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could dummy help baby take teat?

am having an ongoing battle with my 11 week old exclusively BF baby trying to get him to take ebm in a bottle. Am suprised by people's attitudes that im now done for and should give it up! Have had a week off from trying as its stressed us both out but going to express tonight and get OH to try tomorrow with me backing off.



Going to try tommee tippee again as thats all i have but one friend suggested MAM so when i can get out will try one of these.



Just had a thought that maybe a dummy would help? At least his mouth would be in the same position. Was thinking about giving him one in evenings anyway as he can be unsettled. I know people turn their noses up ay dummies a bit and i understand why but i think if it helped him take a teat it might be worth it.

Replies

  • Iv no idea about helping him to take a bottle but my little girl is nearly six weeks and exclusively BF and iv been trying my hardest to get her to take a dummy and am having the same battle!



    My little boy was FF and he LOVED his dummy! Little girl however loves to suck and would have me as a dummy all night if i let her. Iv tried loads of dummys and the only ones she remotely tolerates are the cherry type but even then its for 2/3 minutes max then it gets shot across the other side of the room :lol:



    If i can express i would also like to offer a bottle to give me a bit more time with my little boy... il keep an eye on this one image



    Good luck x
  • My 5 year old wouldnt take a dummy at all but I have a 6 month old but after about two weeks she started to get to grips with it. It is because it is a different sucking motion to feeding so they find it harder. I know some people turn their noses up at dummies and that was why I didn't want one with my first but decided second time round if it helped my baby settle it couldn't be a bad thing. She only has it in the evenings if she won't settle and some days never has it. I don't pop it in her mouth when she winges, only if I know she can't settle in the evening when its my other childs dinner, bath or story time and I only have one pair of hands! As for the bottle, it is best to get someone else to feed. My baby will take a bottle and has done for ages but not at all off me and even being in the room puts her off. I use Avent and she likes them. The best thing though is try to keep with the same one if you can as keeping swapping may confuse them. I have heard that Nuby are supposed to be the best but I never needed to try as Avent worked with both babies. May be best not to try either if the baby is starving as they will just be really distressed not knowing milk comes from the bottle. Give the baby a feed and later when they start to look like they may be hungry try then. Also not when they are really tired or grumpy. Hope this helps x
  • thanks ladies



    miss strawberrie dont leave it any later to try the odd bottle - dont want you ending up in my boat! i didnt earlier as was feeding so often and had lots on my plate but wish i had now.



    gail thanks for the advice. I seem to have about the same success rate as my OH who has also tried. He will tolerate it in his mouth for a bit if not tired and grumpy, pushes it out with his tongue. I see bubbles in the milk occasionally but not much. He ends up taking an ounce, often by chance as it dribbles into his mouth, then gets cranky. We tried MAM today as it has a much smaller end to teat, i also have a small mothercare dummy thats a lot like mam teat - he does the same to this, pushes it out! Going to get my mum to try mam tomorrow. How old were your babies when you tried bottles? I may well give nuby a try. I hear what you're saying about not swapping but nothing to loose, he isnt taking from any really! x
  • Hey there. Not sure if this will help but medela have just brought out a new bottle which is only for breast fed babies it is supposed to let the milk down the same as a breast and baby has to work it like a breast.



    Well done for breastfeeding. I have 2 lovely children and unfortunately did not manage to feed either more than 3 weeks due to cracked nips. sorry tmi! I am due in 5 weeks with number 3 and dispite this i will try again and am hoping 3rd time lucky!!!



    Hope you find a bottle that works.



    XXX
  • tt didnt work for us, we only got her to take a bottle at 6 months and i was pretty miffed as i wasted so much ebm.



    ive heard diff bottles are better, MAM, dr browns and medela are the better ones (apparently)



    what teat size do you have? you have to check as i was using a 0+ for ages by accident and needed the 6+ ones as the amount coming out would be diff.



    are you in when ur doing a bottle? remember baby can sense ur there... go for a walk and see how it goes.



    xxx
  • hi ladies thanks for advice.JanetandEmy sorry to hear your BF experiences havent been good ones. I got unbarably sore very quickly with henry - latched on well, stayed at birth centre for support with every feed for several days - but ended up unable to tolerate it. I didnt crack or bleed but couldnt bare it! I know they say it only hurts if they're on wrong but i really think that i just have those sort of nipples.



    We have been using a nipple shield since day 2. They are supposed to be associated with not letting you get a good milk supply - my supply has always been good, LO never lost on day 5 and gained a pound a week for first few weeks (he's only ever had my milk). Sometimes feel like ive cheated but it doesnt really matter if they get the good stuff. Now he's 3 months i think its safe to say we're away (touch wood). its so wrong the NHS discourage their use as about a dozen people on here told me they BF for months with them successfully, and a number of people i know did the same. In reality havent heard any bad stories. Im telling you because i know health professionals wont and if the same things happen again they could be a godsend for you. I think you are really brave to try again as i know the agony of sore nipples, but honestly, nipple shields are fab.



    rosemary i feel the same about wasted ebm - but i guess its all good for keeping a good supply. There's something awful about tipping it away though! Not having much luck with MAM or the dummy that looks like a MAM, but he doesnt get distressed with me trying the dummy so may persevere with this for next few days. in the future might try medela and dr brown, but have made peace with the fact it might never work. It makes me laugh how many bottles advertise they are just like the breast and none of them look anything like!! A lot of people said a shield would make a baby more likely to take a teat but obviously not so for my LO! we have size 2 and 3 teats for the mam, 2 is up to 4 months and 3 4 months plus so think we're ok with that x
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