Baby Can't Manage the Bottle
- See also: Baby Refuses the Bottle
Parent Q&A
Archived Q&A and Reviews
- 4 week old can't get milk out of bottle
- Tongue-tied baby having trouble with bottle
- 6-month-old soaked in milk from bottle
4 week old can't get milk out of bottle
March 2007
My baby is one month and I am trying to introduce a bottle with breast milk in it. She happily sucks on the bottle but she is unable to get any milk out. I am using Avent bottles with the 1 month nipple on it. Any suggestions? new mom
Maybe the hole in the nipple needs to be made bigger. I've had to do that in the past with the baby I helped raised. It was taking her too long to get just a couple of ounces into her. The bigger hole made a wonderful difference. Start by making the hole a little bigger and go from there. Randy Jane Reitzes, LVN, CMT, CCHH
I had a similar problem with my baby... try a variety of bottles, it may take sometime (weeks or more) before your baby gets the hang of it. The breastflow bottle from The First Years company (sold at Babys R Us) worked well for me. (email me if you want mine, i no longer need them) margaret
My adopted son was bottle fed from birth. The silicone in Avent nipples was too thick or stiff or something, and he never could get the milk to flow easily. We've had good luck with the Playtex ''drop-in'' silicone nipples and bottle, so maybe try those. You can always decant the milk from the Avent bottles if that's the kind of pump you have. bottle-feeding mama
Get the Avent nipples with more holes. Your baby is less likely to take a bottle if it's a chore. If at 4-weeks she's a good nurser, chances are that she won't suddenly prefer a bottle to you, even it if is easier to get milk out. anon
my lactation consultant only recommends Playtex Premium nurser drop-ins for young EBF babies. I just bought one today so can't tell you how it will work with my 6 week old yet! my LC is an old hippie, was mid wife, now LC, and just knows everything...OK, not everything, but she is wise, experienced, and thoughtful. swear by my LC
Tongue-tied baby having trouble with bottle
June 2005
Hello, My daughter is almost 2 months olds and refuses to take the bottle. We first introduced the bottle when she was 3 weeks old. After a few minor battles, she actually drank from it quite well for about 2-3 weeks. Now, however, she is absolutely fighting us. It's very stressful because I will be returning to work in about 2months. I also need to mention that she is tongue-tied. The skin that attaches the tongue to the bottom of her mouth is elongated. I've been told that this may inhibit her from comfortably sucking on a nipple. My oldest is also tongue-tied and he didn't have a problem with our bottles of choice. It just baffles me that she once took it willingly but now screams in our faces. We are currently using Advent bottles? I would appreciate any suggestions regarding what to do. Thanks in advance! dna30
My daughter was the same way - exactly! The bad news is that she NEVER took to a bottle again. The good news is that she started drinking from a sippy cup at 5 months old. She still hasn't perfected it at 9 months but she can do it and get fluids. We tried every single bottle, every single position, every single time, every single liquid, every single temperature, every single person and nothing worked. She just would not go fo rit. But, in the end, I think it made life easier because now we won't have to wean from the bottle, which took a long time with our older girl. Good luck. anon
I am a lactation consultant who is also a mother of baby born tongue tied.
I would urge you to look into having your baby's freunulum cut. The procedure is simple and easy while your baby is young, though pediatricians are often under educated about how they can effect feeding.
We took my son to an oral surgeon. Once she established the tongue tie, she gave him a pacifier dipped in sugar water, grabbed his tongue with a some gauze, injected just a bit of lidocaine, then snipped it. After holding someone gauze on the cut for a moment, she was done.
My son was nursing in 1 minute after we were done. We saw improvement in his weight that very week.
The benefit to doing it now, as opposed to waiting is that waiting can cause health issues- as baby may not be able to adequating drain a breast or bottle, there can be speech issues, and it's a more complicated procedure to do once the child gets older- often times involving general anesthesia.
