i have a 3 month old and would like him to take a bottle of my expressed breast milk?

Question

we have tried at a certain time of the day to get him to link that time with a bottle fed, but he seems to know when we have it in our hands and gets really upset and wont take it,
any tricks to giving a bottle, he has taken it in the past on occassions but not consistently...
would just like the reassurance that if i needed to miss a feed he would take a bottle, or should i wait until he is a little older to have solids and maybe supplement with formula
any suggestions

Answer 1

sometimes a baby who will not take a bottle will take a cup.

put very tiny amounts of breast milk in a small cup... (if you have a dixie cup you can cut away the top edge of, that works really well, as some babies are afraid of that "thing" coming towards their eyes.)

Tip it gently towards him, with the bottom edge on his bottom lip. just wet his lips with the milk. He should begin to lap at the milk, kind of like a puppy.

Check out http://www.llli.org (Le Leche League International)
for more good ideas about how to get him to take milk from something other than your breast.

OH... is the milk in the bottle the right temp? that can be a really big turn off for babies! Microwave a cup of water, and drop the bottle into it. test milk on the inside of your wrist for temp... it should feel wet, but neither warm nor cold there!

Answer 2

This has to be a gradual thing and it depends on the baby. It will take time and patience and you'll have to be willing to tough it out.

Try having his dad or other adult he knows give him the bottle. He may not take it from you because he knows where it really comes from and he wants to breastfeed. If you could get him to take it from Dad at night, you could get some extra sleep. Otherwise, you can leave him with a willing and trusted relative or babysitter, and go out around the time of a feeding. That way your milk won't let down when you hear him crying and if he's hungry he'll take the bottle.

Best wishes to you.

Answer 3

you can do it when you feel that it is right, parenting and caring for your baby is about what you feel is best, i dont think there is anything wrong with giving your baby ebm bottles at this age! I would give a wee tip which is firstly to hide it from him, to prevent him getting in a state and give it to him when you are not even in the room, therefore its a task for daddy to do - at the moment he associates milk and feeding time with mummy you just need to retrain him a little, by having no association with mummy and bottle it is not confusing for him, when i gave m,y baby his first ebm bottle his grandmother did it, he took it fine. Also you could try these bottles that are shaped more like breast if he doesnt like the feeling in his mouth. good luck - hungry babies will drink from a bottle! he wont starve

Answer 4

Sometimes just the mother or both parents can not give the breast fed child a bottle but a stranger or caregiver could. Trust me if your child is hungry enough they'll take it. And if they miss one feeding they aren't going to suffer.

Answer 5

There is a certain type of nipple called the Second Nature nipple. It works kind of like the real nipple does. Yuo cna only get milk if you suck on it. It will not drip out of the nipple like other regular nipples. I would give that a try and see if he might take that. Also try to anticipate his hunger. Warm the milk up right before he gets hungry. Good luck!