Baby Bottle Refusal Help - Top Tips to Try from Experienced Moms
I’ve dealt with a bottle refusal TWICE. Both of my babies refused a bottle weeks before transitioning to daycare so I could go back to work. Bottles refusals can be so stressful, frustrating, and disheartening. Not only is it stressful to sit there and wonder if your baby is hungry while your away, bottle refusals also make evenings and nights rough because all your baby wants to do is nurse.
Whether you are returning to work or just want to be able to have some time away from your baby, dealing with a bottle refusal is no fun and I know for me, I was willing to take any and all the tips to try to get my sweet baby to take that bottle.
I’ve chatted with multiple mamas about their experiences with bottle refusals and combined that knowledge with my own experience to help other moms going through the same thing. Here are some of the top tips you can try if you find yourself in the same situation, Hang in there, Mama!
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Top Tips to Help with a Bottle Refusal from your Baby
Upsize or downsize your bottle nipple. Sometimes bottle refusal is a probably with flow. Choose a nipple size that most closely mimics the speed of your flow. If you aren’t sure whether you have a fast or slow flow, just test it out. Bottles typically come with a size 1 nipple. Try moving to a 2 and see if that helps. If baby seems to be chugging or choking on the milk, or has a lot of milk draining out of their mouth, then the flow is probably to fast. Go back to a 1 or even try a 0 if you’re bottle brand makes that.
Feed in a different position. Try facing baby outward and upright, or try walking around for a distraction. Some people recommend pace feeding, which you can read more about here.
Try various types of bottles. Babies have personalities and preferences when it comes to these things, so make sure you try different types of bottles because the nipple size and shape are different on each of them. My first refused Tommee Tippee but took Dr. Brown’s. My second refused Dr. Brown’s but took Tommee Tippee…crazy, I know. This goes to show though that there is no right type of bottle and more just a factor of what your baby personally prefers. Other bottles I’ve tried are the NUK, MAM, and Philips AVENT. I’ve heard good things about the Lansinoh Momma for bottle refusals as well. I recommend putting 2-3 types of of bottles on your baby registry for this very reason: bottle refusals are not uncommon. This way, you have multiple types of bottles on hand to try just in case. Only open one package of each type of bottle at the beginning so you can return the bottles that your baby doesn’t take; most registries offer returns up to a year after your baby’s birth date.
Heat milk to body temperature. Get a thermometer and heat your breast milk to body temperature to more closely mimic your milk coming straight from the tap.
Try giving cold milk. On the contrary, you can try giving your baby cold breast milk. Agin, sometimes babies have random preferences. I’ve heard of Moms having success with this.
Use a sippy cup. I’ve also heard successes giving breast milk through a sippy cup. It certainly doesn’t hurt to try! Here are a few options: Dr. Brown’s sippy spout bottle, MAM starter cup, NUK learner cup, Nuby grow with me cup.
Leave the house. I realize this is not possible for all moms, especially those who are exclusively pumping, however if that is not you and you just want your baby to be ready for daycare or a short time away from you, I highly recommend not being in the same environment as your baby when trying to give them a bottle. Babies associate you with breastfeeding so they’re either going to be confused or P.O.’d that you aren’t giving them the boob like usual.
Remind baby of Mom. I know earlier I said to leave the house because they associate you with breastfeeding. Along these lines, your baby does associate you with eating so it might help if their senses can smell you while eating. Try giving your husband or sitter or whoever is feeding the bottle a shirt that you’ve recently worn to see if that comforts your baby while they are eating.
Supplement with more solids. If your baby is old enough to eat solids, you can also have them eat more food during the day so their breast milk needs are less. Be sure that you are giving foods with lots of good nutrients.
I hope this helps you out! I know bottle refusals can be so stressful. It was said to me once like this, “some babies sleep through the night and they’re going that long without eating. Just think of your time away from your baby as your their night.” It might not be ideal and it might make evenings a little harder on you but, at least you can rest assured that your baby is not starving while you are away. You’re doing great, Mama.