As far as bottles go, I have 2 suggestions, go with a plastic bottle such as gerber that you can sort of squeeze to help the flow. Or make sure that you use a nipple with a larger hole to allow the milk/formula to come out easier. Rae
6-month-old soaked in milk from bottle
March 2003
My 6 month old gets bottles of pumped breastmilk, and some formula mixed with breastmilk, when I am at work. Although she rejected the bottle at first, she now eagerly reaches for it. However, when she drinks from the bottle a lot of the milk runs down her chin, soaking through her bib and clothes. The milk seems to run out the corners of her mouth while she is sucking and swallowing. She doesn't mind in the slightest, but it makes feeding her, particularly when we're out, difficult. I thought she'd outgrow it, but it's been about two months and there hasn't been any change. I have tried all different shapes of nipples, and nothing seems to make a difference. I'd love a suggestion about what to do. Rebecca
Maybe she needs a nipple that doesn't flow so fast. If you haven't already, try the kind for newborns that have smaller/fewer holes. VM
My son did that too. He's now 17 months old and is much neater when he nurses/drinks from a bottle. It's eating solid food that is very messy now! Your daughter should grow out of this. Just keep a bib on her. Amanda
I don't have a specific person to recommend, but when our daughter was slow to gain weight, we spoke to a lactation consultant who recommended an occupational therapist to help with bottle feeding. I'll add that if you're getting pressured by your pediatrician because your baby is not staying on his weight growth curve, you might want to consider getting a second opinion. Our daughter has been slow to gain weight but (knock on wood) seems to be healthy and hitting her milestones. Our old pediatrician gave us a hard time about our daughter's weight and referred us to a GI specialist who stressed us out even more, and then we switched to a new pediatrician at Berkeley Pediatrics who thinks our baby is doing well and doesn't need medical intervention. (Anecdotally, I dropped from the 95th weight percentile at birth to the 3rd percentile at 8 months and there was nothing wrong with me, I just wasn't a big eater.) Good luck!
A few months ago I felt like my baby was struggling with both breastfeeding and bottles, and the lactation consultants weren't helping me with my concerns about issues with the bottle. My pediatrician suggested seeing an occupational therapist at Children's Hospital Oakland (UCSF BCHO); she said they're very experienced with bottle feeding stuff. I didn't end up making an appointment because the problems we were having got better on their own right around the time the doctor put in the referral. So I can't actually vouch for this, but it SOUNDS like it it could be what you're looking for! Oh and she said there are also occupational therapists who work with babies at Alta Bates or Herrick Hospital (I think it was Herrick - anyway it was Sutter), but she strongly recommended Children's Hospital as the best option. Hang in there!
Ask you doctor for a referral to an Occupational or Speech Therapist who specializes in feeding!
You don't mention what the issue is, or how old your baby is, but there are definitely lactation consultants (as well as occupational and speech therapists) who can help with any kind of infant feeding challenges. Lactation consultants often help get breastfeeding babies to bottle-feed when parents go back to work, so they aren't only familiar with bottle-feeding help when the goal is "getting back to breast." Call and explain your issue, and they will certainly let you know if they have the skills to help.
I talked to the lactation support available through Kaiser when my kid wasn't drinking bottles while I was at work all day (but breastfed fine). They were super supportive of helping to figure out different bottle solution.
Lactation consultants will often have some expertise in bottle feeding. I'd reach out to a few and ask. You didn't mention the issue you are facing, but our premature and underweight daughter had may problems drinking from a bottle (starting in the NICU). We were pressured by the NICU medical staff and later our pediatrician to make sure she was getting "enough" formula, which led to her developing a bottle aversion. If you think your baby might have a bottle aversion (crying at the bottle, refusing to take bottle, turning head away from bottle, not drinking "enough"), then I highly recommend Rowena Bennett's book on the subject (and she lays out a very specific plan to overcome bottle aversion).
I recently asked for advice about this (my baby stopped taking a bottle about 6 weeks ago, and it's very annoying). Friends recommended Serena Meyer: https://www.bayareabreastfeedingsupport.com/ I also got an appointment with a Kaiser LC to discuss it, and I'll know more about how that goes after tomorrow. Friends also recommend an occupational therapist or speech language pathologist -- I'd see what you can get covered by insurance since it's $$.