Help a Mama Out: What to Do When Your Baby Refuses a Bottle

What tricks have worked for you when your breastfed baby refused a bottle?

Michelle La Plante: Bottle boot camp with daddy!  I left the apartment for the day, leaving baby and daddy there with plenty of expressed breastmilk and a bottle.  By the end of the day, they had figured it out.  (Kudos to hubby for this – it was tough on him to see her cry and fuss…. But, then again, his breasts didn’t leak at the sound of the baby crying!)

Amanda Garfinkel Young: Early and often worked well with my second.  With my first, the nanny had a good trick.  She held him facing out, looking out the window and fed him with the bottle in the other hand.  A little awkward, but it seemed to distract him from the fact that he wasn’t looking up at mama while eating.

Danielle Smith: Try lots of different bottles.

Stephanie Lorenzen: After trying a number of different bottles, we used a spoon and a shot glass.  We then moved on to a straw cup after 4 months of age.

Julie Chapin: As a nanny, I went through this.  Had to have mama away at first.  Plus, baby had to be laying or sitting out of arms… could not resemble nursing at all.  First successes were warm bottle given in a drowsy state as baby was waking in her bassinet.  Windows and toys distracting baby at other times or in a bouncy chair.  Had to use droppers and spoon feeding with a few babies leading up to the bottle.

Natalie Quebodeaux Cavender: Sippy cup!  Turns out he hated the warmed milk and not the bottle.  He likes mama’s milk cold when not from the tap!!!  LOL!

Jennie Bever: My first one took a straw cup fine.  Second one reverse cycled.  Now that he’s older, he’ll also take breastmilk warm in a straw cup.  He would also drink out of a regular cup, although it’s a bit messier!

Liz Anderson Weaver: At daycare, we have had to resort to using medicine droppers with two babies.  Then we tried ERERy NIPPLE EVER until we found their perfect bottle combo.  Both suck ‘em down like champs now!

Stacey Singh: I read that if you have the person who is feeding your baby wear the robe or another article of clothing you wear frequently, it can really help.  I had my husband try it and my baby actually did take a little from a bottle.  We’re still working on it though.

Sylvia Padilla Sullivan: We tried different bottles.  Because he is older (4.5mos), one with a pretty fast, easy flow worked better than the ones we had been trying (like when he was tiny and still learning to suck.)

Thanks to everyone who responded to our questions on our San Diego Breastfeeding Center and The Boob Group Facebook pages.  Check back every Tuesday for a new Help a Mama Out tip!

Help a Mama Out: Tips for Breastfeeding the Distracted Baby

Over the past few months I have been posting readers' questions on our Facebook page and have been blown away by the fantastic advice and support you have shared.  The downfall with Facebook, though, is that eventually the terrific advice will work its way down the wall and succumb into Facebook oblivion, never to be found again.  

Well, that's just a travesty!

So, here is what we're going to do....

Each week I will post a topic and question (or maybe a few!) on the San Diego Breastfeeding Center and The Boob Group Facebook pages.  At the end of the week, I will collect all of YOUR fabulous breastfeeding mama advice and tips and place them into a blog post, which I will share the following Tuesday!  Now your breastfeeding expertise and support will be documented and saved for moms to cherish and learn from, even years from now!

So, let's get started.....

'Help a Mama Out' Topic of the Week:

 Tips for Breastfeeding the Distracted Baby

What's Your Best Advice for Nursing a Distracted 8-10 month old Baby?

Gina: Strap toys to bra, like the kind with a loop for a play gym or use a nursing necklace.

Kat: Different things worked for my daughter at that age. Sometimes I would nurse with a cover so she wouldn't get distracted by the environment. A nursing necklace sometimes helped. Sometimes I would sing a song so she would only look at my face.

Yolanda: I sing, hmmm never thought to clip toys to me lol. 

Melissa: Nursing/teething necklace. TONS of patience :-)

Christine: My daughter (who's now 10 months, not a lot has changed since then) loved to hit, pinch, and slap me so I would simply take her hand and hold it and talk to her. Talking to her seems to help her focus because she has one thing to focus on, my voice. I also will position her upright straddling my knee to nurse so she can somewhat look around while she's nursing and then she feels like she's not missing out on all of the way cooler things than eating lunch. Or simply latching her and standing up to walk around with her so she can nurse and still look around at all of the would-be distractions. I find it's better for her to nurse in busy areas where she has lots of things to look at in those ways than nursing in a quiet, dimly lit room because then she'll just do the "fake sucks" and try really hard to listen to noises outside.

Michelle: Dark room and soothing music

Kara: A quiet, out of the way - darker room! From about 7-10 months my first nursling required no distractions whatsoever!

Jennie: Go in a dark room:)

Ria: Read them a book and hold it up so they can see the pictures. Or keep a pile of toys just for that time, toys with different textures and and colors. Works for us.

Katie: In a room away from others/TV...use a nursing necklace. 

Kathy: I always started playing with my son's hands. I would rub them, fold them into a fist, etc. Now he plays with my hair the whole time! :-)

Jessica: I tap on my daughter's leg or arm gently and that helps keep her focused.

Tammy: Tapping the bottom of her feet. All of mine went through periods (just days) where they were not as interested.

Jeni: I found hanging a toy off a necklace helped focus him back towards me and then he played while he ate.

Jona: Patience; reducing distraction by nursing in a quiet, dark room; breastfeeding when baby is sleepy.

Amy:  Babywearing! I'm relearning it 1st hand with my super distractible 9 month old. 
I put him up in a front carry and it helps immensely. Otherwise even in a calm environment he's too busy checking it all out. Wearing him is my saving grace every day and some days the only reason he gets a good milky feed in the daylight hours. I'll stand by it now and forevermore as the 2nd best parenting tool!