Help my young baby won’t take a bottle and I have to go back to work! Or I need to go somewhere! Or my husband wants to feed him! Or I need surgery! Or you want to exclusively pump. You get the idea! These situations can be stressful, but it’s ok. Just follow these tips to get even the most stubborn baby on board.
Babies can be picky creatures from the beginning of life. Just as some older humans have individual quirks, so can a newborn. You probably know people who can be very strict with a schedule or need lists of everything, or maybe she doesn’t like change. As well, perhaps you are the “go with the flow gal”? The person who may seem undisciplined or messy or can roll with the punches of life and still look unscathed (on the outside). Then there are those that sort of fall in the middle of both personalities. Obviously, there is no right or wrong way to be. After all, this is your life, and you have to live it.
Sometimes you may need to adjust your thought process and make alterations, even if it doesn’t align with your way of thinking. Consider a time you needed to adhere to a compromise. What did it take out of you? How hard was it? Did you have time to adjust to this, or were you thrown into it? Did you master it eventually? What was the outcome? Here’s an example: you have worked the 9-5 shift for your entire adult life (7 years), your boss just informed you that you’d have to start the 2-10 shift next week. How do you handle all those changes? It seems simple to some, but a catastrophe to others.
Now imagine a baby who has been eating a certain way for days, weeks, or months, and you try something new. His first reactions may be to spit it out, or play with it or bite it? If you’ve gone from breastfeeding to a bottle, he may not understand the texture. A soft, warm nipple that conforms to his mouth compared to a hard, rigid nipple that has no give can cause a mutiny for some babies. Not only does the receptacle in his mouth feel different, but the reward is not flowing the same as before. It is challenging for a baby to suck, swallow, and breath. His tongue is unsure how to move from a peristaltic wave-like motion to up and down motion. His brain is undeveloped and may need time to adapt.
So what’s a mom to do if she has to leave her baby? How can we teach those “mini-me’s” to yield quickly to our way of life? Some of you might consider not breastfeeding at all due to your fear of having a hard time introducing a bottle. Others will never need a bottle if she plans to be with her baby 95% of the time (you can still have breaks of time alone-without bottles-if you exclusively breastfeed). Patience, flexibility, consistency, and creativity will bode you well in this instance. Check out the list below to help your cause, while keeping in mind that no two babies are the same. What works for some may not work for others.
Helpful tips for the baby who won’t take a bottle
- Start with the slowest flow nipple/bottle. You may need to change bottle/nipple a few times to see what works for your baby. Remember, just because the product says it’s “best for breastfeeding babies” or that it is a “slow flow” nipple, doesn’t mean it’s true.
- Check the flow of the bottle by putting water in it and turning it upside down. If it drips, it’s already too fast. If you put pressure on one side of the nipple and it streams out, don’t use this nipple. The fast flow can feel like a fire hose in the baby’s mouth, and he may choke or overeat. He needs to work a little for the milk (like the breast).
- Ideally, start between 4-6 weeks of age if you will need to go back to work around 8-12 weeks.
- Try once per day.
- Feed when the baby is in between feeds (not starving or full). Content in the earlier part of the day, if possible.
- Let someone else give the bottles. A positive, patient, smiling, happy voiced person is best.
- Change the temperature of milk.
- Change position to feed. Try sitting baby away from the body.
- Change bottles when necessary.
- Teach that person paced bottle feeding.
- Place bottle under the armpit and trick baby.
- Use alternative feeding methods when appropriate: cup, syringe, medicine dropped, etc.
- The mother should go for a walk or position herself at least 20′ away from the baby when attempting (he smells you).
- To avoid waste, start with the smallest amount of milk.
- Have a bottle giver use your worn shirt, bra, or towel with your scent against his/her chest during a feed.
- If baby is crying through this endeavor, stop — calm baby down with a clean finger to suck. Hold, rock, sing to bring anxiety levels back to normal. If he doesn’t relax, let it go this time. If mom is around, she can breastfeed, and you can try again when he is calm.
- Don’t pressure, baby. Make this an enjoyable experience.
Help, my young baby won’t take a bottle doesn’t have to be your motto! In a perfect world, this will be smooth sailing within a week. If you are still struggling after a few days, try alternative feeding methods; cup, spoon, syringe, medicine dropper, finger feeder. The bottle giver will feel better knowing the baby took something from him/her ( a small amount will do) even if it’s peculiar. The objective is to get milk in the baby when he misses a feed with mom. Some babies will not eat until mom gets home. As long as he is content and making up for lost calories later, it is ok. It doesn’t matter how he gets it. Eventually, he will take the bottle.
If you can go slow teaching baby and there is no rush or pressure, you will all master this. Hang in there!
Happy Parenting!
