Comments on: Help! My Baby Won’t Take a Bottle!

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 18:46:20 +0000

Lindsey~
Is your baby teething? Sometimes when they’re teething, they tend to eat less. Generally speaking, babies are great at ’self-regulating’ with food and will only intake what their body really needs. If you watch them over the course of a week or so, they’ll usually wind up having days where they eat more than others so that it all evens out over the course of that week.

I’m wondering also if the transition to solids is causing him to just drink less milk. Is he acting hungry, or are you just thinking ‘he *should* be hungry by now’?

Last thought – maybe it’s time to change nipples. Since I breastfed all 3, it was news to me when my friend said, “haven’t you changed her to a #2 size nipple yet?” I didn’t even know there were different sizes of nipples with larger and larger sized holes. May be that he’s just frustrated by the small amount he’s getting from a #1 size nipple and he’s wanting to eat more and faster.

If he keeps this up and you’re really worried about his calorie intake, I’d definitely call the pediatrician to get their input.
Hope this helps and that he starts eating for you SOON!
~K

By: Lindsey

Lindsey — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 22:15:29 +0000

I am no longer able to breastfeed so that is not an option. We started my baby on a bottle over two months ago and he did great. Just now he stopped taking it. He is losing weight and refuses to eat. My body stopped producing so I can’t go back to nursing and now my baby is starving. He will eat his solids but no bottle. What do I do?!?!?

By: Ashley

Ashley — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 17:16:10 +0000

I am breathing a sigh of relief knowing that I am not alone!!! I have built up a little collection of bottles with my 5 month old…she refuses! My first took to a bottle so well. I just want my boobs to myself now lol!

By: Kay

Kay — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:24:36 +0000

Nicky-
I’m pretty sure your pediatrician would prefer that you continue to also give a bottle/nurse in addition to the baby food. Most things I’ve read suggest that you continue to give your baby formula/breast milk through the first year. Obviously, the more ‘real’ food they get, the less calories they’ll need from the formula/breast milk, but those are still vital parts of their nutrition at that age. Of course, you can always try moving to a sippy cup, or some other way of feeding formula/breast milk, if the bottle is particularly offensive to your baby. Good luck!

By: Kay

Kay — Tue, 27 May 2008 15:20:16 +0000

Jessica & Alexandra –
All I know to tell you is that persistence usually pays off. I’m convinced that the only reason Karis finally started taking the bottle was because I was more stubborn than she was. Of course, if your baby is going through anything else (a growth spurt, a change in care givers, a different environment than he/she’s used to), you might want to table the issue for a while and try again later when life is a little more ‘normal’. Good luck!

By: Nicky

Nicky — Mon, 26 May 2008 05:05:04 +0000

My daughter is 6 months old, and we have been feeding her baby food and we still gave her her bottle. Just a few days ago she has started to refuse the bottle. Should I not give her her bottle and just give her baby food?

By: Alexandra

Alexandra — Sat, 10 May 2008 17:22:04 +0000

I’m having the SAME EXACT problem. My husband will be deploying next month & my mom is here to help for a little while. I’ve been trying EVERYTHING in hopes that my 8 mo. old son will take to something eventually so I can go out & do errands or just take a very much needed break occasionally. But of course…he won’t budge. He fights off everything as if it’s toxic! It gets frustrating, but I always end up feeling guilty & I’ll eventually give in.

By: JESSICA

JESSICA — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 18:25:57 +0000

i’ve been trying to get my 6mo to take a bottle. she refuses any type of nipple. it doesn’t matter if it’s breastmilk or formula. we’ve even tried water to get her used to it. no luck. it’s getting very frustrating! part of me wishes that we would have done just the bottle from the beginning.

By: Kay

Kay — Fri, 23 Nov 2007 18:57:50 +0000

Kristie,
Sounds like you might need to put away the bottle for a little while until you can get baby latched back on to you. You might check out this article on babies who go on a ‘nursing strike’. It’s got some great suggestions on what to do to help baby get back to the breast. Good luck!

http://www.breastfeed-essentials.com/nursingstrike.html

By: kristie

kristie — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 16:06:16 +0000

I was giving my 12 week old atleast 1 bottle everyday and he just stopped taking the bottle. Now he wont even latch down on the nipple.