Baby Refusing Bottles

My son had always breastfed only for comfort as he tended to fall asleep at the breast after only a few minutes. My doctor had warned from the time my baby was only 2 weeks old that by pumping and bottle feeding more frequently than breast feeding, my baby would soon refuse to breast feed since it is easier to get milk from the bottle. To my surprise, at 3 months, my son he began to refuse the bottle. Whenever he was given a bottle, he screamed as if someone was trying to murder him! At first, I thought it was reflux, but my son had no problem with breast feeding.

I had a hunch that my son preferred the breast to the bottle. So I began breast feeding on demand during the day and bottle fed during the night, only to find my baby ravenous when I gave him his bottles. I did a great deal of research and found out that apparently, many babies prefer the breast to the bottle as they prefer the real nipple to the rubber ones.

Here's what worked for me:

1. Distraction – I fed my son the bottle while also distracting him with squeaky toys. This worked most of the time.

2. I found out, by accident, that my baby would not go to sleep hungry. When he was drowsy, he drank the bottle very smoothly and made no complaints. Then, he just drifted off to sleep. I then burped and held him upright for 15 minutes so that he wouldn't get reflux.

3. I tried many different types of bottles and nipples. I found two types of bottles/nipples worked extremely well for my son:

MAM bottles – its nipples replicate the softness and shape of the breast. My son had no problem drinking from this bottle.

Dr. Brown bottles – these nipples were extremely soft and my son took to this bottle very well.

Now I know that feeding a baby while the baby is distracted is not ideal, and feeding a baby to sleep has consequences down the road of him associating sleep with eating. But I was desperate at the time. My son was not getting much milk from the breast and refused the bottle when he was fully alert. At 3 months old, I did not want him to start losing weight and getting dehydrated. So if you find yourself in a similar position with your baby, do know that the first two suggestions work. However, I would suggest trying different varieties of bottles and nipples first. I did it in the wrong sequence …