Babies struggle to accept bottles after exclusive breastfeeding

“My 8 months old is being breastfed since birth. We started solids around 6 months and she absolutely loves it. Right now she eats about 3 full meals a day of purees. I am still trying to breastfeed. My supply is great. During the day, she refuses to take more than one sip. She then starts to make chewing movements with her mouth and wants to eat another meal. I breastfeed her before bed and once after getting up in the morning. During the night she is so sleepy, she can't nurse. She seems fi”

“Any success stories or advice for weening my 6 week old off of the nipple shield? She is 3 weeks post tongue and lip tie revision and is now transferring 4oz per feeding. The LC suggested weening from the nipple shield. Well, it’s been a week. She will latch without it, but then get frustrated and unlatch. We try the “bait and switch” method, but she gets pissed. I do sandwich to try and help her latch, and am keeping the experience positive by offering the shield when she gets frustrated. We’ve”

“My baby is 10 weeks old, I’ve given him pumped milk in a bottle 3-4 times but every time he has a bottle he spits up SO much. Any tips? Has this happened to anyone else? Should I try a different bottle? Using Lansinoh with size 1, premie nipple. Tried size 2 slow flow once and the same thing happened. We pace feed, side lying similar to how he nurses, and burp every ounce. He does have reflux after the breast but it’s easily 3x’s as much spit up after a bottle. submitted by /u/Potent”

“My breastfed 4 month old took about 1 bottle a day until 6 weeks at which point she seemed to have realized she had a choice and was not interested in bottles anymore. We’ve tried every bottle, nipple, temperature, and circumstance under the sun. She won’t take it from me, my husband, nanny, even lactation consultant. We practice bottle every day. I’ve tried pumping milk fresh and bottle feeding her, waiting until she’s super hungry, trying first thing in morning, last thing at nothing.. etc etc”

“I’m in desperate need of ANY ideas to help my baby take a bottle. She is 12 weeks old currently. I went back to work when she was 9 weeks. My first day, she refused the bottle up until an hour before I got home and then she took a full 4 oz. Every day since she has refused the bottle. I feel like we have tried everything that’s suggested to help in this case, and we’ve tried just about every bottle/nipple and flow on the market. We have been to the pediatrician to make sure there’s nothing going”

“When did you all introduce a bottle to your breastfeed baby? I'm sure some of you have done it at different ages with different results, so let me hear them. My wife has inverted nipples (but breastfeeding is going good so far), and we've been told to wait 3-4 weeks before introducing a bottle, while some have cast doubt on whether or not using a bottle is wise at all in our situation. submitted by /u/MrBelflower [link] [comments]”

“I breastfeed all day and night except for when I need to do my MOTN pump. Then, I’ll warm a bottle for my husband to feed her while I do that. There are other times in the day, like if we know we will be somewhere and it would be too much to BF, we will take a bottle for us. My question is, will a time come when she will stop taking boob and prefer the bottle or vice versa? Is this a thing? FTM & LO is 5.5 weeks. submitted by /u/louise_for_president [link] [comments]”

“My daughter is 14 months old. I stopped formula at 12 months and tried to switch to water and cow milk only. She loves water but refuses milk. I have tried adding a splash of banana or chocolate milk and she will sometimes take sips but still does not like it. I've also tried ripple milk with no luck. She gets vitamin D supplements and has a very healthy and varied diet. She eats yogurt and cheese daily to try to meet what she's missing out on from the lack of milk. She is 86th percentil”

“I go back to work soon and have just started to reintroduce bottles over the last week. LO is 12 weeks, but born 3 weeks early. We have gotten into a great EBF flow up until now. I have been using the lanisnoh bottle with Pigeon SS nipple and paced feeding based off recommendations. However LO has started clicking throughout the feeding and getting a lot of trapped gas. She even has started losing suction while breastfeeding now. To say I’m stressed is an understatement. I have lanisnoh XS nippl”

“My son just turned 8 weeks old and he has been EBF since he was born. He only takes 1 bottle a day right now when my husband does the bedtime feed. I’ve been working with a lactation consultant for a few weeks now for latching and fast letdown troubleshooting. Separately, my son has a right-side preference/body tension, so I’ve been working with an OT my lactation consultant recommended to get that worked out. My son doesn’t have the widest latch in the world, but breastfeeding is not painful an”

