Baby Prefers Breastmilk from a Bottle
Archived Q&A and Reviews
Questions
Infant wants bottles only - pumping is killing me!
April 2006
here's the situation, my son was in the ICU for 5 days. I was unable to breastfeed, they fed him bottles. he now only wants bottles and does not associate my breast with food. just snuggles. he gentle sucks, but does not bring any milk down. i've been pumping now for 3 weeks. this is starting to wreck me. i have 2 kids and it's hard to do it every 3 hours. and when i do pump i get only about an ounce of milk. i am using an electric pump a friend loaned me. and i know it works well. has anyone ever been in this situation? i want to breastfeed! please help me if you can. Annie
The best thing for you to do would be to get in touch with a lactation consultant. I went to Janaki Costello, who can be reached at (510) 525-1155. She was great and it was one of the best investments I ever made. Tabinda
Is your baby gaining weight well? I suggest you see your lactation consultant and pediatrician soon to make sure your baby can physically swallow well (muscle tone, etc.).
Aside from that, I can only suggest persistence. I had one child with coordination issues at birth that took 3 months of pumping, bottlefeeding breastmilk, and trying to get him to nurse, and he finally figured it out. My second one had muscle tone issues with his swallowing muscles and, after 6 months of pumping, he still couldn't nurse well.
Hang in there. Pumping with 2 kids is tough. Say yes to every friend who asks if she can help you out. It's aggravating, but very possible and very worth it for your baby's health. Make sure you get lots of outdoor walks or whatever you need stress-wise, though, as pumping takes a lot out of you. been there, & it's character-building
Babies get used to things quickly, and if your baby is used to only bottles, it can be hard for her to switch. Have you seen a lactation consultant yet? It's not too late to change her mind, but it will probably take some effort on your part, as well as continued pumping to keep up your supply while she's learning. It may also be that your baby is not sucking strongly enough (getting milk from a bottle nipple doesn't require such a strong suck), so that should be assessed and dealt with if needed. R.K.
Baby will only take breastmilk from a bottle
Dec 2005
Hi, My baby is 4 months old. she was born early and so we have had problems with her feeding all along. she is not a great eater. Finally at 2 1/2 months she began nursing regularly. Now however she refuses to nurse and only drinks breasmilk from a bottle. the only time she will breasfeed is night when deep asleep. This is very frurstrating to me, not to mention the fact that it requirs me to pump all day. anybody had a similar experience? any advice? gilhoch
My child was also born early and had difficulties sucking. What worked well for the first six months was a silicone breast ''shield'' or nipple. In fact, he got totally addicted to it, and would not latch without it. You may want to give it a try. It is not as ideal as just the breast, but at least you won't have to pump as much (I was told by my peditrician that I should be careful with the ''shield'' because it could affect my milk production since the breast is not properly stimulated, but that was never a problem for me). Whatever works!
Someone told me that her daughter started refusing her breast when she went back to work because she was uisng a nipple which was too high flow. I guess that the bottle was way easier to get milk from than her breast. Not sure what sized nipple you are using but you could try backing down to a ''younger'' size to see if it helps. JM
Hi there I know this must be frustrating for you but have you tried the nipple gaurds? Your baby is probably a little lazy and they have a similar feel to the plastic nipples of bottles, it helps relieve your sorness too. Then when your little one gets the strength or motivation to pull out your nipple and your milk wheen if you want to. Hope this helps you can also go to www.nurturecenter.com in Lafayette they have La Leche groups for free help. USE IT!!! maria