Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Ok, I don't know what to do? She just straight up refuses to drink the bottle? She keeps turning her head like she wants to nurse to everyone that tries to feed her. I took her to the Ped's and she's fine. He said that it's ok that she's not eating them during the day while I'm working since I'm still nursing her all other times. Which she has decided to nurse for AT LEAST 30-45 min every time. She is normally a 15-20min eater! I know she won't dehydrate but the milk is her growing food. When she doesn't take the bottle they use the milk in her cereal so she at least gets it that way. Please tell me it's a phase??? I can't nurse her forever...

ETA: She eats her solids just fine still. And it can't be that she doesn't like the nipple since she ate from them for 2 months before getting fussy.

ETA again: She's almost 5 months old.

Message edited 4/21/2011 3:07:19 PM.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

DS is just about the same age and we had the opposite problem. He went several days refusing to nurse. All he wanted was bottles. I think it's a phase that she will snap out of very soon! If she is thirsty to the point of dehydration, she will definitely take the bottle. As long as the doctor isn't worried, she will be ok!

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

I had the SAME PROBLEM. She ended up never taking the bottle and is still nursing at 11 months and drinking from the sippy. I was told to just keep trying but she never took. So I have no advice other than my ped said if she's really hungry she'll take it.


BTW...my dd also initially took the bottle then decided to go on strike from it.

Message edited 4/21/2011 3:37:10 PM.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Yup... they get stubborn at that age.

I weaned DS cold turkey (he drank from a bottle about once a day)...

He went on a hunger strike for 2 days (would just drink a little bit) and takes the bottle just fine and now doesn't even remember what my breasts were for.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

My dd never took a bottle. I had freezer FULL of milk I had pumped and had to throw it all out when it hit a year. I cried with each baggy. But dd would not take a bottle from anyone. She would just wait for me to get home to nurse her.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

I hate to say it but I think it really depends on the child.

DD#1 took pumped bottles and then stopped for about 10 weeks. Then suddenly started taking them again. It was really frustrating for me. But she DID take them again. I just never gave up trying.

DD#2 on the other hand NEVER took a bottle (except in the hospital she took 1 when she was 1st born in the OR b.c she had slight low blood sugar). I pumped and dumped so much milk b.c she would NEVER take the bottle. She had severe reflux and colic and there was some question as to whether she had some milk protein issues. I had to avoid all diary - they wanted to try her on some formula to see if it helped. B.c her weight was slowing due to the reflux. We could not get her to take a bottle. I bought one of every single bottle that existed. I took her to a feeding specialist who said she had a poor suck BUT that she was BFing okay (even though not totally correct) but the feeding specialist couldn't get her to take anything from a bottle.

If it helps DD#2 started drinking from an open cup at 6 months. DD#1 left her water cup on DD's high chair one day and before I could grab it she just picked it up and drank from it. So I grabbed that opportunity. I couldn't put more than one or two sips at a time b.c she liked to dump the cup - but at least I could let someone else feed her if we had an emergency. She never drank from a sippy either and went straight to a straw cup.

You could try to put a drop of two into an open cup and try that or maybe try a straw or sippy cup if your DC won't take the bottle maybe she would prefer that. The feeding specialist did say some children just never take a bottle. The GI I saw told me if I just let her get hungry she will eventually take it and to NOT feed her from anything BUT a bottle and she would eventually take it - but I was told by the feeding specialist NOT to do this unless you want to exclusively give bottles as she might not go back to BFing.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Would try a straw sippy cup and see how that works. DD never wanted to take bottles. It didn't matter so much b/c I am a SAHM but it made it difficult to try have date nights with DH or even go anywhere for no more than 2 hours alone. I nursed her until 11 months and she took to a sippy fine. The sippy she started at 6 months with water

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Has she ever taken a bottle?
DD refused until she was about 5 months. She started taking the adiri bottle and then finally playtex drop ins. Once she started, I gave her one a day. But then she would only take it from me, so I was back to square one! It's really hard, that's why I'm exclusively pumping for my 3 week old. I can't go through that again! I feel your pain.
So try different bottles and have somebody else feed her. Eventually she will take it. Sorry you are going through this!

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

DD does not take a bottle. She used to, but then when she started daycare she stopped. I have tried different brands of bottles, sippy cups, straw sippy cups, etc. It could be a phase, but like OP said, it probably depends on the child. I hope your DD changes her mind

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

If she doesn't start taking it again soon, I'll have to try a sippy or something.

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!

Have you tried different bottles and faster or slower flow nipples? Is the milk warmed up enough? Is the bottle being offered before food?

Re: Anyone else deal with this? DD is STILL not taking bottles!