“My EBF 5 month old absolutely refused the bottle for my entire maternity leave and finally took it the day before I was scheduled to go back. I’ve never felt such a big sigh of relief! Here’s what worked for us, bc I read literally every ounce of advice I could find on the internet and worked with lactation consultants to finally get her on the bottle. Sharing in case anyone else is the bottle refusal trenches! - Lansinoh bottle - let her get comfortable with the bottle by giving it to her every”

“I’ve been EBF since my baby was 1 month old. We did combo feeding when she was first born while my husband was on leave and could help out with feedings in the morning. She’s now almost 4 months old and refuses to take a bottle again. She relies on nursing for comfort and to fall asleep. At this point, she only sleeps maybe 2 hour stretches a night since she’s needing to nurse to fall back asleep. She has zero interest in pacifiers. I’m going back to work in 2 months, and would like for her to b”

“Baby who has been breast fed and bottle fed since birth has recently started rejecting bottle feeds. We have been using philips avent and we have moved the teats sized as recommended. Doctor just says everything is common. I want your POV on this. Currently till now she feeding on teat 2 now since rejection we tried teat number 3 as well but didnt work. submitted by /u/the_bearded_indian [link] [comments]”

“Looking for advice. My baby is exclusively breastfed with the exception of 1 bottle of breast milk a night until she was about 4 months old. I think I messed up and switched to every other night while on vacation because shortly after she started refusing the bottle. We’ve tried a variety of different things over the past month - changing bottles, nipples, mom leaving house, fresh vs frozen milk - but no luck. I don’t think it’s an issue with flow because she doesn’t even take a sip lol. Mom has”

“For the past couple of weeks, my 10 week old baby has been rejecting bottles. She's been bottle feeding my expressed breastmilk pretty much since birth with no issues whilst we worked on her poor latch, switching to near-exclusive nursing at 4 weeks with 1-3 bottle top-ups per day. We initially used Mam bottles but switched to Lasinoh at 4 weeks (as I was advised these were the most breast-similar) - using the slow teat. She handled the change with no issues. But at 8 weeks she started rejec”

“My baby is 1 month old. My nipples were flat so my baby couldn't latch. I pumped and fed him him since day 3, day 1 and 2 I fed him through spoon. After days of trying he finally started taking my breast directly since pumping also firmed my nipples a little. But he sucks a few times then starts crying and pushing away. Even the sucking is like once in a blue moon. There are no tongue ties or lip ties. Idk what to do, there are no lactation consultants in my city, I belong go a small city. &”

“We have a one month old that is exclusively breastfed. Since I'm very sleep deprived rn, my bf asked if I could pump one bottle in the evening so he can feed him after I go to sleep so I get more uninterrupted sleep. Does doing that makes any sense? Also, I'm afraid that I'm going to mess up my supply by using the pump wrong since I've never used it and don't know how much milk to pump for just one feeding - google says around 100ml but that seems so much to me. Also, does pu”

“My baby is 4 weeks old and is exclusively breastfeeding. She nurses majority of times but we introduced bottle feeding in the first week so my husband can feed her at night if I am too tired. I would pump and keep the milk refrigerated for my husband to warm and feed her. It was all going well, until week 3 started and she just doesn’t want to drink from bottle anymore. She pushes back, gags sometimes and cries but then instantly nurses when I offer her the breasts. We tried switching to differe”

“My daughter is 3 mos old and I am returning to work soon. I have been slowly building a freezer stash and have been EBF/husband feeding a fresh breastmilk bottle every few days. I decided to give her some frozen milk today to keep my stash fresh. I gave her milk from July and she was straight up refusing the bottle and screaming and ended up breastfeeding. I decided to try the milk myself and it smells sour and tbh tastes disgusting. I thawed some more milk from not even a week ago and it tastes”

“My baby just turned two months 2 days ago, shes exclusively breastfed but she took bottles when I had to supplement with formula for the first few days while my milk came in. After a week or so we hadn't used the bottles and recently when I went to leave the house on my own to run errand my partner called me in a panic because she was hungry, screaming, and wouldn't take a bottle. I love my baby so much but especially lately with the purple crying I need a break, my nerves are shot and i”

