My 8 week son is refusing all feeds from a bottle despite taking them when younger
Since my 8 week old son had his first vaccinations, he is refusing a bottle. I need to get him to take bottle feeds during the day since I go back to work in 3 weeks. He refuses the 10-11p.m feed for 3 nights now. And for the past three days he screams at the sight of a bottle during the day. We have tried every room in the house, every position but he just wouldn’t let anything touch his lips except my breast.
He breasts feeds at 7.15am, 10.40am, 2.20pm, 6.10pm, 10.40pm when he takes 70mls expressed breast milk and 4am. He weighs 6.44kgs [14.3lbs].
It is not unusual for a baby of this age to suddenly start refusing bottles, even when he has been given one from an early age. As you are working to a time limit for stopping breastfeeding it is even more stressful for you see your son repeatedly refuse to take milk from a bottle.
There are several things you can try to help you and your son. By now your son associates you with feeding from the breast so, if you are absent from the room or at least not in his vision for the next few 10.30pm feeds, he may begin to feed again from a bottle. If your son sees you he will pick up on any tension you have and be even more likely to refuse the bottle. If your partner usually does this feed it would be best to let him continue to do so, even though it is not a pleasant experience trying to feed a baby who is very upset.
Avent teats are quite hard compared with some others; it could help to buy a couple of NUK bottles and teats. Buy the latex rather than silicone teats as these are softer as well as “nipple” shaped. This may solve the problem straight away.
When a teat does not flow as quickly as a mother’s breast milk a baby will get frustrated. A baby will lick and play with a teat in his mouth when first offered to him. If he is rewarded straight away with milk he is more likely to start sucking for more. Try enlarging the hole on the teat so the milk is fairly free flowing. If using the NUK teats you could try with both the medium and large sized ones to see which flow your son prefers but you still may need to make them slightly larger at first. Enlarging the hole of a latex teat can be done using a sewing needle which has been sterilized and then heated in the flame of a lighted match. Once hot quickly insert it into the teat hole and move it around to enlarge the hole.
As the milk will flow quite quickly from an enlarged hole in a teat you must keep your son sitting in an upright position, facing out from you so his back is against the front of your tummy. This will avoid him choking and then starting to panic which will further upset him.
Warm the milk up as your son is used to receiving his feeds quite warm. Check the temperature on the inside of your wrist before offering it to him. It should feel fairly warm to you, but not hot.
If your son still refuses to feed from the bottle the following tips may help:
- Choose a feed when he is really hungry. If you can have a gap of at least four hours from the last feed he will be hungry and so, possibly, put up less of a struggle abut taking a teat rather than a nipple.
- Rather than waking your son for his feed at 10.30pm try leaving him until 11pm/11.30pm and see if the feed goes better before attempting to give him a bottle in the daytime.
- Try distracting your son by waving a rattle or toy in front of him. He may take the teat into his mouth without realizing it. When you start to give your son more feeds by bottle in the day, in preparation for your return to work, and are still experiencing him being reluctant, this method can work well if someone is there to help you.
- When you offer your baby the bottle and he starts to cry, don’t remove the teat from his mouth. This will just infuriate him more and he will not get the chance to taste the milk on his tongue. Keep the teat in his mouth and use your voice to encourage and calm him. This is why it is important to have a free flow of milk in the early stages to encourage him to begin sucking.
If you continue to have problems, consider getting your son to suck on a dummy for a few minutes before offering a feed and then quickly change it over with a warm bottle of milk.
Frustrating and stressful as this problem is the person giving the feed must remain calm. Using an encouragi