Let's Breastfeed

My breastfeeding baby won’t take a bottle

Posted on 04/08/2009 by Geraldine

Dear Geraldine,

My son Sam is 4 months old now and exclusively breastfed. We had a tricky start and he had to have top ups for the first 3 weeks and took the bottle fine. The midwives told me that he would never breastfeed and so when he did, I stopped offering him bottles so that he wouldn’t get confused. Now he won’t go near a bottle and I am going back to work in September. Please help.

Jen Buckley

Hi Jen,

Yes there is so much conflicting advice around with regards to bottle feeding, which does make everything more complicated. Don’t worry, I am sure we can get Sam back onto the bottle with a little practice.

What I need you to do is forget everything you have read about getting baby onto a bottle as most of it is damaging and will make matters worse. Follow these steps and move onto the next step at your own pace.

• Step one – introduce the bottle back to Sam. You can put a little breast milk in (10ml) if you like or you can leave it empty. Present the bottle at each feed, show it to Sam, let Sam play with it. You can also have one if you like and ‘show’ him what he should be doing with it – as this is how our babies learn. Once he is happy to have it around (normally 2 days) move onto next step.
• Step two – Offer bottle to Sam during the feed. Put 20ml in the bottle and have it nearby. Start with a breastfeed, then offer bottle and then breastfeed again. You can offer the bottle up to 4 times within a feed, but always follow up with the breast. When you breastfeed and offer the bottle, Sam gets the message that you are not taking the breast away from him and replacing it with a bottle – so he will be more likely to take the bottle. Babies are unpredictable so may be all smiles the first and second time that you do it, but then go crazy when you continue to offer the bottle at subsequent feeds. Don’t lock horns and force the issue, put Sam back on the breast. Persevere with this at as many feeds as possible during the day until Sam realises that the bottle is part of a feed, that you are not going to force him and that he always get the breast afterwards. This will help him feel secure about taking more milk from the bottle, which is step three.
• Now that Sam is taking 20ml from the bottle without fuss – you can move onto the next step. Increase the amount of milk he takes from the bottle during the breastfeed. Start with a breastfeed – then offer 40-60ml of milk in a bottle – then breastfeed again. At this stage you can decide to only do this at one or two feeds of your choice. You have done the hard work of getting him to accept it, so this is the tweaking bit. Continue to offer 40-60ml at your chosen feeds until he takes this with minimal fuss. Then move onto the final step.
• As Sam is happy to take large volumes from the bottle, you are ready to offer the bottle without offering the breast first. This is normally done after a bath where you have breastfed before the bath to empty breasts – then bathed – then offer a bottle. By doing it this way, Sam will not be overly hungry and will be nice and relaxed after a lovely bath.
• The final step is to allow dad or somebody else to feed Sam a bottle. Dads usually like doing this for the last feed, but if your husband works late, you can ask somebody else to do it for you during the day whilst you are in the room. This way Sam will know that he is not being left out to dry on his own if things don’t go to plan.

You may wonder how long all of this will take? Some clients have managed to get their baby back onto the bottle within a week, some within 2,3,4, so it is difficult to say.

Have a look at the expressing eBook for expressing routines and calculations on how to get enough milk for Sam and how to know how much he should be getting at each feed.

If you need some practical advice, come and see me at my practice in Twickenham.

Kind regards,

Geraldine

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9 Responses to My breastfeeding baby won’t take a bottle

1. Wii Fan says:

   27/11/2009 at 8:34 am

   Thanks for the great post – I loved reading it! I always enjoy looking at this blog.
2. Sandra says:

   15/12/2009 at 9:11 am

   Thanks for that post- this is exactly the problem I am currently facing. I will try these tricks and hope it will work for me too.
3. Hayley says:

   15/01/2010 at 6:43 am

   Will try this but really not hopeful – I have tried everything!!
4. Jeannie says:

   22/01/2010 at 8:46 pm

   I am currently going through the same thing. My almost 3 month old refuses the bottle. She did not have any problem taking a bottle when she 4 days old (had to supplement to help with jaundice) and we continued to give her a bottle ones a week so she does not forget (I have to go back to work in couple of weeks). But starting last week, she completely refuses to take a bottle. We have now tried many different nipples – both latex and silicone. She pushes the bottle (nipple) out with her tongue and cries!