“This is probably a weird question 😂 but I’m wondering what other parents think. We went through a bit of a bottle aversion with my baby. She had been using Pigeon SoftTouch wide-neck bottles pretty much all along, but at one point she started refusing bottles and we ended up trying a few different ones, including Dr. Brown’s. She didn’t really take to the Dr. Brown’s. Thankfully, she seems to be out of the aversion now, and something I’ve noticed is that she is actually willing to take more tha”

“My daughter is 4 and a half months old and my wife just went back to work, I’m trying everything all the mom pages say and all the tips my wife gave me but my daughter will not take a bottle, I’m on day 2 of trying and it’s been 6 hours so far with no luck. My wife works in a SKIF so she doesn’t have her phone and can’t just up and leave work to feed the baby and I don’t want her to get dehydrated or hit a nutrient deficit. That and the hours of constant hungry screech cry is making my brain ent”

“If my baby is breastfeed except for 1 bottle a day usually, how do you suggest using up my frozen breast milk that expires in a few months? I read it’s best to use frozen breast milk by 6 months so I want to start using it up. Would you suggest using a pouch a day and then freezing the one i pump everyday? If I give my baby the frozen one and don’t pump then I’m Telling my body she doesn’t need that additional bottle right so it’s prob best to pump If I give her a bottle from the freezer stash r”

“help!! I tried giving a bottle to my EBF after a month and a half of direct breastfeeding. I had some milk from late july that I froze. After I reheated it, it smelt and tasted kinda gross tbh. I threw it out. Last time I gave LO a bottle was with 1-week frozen milk and it had no smell so I doubt high lipase. Did the milk spoil? submitted by /u/a_blue_rose [link] [comments]”

“My baby is 11 weeks old and EBF. We have done a total of 2 bottles - both went horribly! Choking, crying, just an overall fight. Then to top it off… I have to pump. The pump is currently my worst enemy I hate it for some reason. It makes me feel frustrated that I have to do the extra work of forcing baby boy to drink bottle, pump, wash all parts… UGH! I go back to work in 5 weeks and I work 10 hour shifts and NEED baby to drink bottles well. My LC recommended giving a bottle every other day and”

“Hello ftm here. My babies a month old, because of latch and suction I’ve had to bottle feed. Currently she uses the Philips advent natural. I tried the pigeon but right now due to her suction she has a lot of spilling. The Phillips isn’t so bad but I still want to look for one that will not have her spilling from the sides of her mouth. I also tried the dr browns one with the straw and MAM (which she did not like). I do pace feed. I did hear the Lansinoh ones are good. The extra slow nipple. I d”

“I breastfeed my 5.5 month old baby all the time except for when I’m working. I work 4x a week 5.5 to 6 hour shifts, and they’re from 4:00 to around 9:30 or 10 PM. She will usually go to bed with the sitter. The last 2 nights she’s refused her last bottle before bed. Does anyone have any idea why? I do cosleep and nurse her to bed but she has never had this problem before. Please help! submitted by /u/Mother_Parking7684 [link] [comments]”

“Hello everyone, I have a 7.5 month EBF baby and I've been trying to introduce bottles since she was 6 months and she completed refuses it. She is eating 3 solid meals a day, we've been following up with a pediatrician regarding that since she was having issues putting on weight. My husband usually stays with her for an hour in the morning before he goes to work so I can sleep in. I usually wake up breastfeed her, give her to my husband, and wake up an hour later and give her breakfast an”

“For months I’ve been trying to get my girl to take a bottle, and I’m starting to panic because I go back to work in three weeks. We try nearly every day, although I can’t always bring myself to do it because I don’t respond well to the pump and every attempt means potentially wasting precious breast milk. She HAS taken a bottle successfully twice and drank a couple of ounces each time, so I know she can do it—but there seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason to why she accepted it those two ti”

