homeogenic
Hi all, I am new to this group and I am glad that I found it!

I am currently breastfeeding my first child who is 8 weeks old. I love breastfeeding and hope to BF as long as she wants to! She loves it as well, and I feed on demand anywhere from 12-16 times a day. She is pretty colicy and generally the only thing that soothes her is BF.

However, I have to go back to work in about 2-3 weeks amd my daughter will not yet take a bottle of EM. She refuses each time, and it upsets her so much that she generally wont calm down for at least an hour or two. I have had my husband be the one to offer it, and I have left the room. I have waited to offer them when she is usually happiest-in the morning. The problem is that I am worried about my stash of milk. I feel like it is being wasted when she is not taking the bottles.From what I have read I cannot reuse milk that has been thawed and heated (?) It is difficult for me to pump during the day, becasue she wakes and starts crying each time that I set her down and so I am unable to get my pumping supplies together. It is also difficult for me to pump since she is almost always at the breast :) I didnt know if anyone had tips for getting her to take a bottle, as I am so worried about going back to work. I am afraid that she will cry all night long and never take the bottle.

Any advice will be appreciated!!
deleted_user
deleted_user
she has to learn how to tak the bottle, its like learning to BF all over again with something new, you have to be consistant, offer her a bottle often, only put a little bit in the bottle to not waste as much. offer it when she is in a good mood as you have been, and let her do what ever she wants with the bottle (my LO refused the bottle too when she first started it then she started to chew on it untill she figured out how it worked)
you can try leaving the house and having DH give her the bottle, they say that going into another room doesnt really work because they can still smell you and know you are there, another thing that i tried that worked fairly well was putting her in the carseat and have her face me to give her the bottle..... dont push it on her, if you offer and she gets upset, take it away and calm her down before you offer it again
hope this help some
deleted_user
deleted_user
The other ladies offered great advice, I have one piece to add for your pumping supplies. I wish I had known this much sooner, but you can just store your pump parts in the fridge in between pumpings. No need to wash each time. I would wash mine once a day. So quick to pop them out of the fridge, pump for 10 minutes, or as long as my son would allow, and put them back in after storing the milk. Good Luck. My son took the bottle pretty easy, but I do know that some babies will reverse cycle and only eat when they can breast feed from their moms. They do just fine too.
truststhelord
truststhelord
have you tried different types of nipples?

It's also possible that she isn't hungry if she's eating so often, but rather using you as a pacifier...have you tried giving her a pacifier? But, if she's not hungry, she won't take the bottle.
deleted_user
deleted_user
As the others have said, they have to learn to take a bottle just as they had to learn how to BF. It takes time and a little work. One suggestion is to let her nurse for a few minutes and then try the bottle -- she might be getting upset because she is really hungry and can't figure out how to get anything out of the bottle. My daughter would not take a bottle if my partner (her bio and bf'ing mom) was in the house, period. She had to be long gone or DD would not take the bottle. She was like that for months but fortunately it wasn't an issue after my partner went back to work.
deleted_user
deleted_user
PS: Definitely try different kinds of nipples and bottles, but only use the slow-flow nipples or you will endanger your breastfeeding relationship with her. Fast-flow nipples make babies impatient with nursing.
homeogenic
homeogenic
Thanks for all the advice! We have tried about 6 bottles/nipples and pretty much everything, but she still wont take a bottle at all. I went back to work three weeks ago and she has been waiting until I get off work to eat (about 14 hours). I was pretty worried at first but the pediatrician says that she will be ok-especially since I am working nights and she is starting to sleep through the nights when I am working. Of course when I am at home she still wakes several times to nurse, after nursing all day long to make up for it-haha! I am pumping 3-4 times during the night and my supply is still great! I am getting between 15-20 ounces a night! Our new problem is what to do with all the milk, because we are running out of freezer space! Thanks again for all the advice!
deleted_user
deleted_user
The same thing happened with my daughter!!! We tried a bunch of different types of bottles and she never took any. She ate all night long. She is a happy healthy 7 month old now who still doesn't take a bottle!! I ended up cutting back on my pumping while at work (I nursed once on my lunch break, and then pumped once) during my 8 hour day because my freezer was overflowing and there didn't seem to be much point in pumping so much for a baby that didn't drink from a bottle!
homeogenic
homeogenic
I am working 12 hour shifts, and away for about 14 hours at a time. I usually pump 3-4 times, because I was worried about my suppy dropping. Do you think yours dropped when you slowed down your pumping?
deleted_user
deleted_user
14 hours is a very long time to not pump, so I would certainly not drop all your pumps. But since she is sleeping most of the time when you are gone, its not like you would be nursing even if you were there! If you don't feel comfortable dropping pumps, then don't!! I just knew that I was pumping to much because even when I was with my daughter all day (weekends etc) I was getting engorged. I started off pumping 3x in 8 hours, but then I dropped 2 pumps, and nursed once instead of a pump (lunch break). I didn't really need the milk from that one pump, but I felt that nursing once in 8 hours wasn't enough...I would say if you have enough for your daughter when you are home, and you are not engorged then don't drop to many pumps! I think you could probably drop 1 of your pumps and see how it goes. If its a problem you can always add it back in. I dropped my pumps because all the milk went straight to the freezer and I had NO space left!!