Help with changing to bottle versus breast feeding

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:41 pm

I am going crazy! I have been trying to get my granddaughter to take the bottle. She has been breast fed from birth.We did get her to take the bottle for a while then all of the sudden NO WAY!! My grand daughter is almost 3 months now,,My Daughter needs to work but I am not going to spend 6 hours dripping milk down babys throat to appease everyone..As of last night I told my daughter I will not do it until we figure out how to make the baby take a bottle without giving me and the baby a migraine,,LOL does any one have any ideas?? I have tried all the bottles, low lighting , with no mother around everything! I gave up .. Does any one have a miracle for me?? thanks

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:48 pm

I can't remember, but isn't there a nipple for bottles that is very similiar to a woman's nipple?

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 8:57 pm

Hi Sheryl,

I have tried every nipple that is made..The child will Not take the bottle..I have enough bottles and nipples to start my own store..:wah: I am going to give baby a break and try again later..I was so hoping someone had a magic trick at this point...I am taking care of a my 6 year old grand daughter as well and this is proving very hard at best... :-3 Well maybe someone will have a great idea that will work for us... thanks.Lene

Sheryl · Post by **Sheryl** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:04 pm

try googling, there are some parenting forums with great tips out there

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:44 pm

Lene;960837 wrote: Hi Sheryl,

I have tried every nipple that is made..The child will Not take the bottle..I have enough bottles and nipples to start my own store..:wah: I am going to give baby a break and try again later..I was so hoping someone had a magic trick at this point...I am taking care of a my 6 year old grand daughter as well and this is proving very hard at best... :-3 Well maybe someone will have a great idea that will work for us... thanks.Lene

do you think is she was hungry enough, she might take it or have you tried that to?

also try water or apple juice.

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 9:55 pm

Sounds like if a baby is crying - the baby is usually hungry..

Cradle the baby - the baby's stomach is on your forearm and put one of your fingers in the baby's mouth.

cradling the baby - baby is laying on your arm & sucking on your finger, best to be on a sofa

the baby will start to quiet down - carefully roll the baby & trade out the finger.

keep rocking the baby - baby is usually half asleep.

this may take some time if the baby is being real fussy

this will work - they do want food - I prefer the transaction to be quiet..

Good luck

Patsy

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:48 pm

Hi all.. Well Patsy you have something I haven't tried!! That may work with her... I don't know, it has been so hard .. Man who would have guessed being a grandma would be so trying!? gotta love them though :-4.

Odie ..Thanks for your ideas and input..I will probably use the juice water after I get her onto the breast milk bottle .. thanks Lene

Patsy Warnick · Post by **Patsy Warnick** » Fri Aug 22, 2008 10:54 pm

Lene

Is she fussing refusing the bottle or

is she fussing just fussing ?

I'm asking - is she more hungry than we think she is?

could she handle more than milk?

applesauce - mash potato?

just asking?

Patsy

suzy_creamcheese · Post by **suzy_creamcheese** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:56 am

my daughter is 5 months and is not impressed with a bottle either, although its not such an urgent issue. I had the same issue with both my sons at first.

So far ive found that NOT waiting till she is starving helps. a little bit hungry but not ravenous - i think then they just get cross and it makes it worse - they know youre trying to fob them off.

I also have had a little bit of progress with not pretending its a breastfeed - If me or her papa try and cradle her as though its a breastfeed then she will not take one drop. She acts like we're trying to poison her. If i lay her down and let her play a bit with the bottle teat, spitting it out if she wants or just biting it etc, she will take a few sucks here and there. Its not solved but its progress.

Have you tried her on a soft spouted sippy cup maybe? Some babies prefer that, and at 3 months she is possibly old enough to cope with it, or not far off.

Is she planning on continuing breastfeeding when shes not at work or just going straight over to bottles now?