“Looking for advice on logistics of bottles when returning to work. Baby is 3 month next week when I’ll be returning. I plan to pump and have nanny give breast milk bottles during day. Currently baby feeds every 2-2.5hr with varying lengths/engagement in feed so (I’m assuming) she is getting varying amounts per feed. Dad does give one bottle per night and I pump so not an issue with taking bottles. How do I decide amounts/timing of bottles? I don’t want to waste breast milk. Do babies go for long”

“Our eight-month-old daughter has stopped gaining weight. She's been refusing the bottle for about three months, taking at most two ounces of formula before stopping. She strongly prefers breastfeeding, but her mom isn't producing enough milk to sustain her. We've tried solids, but she hasn't taken to them either. Even breast milk in the bottle she will not take it. We tried about 10 different bottle/nipples. She's also very very attached to her mom. She wakes from sleep cryin”

“Hi everyone - my baby has recently (in the last week or so) has refused the bottle hard. I exclusively pump so she does get breastmilk. Every feed is a battle of switching positions so she can eat. We’ve started solids since about 5.5 months old and she’s been doing ok with that. She maybe takes around 1 teaspoon of food while just sucks on other food. We’ve started solids recently saw the pediatrician and there isn’t any indication of illness. Has anyone been through this? Does it get better? &”

“My baby is 16 weeks old and has developed a bottle aversion…I thought. The first 5 weeks, we’d give baby a bottle of milk a day and I would breast feed the rest of the time. After hubby went back to work, it was just easier to breastfeed then give a bottle and if I found time during the day, then I’d pump and freeze it to slowly build up a stash. Fast forward to 14 weeks, I went to stay with my parents as hubby had to go out of town. They wanted to help and feed baby and we found that he was ref”

“My wife and I had our first child back in May. She's been breastfed since day one, and we were probably on the later end of introducing a bottle of pumped milk. I think we first started doing bottles of pumped breastmilk around 1.5 months, and would only give baby one bottle every 3 or 4 days and breastfeeding all other times. We also started pacifiers a little late, but baby seems to prefer the Nuk orthodontic pacis. Once she hit late 3 months old, she started refusing the bottle entirely.”

“Baby is 8/9 weeks and EBF. Having a really hard time getting her to take a bottle. Went to a LC last week and told us to just keep practicing since there aren’t any physical issues with her that would give away why she won’t take a bottle. Starting to resent and not want to breastfeed because she won’t take a bottle. I wish I had the option to pump and let someone else feed her for once. It’s very conflicting as it has been beautiful that I can sustain this tiny human and we have had no issues w”

“We started the bottle at 7 weeks --- and have had intermittent success. She is 12 weeks now. She will typically only eat an ounce or two from the bottle, unless we catch her at the right time (when she is sleepy and starving after a long nap.) Right now, the babe is clearly hungry -- but only drank a bit of milk from the bottle. Her dad is feeding her. Should we give her the boob and try again later? Or is it better to stick it out with the bottle until she is hungry enough to eat? I don't w”

“How to introduce bottles to an EBF baby? My baby cries so bad even when I'm sitting him to feed with bottle. Is like he knows, and the cry and the way he looks at me is like saying: do you hate me??😢😢 submitted by /u/J12Significant [link] [comments]”

“How to introduce bottles to an EBF baby? My baby cries so bad even when I'm sitting him to feed with bottle. Is like he knows, and the cry and the way he looks at me is like saying: do you hate me??😢😢 submitted by /u/J12Significant [link] [comments]”

“I am breast feeding my LO, but he needs to get used to the bottle because he will be going to daycare at 11 weeks old. He’s 6 weeks now and we are doing 1-2 bottles a day to get him used to them. We have all narrow 8oz Dr. Browns bottles and the milk leaks out of his cheeks. I used to be a NICU nurse, so I have tried ALL my tricks. Side lying paced feeding, cheek/chin support, sitting up, frequent burping, feeding awake, nothing is helping. I know the Dr. Browns bottles pass the triangle test, b”

“I have a 3.5mo and EBF. For the first 5 weeks of baby’s life my husband was also on baby leave and we’d give a bottle about once a day. Since returning that frequency slowly dropped from every other day to now not at all. Over the last 6 weeks my baby has been given the bottle about 5 times. But these last few times he has been refusing it and crying when we try to do bottle instead of breastfeeding. My dad has managed to give him a bottle pretty much every time over the last 6 weeks but me and”

“Do I have to pump if I’m giving breastmilk in a sippy cup at meals? I stored some when we were going fortified bottles due to slow weight gain, but then she refused bottles completely. So now I’m doing sippy cups with milk instead of water to try and squeeze in the extra calories. It’s maybe 4oz a day? The last 2oz is usually after dinner but before bedtime nursing. I’m a juuuuust enouuuuuugher so kinda worried about my supply. But also hate pumping. submitted by /u/Indecisive105 [li”

“My baby is almost 8 months. He is exclusively breast-fed and used to get about one bottle a week when I needed to leave. We used to do more, but now he sleeps through the night so we only do one a week. Around six months, he started disliking it. Then we slacked and I missed a few weeks of doing bottles and now he won’t take one at all. He throws his head back and gets really upset. I was using the Lansinoh bottle with the Pigeon nipple. Now he won’t even let me put a bottle nipple in his mouth.”

“My 9 week old has suddenly started refusing the bottle. He’s been taking even flo wide neck bottles since he was 1 week old, every morning from my mother in law. We missed one day. The next day he took the bottle with some difficultly. The next day, he only took half his normal amount, the day after that he took a quarter or his normal. Now, he won’t even latch to the bottle. Just starts crying when my mother in law puts it in his mouth. I’m not sure what changed that made him suddenly refuse th”

“I start a new job in 4 weeks (been a sahm). Had I known I was going to be starting so soon, I would have bottle fed from the start. My 8 week old is refusing the bottle. We’ve tried different bottles and different people feeding him. He doesn’t suck on the bottle at all (same with pacifier) he just swishes it around then pushes it out with his tongue. Sometimes he’ll gag. Any tips or tricks to get baby to specifically suck on the bottle? Please do not suggest to trying different bottles/nipples”

“Hello, I'd appreciate some advice on bottle feeding. Can you recommend a (glass?) bottle (with pumped breastmilk) that can be warmed up easily and to the right temperature in a RV? We have solar panel for electricity. Anyone with experience? Thanks! submitted by /u/Roni-Licious [link] [comments]”

“My daughter will be going to a child minders 3 days a week, 7:30-4 from January. She’ll be 10 months. Do you think she’ll need a bottle in the day or be fine with boobie before / after sessions? Any advice welcome on this topic x Additional info; so far she seems like a big foodie but she’s also still on the boob every 1-2.5hrs, she might be able to go longer but it’s so much easier offering the boob if she seems like she needs it. One part of my thinks I should transition her to bottles during”

“My 4 week old is EBF and we started introducing a bottle once a day. His older brother did amazing with Dr Brown, narrow P nipple and never had any issues transitioning, so I used it again with my LO. He started to fuss at the bottle a few days ago, so I thought it might be the bottle and changed it to Lansinoh today, But he did the same thing today AND swallowed so much air with the Lansinoh that he kept on burping afterwards and had the hiccups. I am thinking it was never the Dr. Brown bottle”

“Hi parents, My 4 week old is EBF and we started introducing a bottle once a day. His older brother did amazing with Dr Brown, narrow P nipple and never had any issues transitioning, so I used it again with my LO. He started to fuss at the bottle a few days ago, so I thought it might be the bottle and changed it to Lansinoh today, But he did the same thing today AND swallowed so much air with the Lansinoh that he kept on burping afterwards and had the hiccups. I am thinking it was never the Dr. B”

“Help!! He’s 4 months now and I am returning to work soon. He rejects bottles and is EBF. We try all the tips and tricks and what not. Just looking for somebody who may have a similar story and it want to know if it worked out okay. People say if he’s hungry enough he will but I’m nervous. For context I will be away for a total of 10 hours in a day :( submitted by /u/Adventurous-Part1299 [link] [comments]”

“Trying to figure out which bottle to use for baby as I prepare to return to work. We have the Babylist sampler box, which included Dr. Brown, Avent, Lansinoh and Bibs. The Avent one is so slow even though it’s a size 2 nipple. Is this a sign she maybe isn’t latching well with the bottle? She worked on it for quite a while yesterday night only for me to check and see that there was basically no milk removed. I switched the milk to a Bibs bottle then and it worked better at least. Curious if peopl”

“I’m back at work in a hospital setting (UK based). Baby never took a bottle and I used a tommee tippee hand pump previously when I tried. I’m prone to mastitis (7x) so worried about managing at work. Baby is at nursery 4 long days a week. I’ve been pumping with a manual Tommee tippee 2x daily when she would normally feed to sleep in the day otherwise she feeds just before she goes in and after nursery and then bed time/ overnight. This may seem like a lot but she has always fed loads and cannot”

“LO is 13 weeks old and we previously were doing 1 bottle of expressed milk at night so I could get a little more sleep, or whenever I needed to leave the house my husband would be able to feed her. Maybe 3ish weeks ago she started refusing the bottle and getting worked up anytime me or my husband tried giving it to her. She’s accepted a few from my MIL but she gives her a hard time too. I enjoy BF but I hate this. Sometimes I just want my husband to be able to feed her while I lay on the couch o”

“My 11 month old is exclusively breastfed (typically around 6 times per day). She refuses bottles and all formulas we have tried. She has tried 100+ plus foods and was a good eater until recently. She barely eats 1-2 bites of her food. It’s stressing me out so much because she’s technically slow to gain weight according to the doctor’s chart. She’s 18.5 lbs. I need either recipe ideas or general advice how to navigate this. I know I can’t be alone. submitted by /u/pursuitofhappiness01”

“I start back to work next week. My LO will be 3 months. He is around 14-15lbs. Our first was ebf because I stayed home, so neither me nor my husband have any experience with bottle feeding! Husband will be home with him, how much should he be giving him? He normally just snacks at the breast every hour. Will he want to continue to do this? Is my husband going to have to make small bottles more often, rather than a bigger bottle every 3 hrs? I don’t want to waste breastmilk! Thanks in advance. &#”

“Hi ! Baby is 10 weeks old tomorrow and for context he had like 2 bottles his 3rd week of life. Then I got mastitis and was doing bottle + breast just fine for like 2 weeks (from week 5-6) then I continued only breastfeeding. He got a bottle recently at 9 weeks and husband said he was clicking a lot in the bottle which is a problem I’m also having right now with the breast. In general I go back to work in February when he will be 7 months so I don’t mind (I think) to go on with only breastfeeding”

“My 5-month-old daughter is exclusively breastfed (breast milk only, no formula), and we’ve been struggling with a very strange feeding pattern, especially now that she is in daycare and I’ve returned to work. She is perfectly capable of drinking from a bottle. In the evening, she will happily drink a full 4 oz bottle of expressed breast milk from me before bed and will often breastfeed some more afterwards. So it doesn’t seem like she doesn’t know how to take a bottle or simply hates bottles in”

“Hi all desperate for suggestions. I have a 6.5m old who is EBF. We started giving her 1 bottle a day at 5 weeks which she took to immediately. When she was 5m old we skipped the bottle for about 4-5 days while on vacation. When we tried again she refused and has ever since. I’ve tried every day sometimes multiple times a day without success. I’ve tried 4 different bottles/teats, attempted a straw (she drank from it twice otherwise just flicks the straw to spray milk everywhere), tried different”

“My baby started refusing bottle with fresh milk at 10w old. She is exclusively breast fed. We have been trying to retrain her to take bottle and tried various things. She would occasionally have a tiny bit, but never a full meal and always takes very long. I just tried changing the teat on the bottle to 6m plus, and it seems to have worked. However, am really scared that she will then stop breastfeeding if this flow is much faster in the bottle. Did I find a solution or is this a terrible idea a”

“My baby is 6.5 weeks has been exclusively breastfeeding except for a few formula supplementations early on and a few bottles here and there. We were using nipple shields for about 3 weeks due to latch issues but those have been corrected and he’s been direct latching for about 3.5 weeks. Over the past 1.5 weeks he’s become increasingly fussy and gassy. This started really becoming evident during our “bedtime” feeds where he’d grunt, wail, latch and delatch, etc while feeding. I can tell he’s gas”