How to Get a Breastfed Baby to Take a Bottle

Does she take a pacifier? My trick for both my kids was to find a bottle that matches the pacifier, so she thinks its a pacifier at first. good luck!

My babies always like the avent nipples. They come in different flow strengths, so we start them with the one for newborns. You could try those.

To be honest your baby is very young. What's the hurry in wanting to go on an over night trip? Some breastfeed babies will not ever take a bottle so I would just keep trying every now and again to see if she will take one. She might get the hang of it as she gets older. I read that it takes a baby about 21 days to get breastfeeding imprinted. So it just make take her a while to us a bottle. If you can't get her to take one you might just have to put off the trip until she is older.

I had this exact problem with my little girl. She would not take a bottle at all. I finally tried the NAM bottles and this has worked. I guess she just likes the shape better.
It was almost like she did not get it with the others we tried. So, we waited a little longer than usual, when we knew she was very hungry, and then my husband gave her the bottle when I was no where to be seen or heard. She took it very well. We have him do this once a day so she gets used to it. When I spoke to the doctor she said at 3 months she could go as long as 7 hours without food and that if she was hungry enough she would take it. I could not let her go this long, so we waited until she woke up from a nap and then he gave he the bottle when he knew she was hungry. Good luck!

you might want to try an Adiri (adiri.com) bottle. its shaped like a breast and soft like one too.

Hi K.. I have 2 children, my oldest is now 3 1/2 and my youngest is 11 months. I started out breastfeeding both of my children, and both of them converted fine to a bottle. We have used Avent bottles and nipples for both of our children and they adapted fine. If you haven't already tried Avent, I would recommend trying their line of bottles, nipples & pacifiers. I've had good experience with their products. Good luck!

My oldest son would NEVER take a bottle, it was so h*** o* us, but my younger son used the Avent bottle well. A great tip is for you to wear a t-shirt for a few days to get your "scent on it" do not wash it and give it to the person trying to feed your baby (BTW you cannot be anywhere around or the baby smells you!). Then the person feeding can either wear your shirt or use it like a blankie when feeding. Good lick, but I think the baby is very young for you to leave on an over night already!

I would say don't offer it to her when she is really hungry but make sure she is ready to eat, just keep offering it and do not be the one to offer it to her. She can smell your breast milk so she will refuse mostly when you offer. Try having someone else offer it when you aren't even in the room.

HI K.,
I read your question and had to tkae a second look because I thought for a second that they had re-run my question from a week ago, our wording was so similar, and thus our problem almost identical. I rec'd great advice from alot of people, I haven't has a chance to utilize it all yet but it boiled down to a few key things...
1. Let someone else try the bottle instead of you that way the baby isn't confused why you aren't breast feeding.
2. Make sure the milk is body temp just like a breast feeding.
3. Check and see what level of nipple you are using...ie #1, #2, #3 they all let milk come out at different rates and maybe the nipple is too slow/or too fast and frustrating your baby.
4. Make sure the milk hasn't gone bad. I have read a varying degree of times that milk is good for. I was going by a week in the fridge (in the back of the fridge) and 6 weeks in the freezer (again in the back) but I rec'd a lot of advice on 48 hours inthe fridge and 4 weeks in the fridge...
5. Keep trying and if nothing else have the person who would be feeding him use a dropper or syringe to feed your baby the milk 4-5 cc at a time, that way at least he gets the nutrition and doesn't go hungry, it 's a good back up plan if you can't be there.
Good Luck, I too relish the few hours I used to get with the bottle,(my baby stopped taking a bottle a few weeks ago and I am trying to help him take it again) so I know how you feel

My son used the bottles that have a nipple just like the hospital pacifiers. They are the soothie brand and if your daughter uses/used that hospital pacifier, it is worth a shot.

Try Nuk nipples. My daughter had nipple confusion (at 4 weeks) when I tried other nipples. Now she's 6 months and goes back and forth between the bottle and breast with no problem at all.

When I was a daycare worker we had a baby come in that would refuse a bottle no matter how hungery she was so I tried syringe feeding her and it worked! Later when my yongest had to have a little supplemental formula I did the same trick. It is good for the baby because it does not cause nipple confusion. Simply get a medicine syringe, the bigger the better, and a cup of formula or expressed breastmilk, wash your hands and fingers completely and make sure that your nails and trimed small. Holding the baby on your lap, fill the medicine syringe with the milk, then put your pinkie finger in the baby's mouth and wait for her to start sucking, sneak the tip of the syringe into the corner of her mouth and slowly squirt milk into her mouth as she sucks on your finger. It make take a longer time to feed her than it would wiht a bottle but it works great. Good luck wiht your baby!

when she chews on the nipple, make sure it's attached to a bottle with milk in it. use it like a game.

My nephew wouldn't take a bottle right before my sister went back to work, and i was the one that was supposed to watch him! He was about 3 months old. To get him to take a bottle I tried waiting until he was pretty tired and then I bounced on an exercise ball while trying to feed him. It was exhausting but I found if you distract them a little with new movement like that (not just rocking) it seems to help. He gradually got used to it after that. Plus it might take someone besides her parents to get her to take it! Hope that helps..

I breastfed my child for 15 months. When he was about 2 months old he got thrush, and I got it too. Turned out to be a HUGE ordeal. To make a long story short I lost my supply. To get it back I was nursing, pumping, supplementing every 3 hours around the clock for 5 days! During this time I had to find a way to get my son to eat what he couldn't get on his own. He did good with the Dr. Browns bottles. The lactation nurse said to offer the bottle like you offer the nipple. Tickle their lower lip and wait for them to open really wide, then you give it to them. You could also try having someone other than you give your child the bottle. I think the advent bottles mimick a breast pretty well. You might want to look for nipples that mimick you best. My babies have also been fed by someone other than me through a medicine dropper. I know it sounds crazy, but it got the job done :)

My baby took the Advent bottle immediately, even though I nurse most of the time. But, I didn't try until after 3 months because I didn't want him to get nipple confusion and prefer the bottle. Best wishes!

I had the same problem with my first. I tried Avent bottles but they frustrated her because she couldn't get any milk out. I finally went to the flat topped Playtex bottles with the plastic liners. At first with those I could carefully squeeze out a bit of milk so she knew there was something there not just a paci. You might try a higher flow nipple. If your breastfeeding flow is high it may be that she's used to getting your milk with minimum effort.

when my little one was 4 weeks I had to get her on a bottle because she didn't nurse well so I was pumping and then bottle feeding. It was a nightmare until we got the gerber bottles and I had her father do the feeding at first. My DD issue was that the other bottles were to similar to the breast and since I was holding her she didn't understand why she couldn't just nurse. Why have an imitation when the real thing is right there. Here father did the bottle feeding 2 or 3 times and then it was smooth sailing after that.

We have two kids who did really well with Avent bottles. The other one never took a bottle. Our oldest took breast milk from babysitters, but not us. He did just fine with formula from anyone.

My four month old son is the same way. We tried the Doctor Brown bottles and he wouldn't take those either. We have now tried one called Breastflow technology. It is supposed to be more like the breast and the baby has to suck just like he was on the breast. So far these have worked for us. Hope this helps!!!