my little munchkin jacob is now 11 weeks old, breastfeeding is going really well and up til recently jacob has been happy to take the odd bottle of expressed milk - but he is now refusing to. I left him with my mum while I went to a hospital appointment, but wouldn't drink so he was starving by the time I got back. I really don't want to get to a point that he won't take one at all otherwise I'll never be able to leave him with someone else again!

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do to encourage him to take a bottle every now and then?

Thanks
Jo

hi, i have just had this problem with my 5 month old dd. She took the odd bottle of EBM early on (about 5 wekks old) no problem at all and then i found expressing to be very time consuming for me as i can't express very much at a time and i have a toddler too who always wants my attention so i just bf. Then about 3 weeks ago she started waking more in the night or just seemed generally unsettled so i tried her with a bottle again and she refused it and just screamed, i tried EBM and formula but she just would not take it from me. I went out one evening and i left some formula so my husband could feed her if she woke up, he text me saying she had wke up and was screaming because she wouldn't take the bottle, so i rushed home only to find her sitting happily with daddy on the bed and an empty bottle next to them. She had taken 5 oz of formula. So i tried the next day and she just kept refusing to take it from me because she could smell my milk i suppose. She again took it from my husband one other time and then the day after that i just sat and just kept trying and i just didn't give in and bf her like i normally do, she cryed for 5 min, turned her head to look at the tv and then started to take it!! Since then she has a bottle of formula every evening before bed.
So all i can say is try getting someone else to give it to him a few times and just keeping trying and hopefully eventually he will take it. I never thought Sophie would take a bottle but she is fine with it now. You could try changing the bottles-he may not like the teat for some reason. I use tommie tippie closer to nature bottles and they are supposed to be the best ones to mix bottle and breast feeding but as i said it still took my lo a while to get used to them. Also try giving him the bottle at the same time ech day to start with, i tried Sophie with the bottle evey day after her morning nap and when she started taking it i changed it to the evening.
Good luck
xxx

Hi, We also had same problem, as my husband and i where going away for the night we began to panic. However when I was out the house my LO would take it when he realised he wouldn't get breast, the first feed was a battle of wills but after that he was fine. Thankgoodness for great grandparents.

Abby has refused the bottle a few times. However she is actually worse with my OH than with me. I think it's because he gets frustrated and stressed which then puts her off even more. When she refuses the bottle with me i put it down and cuddle her for a couple of minutes while she has a temper tantrum and then when she starts rooting I try the bottle again. It can be hard to remain calm when she is so upset but the time taken reduces.

I also find the following helped:
- TT Closer-to-nature bottles
- Always give a bottle at the same time (I made it 10pm) as Abby soon came to look forward to the bottle and reached for it.

Now Abby is 7 months and takes the bottle or breast happily at any time. Good luck and remember no baby will starve themselves,

H xx

thanks for the advice - I'll keep trying! We do use the tommee tippee closer to nature bottles, and I've tried the avent ones as well but neither seem to help. I like the idea of doing it the same time each day though so he comes to expect it. hopefully he'll soon realise it's not that bad!