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:48 am

Lene;960833 wrote: I am going crazy! I have been trying to get my granddaughter to take the bottle. She has been breast fed from birth.We did get her to take the bottle for a while then all of the sudden NO WAY!! My grand daughter is almost 3 months now,,My Daughter needs to work but I am not going to spend 6 hours dripping milk down babys throat to appease everyone..As of last night I told my daughter I will not do it until we figure out how to make the baby take a bottle without giving me and the baby a migraine,,LOL does any one have any ideas?? I have tried all the bottles, low lighting , with no mother around everything! I gave up .. Does any one have a miracle for me?? thanks

If she took it for awhile, perhaps there is another reason.

Also may be your daughter handing her over to you to soon.

Your daughter should have given her the bottle from the start, usually when breast feeding one does not stop when baby is only 3 months old.

suzy_creamcheese · Post by **suzy_creamcheese** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:59 am

noo, its great that shes been breastfed - ANY breastfeeding is worth it and beneficial and plenty of people breastfeed for just a few months. Its just perseverance. She will get the hang of it eventually. It would have been a shame to bottlefeed from the start just because of having to make the transistion months down the line.

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:15 am

Hi everyone,

She is not fussy until the bottle comes into the picture. I have tried to feed her before she gets really hungry up to the point she is very hungry. There is no difference in her reaction.. We have tried different positions with her but so far she just gets angry.:-1

I think I may try the sippy cup idea..She can sit up pretty good now and maybe this will work..I have been kicking the idea around to put a small amount of rice cereal in the milk.So that what she does get in her will hold her over longer until her mother gets back home..

Suzy,if we ever get this child to take the bottle she will stay with it..My daughter will express the breast milk and we can freeze it. I would be afraid to try to do both bottle and breast and have her reject the bottle again.. I agree with you completely on breast feeding from the beginning . It is hard at first but sooo worth the effort.

Odie, My grand daughter lives with me.So she isn't really being handed over to me as she is with me all the time as it is...So that isn't the issue in this case..

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!!

Odie · Post by **Odie** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 9:43 am

Lene;961209 wrote: Hi everyone,

She is not fussy until the bottle comes into the picture. I have tried to feed her before she gets really hungry up to the point she is very hungry. There is no difference in her reaction.. We have tried different positions with her but so far she just gets angry.:-1

I think I may try the sippy cup idea..She can sit up pretty good now and maybe this will work..I have been kicking the idea around to put a small amount of rice cereal in the milk.So that what she does get in her will hold her over longer until her mother gets back home..

Suzy,if we ever get this child to take the bottle she will stay with it..My daughter will express the breast milk and we can freeze it. I would be afraid to try to do both bottle and breast and have her reject the bottle again.. I agree with you completely on breast feeding from the beginning . It is hard at first but sooo worth the effort.

Odie, My grand daughter lives with me.So she isn't really being handed over to me as she is with me all the time as it is...So that isn't the issue in this case..

Thanks for the great ideas everyone!!!

I use to add rice, it is a great filler!

suzy_creamcheese · Post by **suzy_creamcheese** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 10:55 am

be careful with putting rice in a bottle though, it can be a choking hazard, and the weaning guidelines are as close to 6 months as you can get, to reduce risk of various allergies later in life. The gut is just not ready at 3 months.

Good luck with whatever you decide

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 4:59 pm

Hi Suzy,

I understand the worry about the rice cereal in the milk.We went and talked to a doctor about it and she felt for the one time feeding a day it would be fine. I will only use a very small amount to start with. It is highly unlikely to choke the baby as is will be deluded so much it will barely be noticeable.. Just enough to add a bit to her feeding to tide her over until Mommy gets home..Thanks for the concern though...I hope to have a positive experience with this new attempt.. Thanks Lene

mikeinie · Post by **mikeinie** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:09 pm

Meybe I missed something, but how is it that you are breast feeding your granddaughter?

Lene · Post by **Lene** » Sat Aug 23, 2008 5:19 pm

Mike!!! too funny !!

Yep you missed something! This old girl could never breast feed a baby!!:wah: