Bottle Rejection

[kom]

Hi mums out there,

Need some help with a problem.

My baby is about 8 months old and has been breastfed so far. I went back to work after 3 months of maternity leave and have been expressing milk for her which is fed to her by my maid. Everything went on fine till now. I'm currently in between jobs and so have been spending everyday with her. I tried to ensure at least 1 bottle feed a day but I am currently faced with a baby that reacts negatively and sometimes even violently to the bottle.

I tried to give her the bottle when she's sleepy. She would drink 30 ml before pushing is away and then search for my breasts. I tried to "starve" her a little and give her the bottle only when she's hungry. That didn't work either. I tried to put the milk in a straw cup. She would take sips but it's quite tough to finish feeding 150 ml in this way. I'm at a loss as I'm returning to work soon (1.5 weeks' time) and I think my maid will have a problem feeding her. She's on 3 semi-solid meals a day but when i feed her on demand (from the breasts), she feeds about at least 3 times in the day.

Any similar experiences out there?

Thanks in advance...

[wanderlust]

harlows!

sorry today was too distracted by baby attacking my chest, didn't get to talk much. have you tried getting someone else to give it to her instead of you? found this on the net...

Breastfeeding and Bottle Rejection - by Maire Clements, RN, IBCLC

Maire Clements is a registered nurse, lactation consultant, the first lactation consultant at Lenox Hill Hospital and a former president of the New York Lactation Consultant Association. She has a thriving practice in New York for the past 13 years -- Strategies for Successful Breastfeeding.


Q. My four-month-old has been almost exclusively breastfed. She was taking about three bottles per week (usually expressed breast milk) from myself and other family members, and last week started rejecting the bottle. We've tried different bottles, positions, and I am going back to work shortly and need to start weaning her. Any suggestions -- I need to know she'll be eating while I'm at work!
???- JD

A. Many women return to work around three to four months post delivery. Upon the advice of their doctors and friends, they will have given their baby bottles prior to this time. It is not uncommon for breastfed babies who have taken a few or even many bottles without any problem to begin to refuse bottles around three to four months of life. At this point they are driven not by instinct, but by choice, and have become active participants in their feeding style.

You seem to have employed many of the common strategies to overcome this problem, such as different positions, bottles, etc. I would like to recommend that you not be the person offering the bottle as your baby clearly associates you with breastfeeding. Some mothers have reported success when the family member or caregiver uses only breastmilk and offers the bottle at a time when you are not home. Ideally this could be done during your projected working hours so that your baby could be eased into the new routine. In addition, they used small silicone nipples on bottles, or the Advent or Mag-Mag Cup Systems with different soft to hard nipple spouts with eventual success. A baby needs to be fed in your absence, but it does not have to be from a bottle.

I am assuming that when you say you need to start weaning your daughter that you are planning to continue breastfeeding her when you are home. Even if she only takes small amounts by bottle or cup, she can easily make up for it when she goes to your breasts. In some cultures, women and infants practice reverse-cycle nursing where they feed only in the early morning and evenings when their mothers are at home. Maintaining a good milk supply in an employed mother is much easier if she relies more on breastfeeding sessions and less on pumping. Those times when you are breastfeeding your baby will help you to re-connect after a stressful day and can be quite special, convenient and relaxing

[kom]

There are "up" days and "down" days and i guess yest wasn't exactly rach's "up" day.....

Tried the bottle yest again, this time with the maid giving it....better success but after about 80 ml, she started pushing it away again.....maybe reverse cycling is what she's doing now......keeps waking up every 3-4 hours in the middle of the night for milk feeds.....

i guess i'll just have to persevere...with the bottle....

as for naps, today is "down" day for her....refused to nap even thou she's clearly tired..... :roll:

[wanderlust]

but you were around when maid was giving her the bottle? i think she senses mummy around so if got fresh milk supply why bother with the bottle? maybe you have to disappear completely get out of the house or something...

i think babies are alot smarter than we are... these tiny little creatures have us at their beck and call!

[mogmick]

I experienced bottle rejection from Cae in her 4th month. She was fully bf then and I only gave a bottle with EBM once in a while. She was OK with the bottle, then suddenly in her 4th month, she would fuss alot when fed from bottle. Started crying and got very grouchy. Was very trying time.

Anyway, I persevered for a whole month until one day she suddenly decided to take to the bottle again :roll: During that month, I tried a bottle once a day, and nearly went mad. Tried all the methods suggested by literature. For my case, I was the one giving her the bottle (tried other ppl feeding her but no improvements) and found that she managed to suck a little if other ppl distracted her by making her smile or laugh. Only tried an ounce a day then.

[geliz]

My son rejected the bottle at three months old as he prefers to drink direct from breast no matter what I did. Of course it's very difficult to have other ppl feeding him cause I'm the only one looking after him.

Kom, I attended a talk at KKH before with the same question and they advised me to concentrate on the baby's solid food instead of their milk intake. Continue to feed from bottle consistantly and increase his solid food variety and amount.

But I think at eight months eating three solid meals a day is very good already! Maybe he's full that's why drink less milk in bottle and he probably likes being cuddled by you so drink more at the breast.

[kom]

hi geliz,

thanks for the input......i still try the bottle at least once a day.....but i'm a little luckier coz there's my maid to help me administer the bottle...and she does seem to have more success than me.....

yes, and I'm quite happy about her solid food intake....will try to keep that up....

[SummerDay]

.
I attended a talk at KKH before with the same question and they advised me to concentrate on the baby's solid food instead of their milk intake. Continue to feed from bottle consistantly and increase his solid food variety and amount.

Hi geliz,
Does it mean that when baby reaches 8 month milk is not so important ?

[geliz]

Milk is still important till at least 1 year but now's the time to encourage baby to graduate to solids so they don't rely only on nutrients from milk.

Like mine is 15mths but still rely on my breastmilk, cause he's a very fussy eater.

[sharmaine_lim]

I have been BF my gal since birth (now 2 months), but normally I will feed her once a day EBM in bottle. But recently when I tried to feed her from bottle with my EBM, she refused to take it no matter what method I have tried. She also don't take in water from bottle.

I'm due to go back to work in a month's time. Can anyone share her experiences and success in switching to bottle-fed.

[geliz]

Mine stop drinking from bottle at 3 months, and I made the wrong decision by allowing him to. He refused bottle until now. I'm curious to know how also!

[camelot]

Goodness!! I feel better now! Was wondering why my 2 mth 9 days old boy has started to scream whenever I give him EBM in a bottle. He had rejected my breast in the first week as he was too impatient and perhaps my milk flow was not fast enough so I had to express all my milk and give him the bottle. After I was a bit more "established", I started to breastfeed him almost exclusively again and only gave him the bottle once a day. He seemed perfectly happy with this arrangement until 2 days ago. He would scream and cry and push the bottle away and look for my breast. I'm going back to work in a week's time so I'm pretty upset by this turn of events. I shall try the suggestion of getting someone else to give him the bottle.

[sharmaine_lim]

Think babies are so smart when they passed the 6th week or more. Advice I got was must perservere at least 2 weeks. Get someone else to feed the baby, and you must be far far away (they can smell you 20 meters away).

Offer the bottle, preferably in the morning (which the timing you wouldn't be around) and each time about 10 minutes. Do it best when the baby is about to wake up - drowsy mode. Try again and again for 2 weeks.

Think this is tougher than when I trying to get my milk supply establised. Good luck to you gals. I shall try again and again everyday. Today is already my 4th day of trying.

[geliz]

If everything fail, you can still go back to work. It's okay that you don't feed them for 8 hrs (when you're working), as long as you breastfeed on demand when you're around as their body can adjust to the timing.

[camelot]

Does this mean that it's ok that my boy doesn't drink milk for 5-6 hrs at a time? He refuses to drink EBM from the bottle after I breastfeed him in the morn before I go to work. My maid will call me at noon, desperate and upset that he has only taken 20ml (I suspect most of it ended up on the handkerchief anyway). In the afternoon, by 4pm, he will be so hungry that he has no choice but to drink some more and then cry himself to sleep. Meanwhile he will cry every now and then, hungry and upset. Today is my 2nd day back at work and I feel so bad that I can't wait to rush home and breastfeed him to make up for it.