   Thanks for this post, I will try your suggestions. What’s the success rate of your clients?
5. Geraldine says:

   23/01/2010 at 9:20 am

   Hi Jeannie,

   Sometimes there is something going on that you may not be aware of that suddenly changes a baby’s tolerance of bottle feeding.

   A sneaky bug or cold creeping in, maybe a new environment or one of the parents away on business, Christmas/New Year, all those sort of things can make a baby feel unsettled. When a baby feels unsettled, they desperately cling to what they know and reject any change, which can and has made bottle feeding more difficult. I have seen that by reducing variants and keeping things simple and constant, babies feel less threatened and more amenable to bottle feeding.

   Choose one bottle, one teat and one time to reintroduce the bottle. Try the sandwich feed, starting with breast then bottle then breast again. Don’t lock horns, regain your baby’s trust and then you will start to move forward. This way of introducing the bottle has worked for thousands of clients and I am only aware of 1 baby who refused bottles but accepted a beaker. The primary difference is the time taken to win a baby back round to bottle feeding, so be patient and persistent.

   I hope this helps.

   Kind regards,

   Geraldine
6. Goody says:

   27/02/2010 at 3:01 pm

   Hi Geraldine,

   I’ve been trying to introduce a bottle since week 1 with my daughter, to enable me to have a break from breastfeeding for one or two feeds a day as I have a 2.5yr old also. My baby girl is 5 weeks old now, and I’ve only ever managed to get her to take 1oz maximum, which she takes very badly, screaming and agitated. As soon as I offer her the breast she is fine. I’ve tried using breastmilk in the bottle but it ends up down the sink. I’ve tried different teats and formulas with no success. She is very unsettled in the evenings anyway, but I’m going to give your sandwich method a try if you think it will work with such a young baby.

   Also do you have any tips on settling colicky babies as she is taking at least 2.4 hrs to settle in the evenings, and I’m finding it really hard as I don’t want to upset my 2.5yr olds bedtime routine, so am currently keeping my baby downstairs with us in the evening to avoid disturbing him, but would really like to be able to get them both settled together upstairs.

   Thanks
   Best
   Goody
7. Claire says:

   22/03/2010 at 11:13 am

   Hello Geraldine,

   From reading this page it seems i’m not alone. My daughter is now 3.5 months old.
   I have been breastfeeding since day one, with the odd bottle feed here and there to try and give me a rest and so my partner and the grandparents could enjoy feeding her too. The last month or so she refuses to take the bottle from anybody, we tried breast milk and formula. Shes almost choking herself because shes gets so wound up. Tried lots of different techniques from searching on the internet but no joy.
   I can now see my little girl is getting her first tooth and i can feel it when i’m breastfeeding her which can be painful, especially now as shes starting to bite me. I would love to get her to take a bottle but it seems hopeless.

   I will try your tips from above, fingers crossed i can report back with good news.
8. Sarah Young says:

   02/01/2011 at 5:09 pm

   Thanks so much. What great tips. My first child absolutely refused a bottle (even with breast milk) until she was well over 6 months. Fearing the worst with my second, I tried your tips at 4 months. Breast, 3oz warm in a bottle, then breast. She took it without any fuss!

   Such a relief to know that I can supplement a bit now (to delay weaning to six months)

   Thanks

   Sarah
9. Geraldine says:

   18/01/2011 at 5:00 pm

   Well done! It can be a real chore to get older babies to bottle feed. I am pleased you found these tips useful.

   Geraldine