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Wits end with 6 month old refusing breast milk from bottle or cup

hi all

really hoping someone can help. My daughter is now 6 months and has flat out refused BM and formula from a cup and a bottle. all my friends who have babies have had no problems whatsoever and I'm starting to feel depressed :(

i just need a break, an evening off. Just one. I tried recently and left her with my mum and milk and various bottles and cups and she just ended up sobbing so I had to go home after 30 mins.

i just can't see an end in sight and am reading some mum's have had this problem until baby is about 2 and I cannot imagine that. We are tired together 24 hours a day, we bedshare as she is a Velcro baby. I adore her and being a mum but I'm also sick of being told I shouldn't want to have a night off.

ANY advice at all? Is it worth first leaving her with dad for an evening?

help!

Replies

  • I think you made good, leaving your daughter with mum. So she relearn from your milk. I think it is worth to leave your daughter with dead for an evening that she drink milk further with bottles and cups and that she learn it.

  • i are you have tried various bottles... have you tried the medela calma? its designed to be as close to breastfeeding as possible. My little one got on great with those when he had the occasional bottle. 

    Another thing you could try is putting a little bit of you milk on a lovvie & have the person feeding her hold that next to her so she can smell your familiar smell. 

    Also... try dipping the bottle nipple in the milk before offering it to her and / or with a tiny syringe drop a few drops into her mouth as you first put the nipple in... so she gets  idea of what is in the bottle straight away. 

    Sorry you are having a rough time! It will get better! Hang in there! 

  • Hi my little boy was the same with bottles. He has very recently started taking milk from a bottle. We found it had to be quite hot, I felt how warm it was when I expressed and warmed it to that temperature before we tried him with it. We found the best luck with MAM bottles. It's worth a shot but might not work for you. 

    Some positivity though, soon little one will start weaning onto solids which means they can start going for longer between feeds through the day. I sometimes can drop my little boy off with grandparents for 4 hours on an afternoon and he can manage on food and water. He's 8 months old now and is on 3 solid meals a day plus snacks and has reduced his feeds to about 4 a day so I'm not as tied as I was.

    Don't feel guilty for needing a little time to yourself. I found breastfeeding changes your life completely, even down to your outfit choice every day and whether you can feed in it! It's nice to have a couple of hours to yourself now and again. 

     

  • Thanks so much everyone for your kind messages.

    Wondering if anyone has MORE luck getting baby to take formula in a cup rather than EBM?

    And if so which formula, I hear hip organic is a good choice? Any tips appreciated!

    x

  • Hi monster,

    I completely sympathise as we are in a similar boat. My daughter is a week off being 6 months and we've really struggled to get her to take a bottle. The most frustrating thing is she took a daily bottle brilliantly when she was 5 weeks old, right up until she was 3 months old, then she just started to flat out refuse and would either chew the teat or just spit it out. It's hard isn't it! My husband and I are yet to have a baby-free evening and I've had to turn down countless events - birthdays, hens etc. Similar to you, I haven't been away from her for much more than an hour since she was born and a break would be nice at some point!

    We had a small amount of success for the first time a few days ago. We gave her a Tommee Tippee transition cup (using the cup-shaped teat, not the bottle one) to feed herself with. She thought it was a game more than anything, holding onto both of the handles and shaking it around. But in between the fun and games (!!), she put the cup in her mouth, tipped it back and drank a bit. The crucial thing to me is that she actually seemed interested in it and was trying to reach for it when we took it away. Maybe because of it being brightly coloured and having handles so it seemed more like a toy than a normal bottle? I know you said you've tried a cup but just sharing my experience in case it's useful in any way!

    Have you started weaning? We started baby led weaning a week or so ago and part of me thinks our success was because she's a bit more used to putting things in her mouth (other than boob!) to swallow now. We haven't tried her with formula, just expressed milk, so can't help on that front sorry.

    Anyway, going to keep trying and I'll let you know if we have any breakthroughs! Good luck!

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