Now we've got BF down, how do we go to bottles?

DD is 7 weeks today and doing great (still some rash, but otherwise
ok). We've got 5 weeks til daycare....

She adamantly refuses a bottle. Any tips other than patience and
persistence? DH gives it and I leave the room. We've tried a couple of
different nipples. Now, she was never good with the bottle but for a
few days in hospital she *did* take it, she took it easily just never
completed it. Now she won't even let it near her lips.

cjra wrote:
DD is 7 weeks today and doing great (still some rash, but otherwise
ok). We've got 5 weeks til daycare....

She adamantly refuses a bottle. Any tips other than patience and
persistence? DH gives it and I leave the room. We've tried a couple of
different nipples. Now, she was never good with the bottle but for a
few days in hospital she *did* take it, she took it easily just never
completed it. Now she won't even let it near her lips.

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.

Once you find something that works (if you do), giving
a small bottle (1-2 ounces), topped off by nursing,
every day 5 times a week will keep her in practice.

DD1 never took more than 5-7 ounces while I was gone.
She reversed cycle nursed, which meant she nursed all
night long, but she didn't starve. Things improved when
we started solids and she got those from the nanny. If
there is anyway you can nurse her during the day that
might really help.

Good luck!

Mary W.

"cjra" wrote:

DD is 7 weeks today and doing great (still some rash, but otherwise
ok). We've got 5 weeks til daycare....

She adamantly refuses a bottle. Any tips other than patience and
persistence? DH gives it and I leave the room. We've tried a couple of
different nipples. Now, she was never good with the bottle but for a
few days in hospital she *did* take it, she took it easily just never
completed it. Now she won't even let it near her lips.

Alexander didn't like regular bottles, but we finally got him to drink from
this one: http://www.onestepahead.com/product/85207/686/117.html It feels a
lot more like a breast. Just a suggestion.

rj

She adamantly refuses a bottle. Any tips other than patience and
persistence? DH gives it and I leave the room. We've tried a couple of
different nipples. Now, she was never good with the bottle but for a
few days in hospital she *did* take it, she took it easily just never
completed it. Now she won't even let it near her lips.

hmm, some babies just don't take to it, the way we ended up teaching Ada was
to dribble milk into her mouth from a cup with a spout, thus teaching her
that she could get milk from something else other than a breast, then
introducing the bottle, and I wasn't just out the room, I was out the house!
She then managed fine the one day I was planning away from her, but whenever
it was only 4hrs, she chose to wait for me.

Anne

cjra wrote:
DD is 7 weeks today and doing great (still some rash, but otherwise
ok). We've got 5 weeks til daycare....

She adamantly refuses a bottle. Any tips other than patience and
persistence? DH gives it and I leave the room. We've tried a couple of
different nipples. Now, she was never good with the bottle but for a
few days in hospital she *did* take it, she took it easily just never
completed it. Now she won't even let it near her lips.

Consider some non-bottle options. Shiny never did well with bottles,
"barely tolerated" scarcely covers it for a kid who was getting bottles
6 times per day at one point... it was not until recently that we found
options that work for her to drink *any* non-breast liquids.

The hard sippy cups (First Years take-n-toss) are one option, the
super-soft sippy lids are another (Nubby and Avent). We do better with
the take-n-toss, but Shiny has teeth and somehow it's just easier for
her to bite the darn things and pick it up with her head than to do
actually hold it with hands or suck.

More to the point, be creative, think outside the bottle. There's lots
of ways of getting things into a baby.