Mary W. wrote:

DD1 really didn't like the bottle. What worked for us
(to some extent) was using the playtex nurser bottle
with the disposable linings, so we could squeeze the
milk out into her mouth to get her started. Distracting
her while giving the bottle (this is where those baby
einstein videos came in handy). Actually, not holding
her worked best - DH or the nanny would prop her up
in her carseat, turn on the video and then sneak the
bottle to her.

Other things to try including varying the temperature
(quite a bit warmer than you'd think, or even try it cold),
covering her eyes with a burp cloth. Try when she's
hungry but not starved.
[...]
Other standard advice is to try different nipples/bottles.
For some reason, they will sometimes prefer one over
the other. DD1 never took the Avent nipples, but that's
all we ever used for DD2. Also, DH should give the
bottle and you shouldn't be around. Make sure she
is hungry but not too hungry.

Oh, hooray! I got her to take a bottle today! What a relief!

What I tried: I used an Avent bottle and nipple this time, just because
that happened to be the only other kind I had around (I never used them
with Jamie - only reason I had them was because I got them free when I
bought the hand pump. Thank goodness I never got rid of them!) I tried
giving it just as she was starting to wake up from her afternoon nap,
hoping that this would mean she wouldn't be awake enough to object - I
didn't even unswaddle her or wait for her to wake up fully, just scooped
her up when she was still at a fairly early stage of the "I'm getting
hungry and starting to wake up" grunts. The other two things I tried,
having read elsewhere that they might help, was to run warm water over
the teat first to warm it up a bit, and to walk around with her while
giving the bottle.

Don't know which factor or combination of factors out of all this was
the bit that did the trick, but something did - she wasn't thrilled
about it, but she took it. Now I'll have to try really hard to pump
something for her every day for the next several days to make sure she
stays in practice this time! When she's taken a few, I'll get my
husband to start trying so that she gets used to taking them from him as
well.

Thanks so much for your help!


All the best,

Sarah
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