FertilityZone

Hi all -

I am breastfeeding but have been trying to introduce a bottle ("just-in'case") for about a month now. I express in the morning, keep 2oz out and freeze the rest.

We've been trying to give the 2oz by bottle in the evening, when Baby feeds hourly (!) but he just gets incredibly distressed. Yesterday we spent half an hour trying to get him to take the 2oz. He did in the end but cried and sobbed and went red in the face the whole time too.

At first we thought he was just getting used to the bottle but it's not getting better after a month of trying. Do you think we should just persevere? Or try changing to a different bottle (we're using Avent because they came with the breast pump). If we need to change bottle, is there a particular type which might be best?

Any tips gratefully received!

Thanks very much Michelle.

I have managed to borrow a few other makes of bottles from some friends so will be trying those over the next few days. The Boots own "Natural Touch" bottles haven't been a success today so we'll have to see how tomorrow goes (which will be Tommy Tippee or Dr Brown's).

If those aren't any better I'll invest in a breastflow bottle and see if that does the trick.

Trouble is I can't see what the problem is; I really don't think it's the flow being too fast because one of our more successful attempts with the Avent bottle was when we moved up from the 1 hole to 2 hole teat. We thought he must just have been frustrated with the slow flow but the success didn't last long; he was getting distressed again a couple of evenings later and moving him up to the 3 hole teat didn't achieve anything either.

Could it be that he just doesn't like the feel of the silicone teat? He doesn't use a dummy at all so the bottle teats are the only things he's had in his mouth other than my boob - maybe we just left it too late to introduce him to a bottle?

Thank you so much for all your replies!

We've been trying for about a month now. We've had some success, by which I mean he's taken it without any kind of fussing - but only maybe 2 or 3 times. Both my DH and I have tried and succeeded with no fuss, but more often than not by has got himself terribly upset.

I'm a bit more determined than my DH - he hates it when Baby gets upset and will give up really quickly but I have been persevering and Baby has taken the bottle quite a few times, but only after a real struggle - tears, sobs, the works. We're only trying to give him 2oz a day, just to get him used to a bottle rather than to substitute a feed, so as soon as he's taken the 2oz (or of course even if he doesn't) he goes straight on the boob for the rest of the feed.

Chris, I'll try giving it to him at a different time, good idea.

Bubble, thanks so much for the offer, that would be fantastic. I will pm you my details.

Well I am a bit scared to post an update in case it jinxes everything, but we seem to have cracked it!

We have done 4 feeds using a breastflow bottle (thanks sooooo much Bubble!) and 3 have gone really well - less and less "messing around" chewing on the teat to begin with each time to today when he just got straight on with it and downed his 2oz in about 5 minutes, and no crying at all.

Having said that yesterday's feed was a nightmare as he got himself really upset almost immediately (DH was trying to give it to him for the first time and I think he got the angle wrong, or something like that) and it took me about half an hour to get him to take it, but I persevered and he did pretty much finish it off eventually.

I'm putting yesterday's experience down to my DH doing something wrong (poor DH!) and am really feeling positive that this might be the solution.

I certainly hope so!

Thanks again for all your help and support - where would I be without you wonderful people and this fantastic site! I mightn't post very often anymore but you have no idea how many times I've come on here and used the Search facility to look things up - and I always feel so much better after reading the advice on here!