Bottles

For anyone who breastfed with occasional bottles, how did you get the baby to take it? I have never been able to get any of my kids to take a bottle or a soother. Now normally I just deal with it, I don't go anywhere without my kids much anyways so it's not a big deal if they hang off of me for the better part of the first year, but next month is ladies night and so once again I am trying to get a baby to take a bottle and I. just. can't. do it. He screws up his face and screams at the sight of it. I've tried when he's just a little hungry, when he's starving, when he's wide awake and when he's sleepy. I'm running out of ideas. Anyone have something brilliant to help me??

I wish I could help, but I had the same experience, but the other way around. Neither of my kids would ever breastfeed.

How old is he now?

3 1/2 months

Well, there goes my suggestion!

Can you try starting with breastfeeding and switch during the feeding? I've seen that suggestion before.

maybe I'll try that next time. What was your suggestion before I said how old he was?

A sippy cup.

if he was old enough for that I wouldn't be worried about going out for just one night

I started B on one around 5 months cause she wouldn't take a bottle anymore. Sure made getting rid of the bottle easy!

You could always feeding it to him on a spoon.

i must have deleted or posted in wrong section. We had to try different people feeding Bella , i could not be in same room or hearing . My dad had to use skin contact , holding her in a nursing position with one of my nighties draped over his shoulder . Had to be very patient , eventually she took it when hungry enough . Would still have less than usual , but did not starve .
Some nurses recommended trying small amounts on a tea spoon if they are not taking anything at all, different teats and even started sippy cups .
after experiencing how hard it was to get Bella to take a bottle for the first time at a few months old ,with the next two i started offering bottles of expressed from the first week on .

a spoon is a good idea

What bottles are you using? I primarily breastfed CJ for the first 3 months, but then I had to pump and go back to school. We used Dr. Brown's bottles. I don't remember having much of a problem switching. I definitely remember tricking him by nursing and then switching to the bottle a few times.

I have avent bottles for when I've tried pumping and those ready to feed glass formula bottles I got free in the mail. I'm totally not interested in investing money though in order to get him to take a bottle for one night.

Actually, I do have a question: who's feeding him the bottle, you or Colin? If it's you, then I would say baby's smart enough to know you're holding out on him. If Colin hasn't tried, I would have him take the baby into another room and give it a shot.

Maybe?

so far it's just been me trying to give him the bottle. Colin, while really good with the bigger kids, is kinda scared of babies. Like, he barely touches them till they're over a year unless absolutely necessary lol. He asked me if I could try and bottle train Patrick so that he just has to give him a bottle the one night that I'm gone. If worse comes to worst I will make Colin work on this himself, but if I can do it myself that will preserve the most amount of harmony in my household That is one thing I have thought about already, but I"m not yet ready to give up.

Keep in mind...

"Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results."
-- Albert Einstein, (attributed)

which is why I was looking for NEW ideas, I just need new ideas for ME to try

Gotcha!

if you have any more babies , maybe try getting Colin and baby to bottle bond Early . Brad would often make comments about feeling useless when the kids were babies since he "didn't have the equipment" to look after them . Although he DID do lots of baby care from a few months old with both of the last two . Still, i found he was a lot more confident when he could give them a bottle and share in that role of being the nourishment provider (followed by wind bringer upper , upchuck recipient and nappy changer) . Unfortunately he does not wake at night or early morning but he was still able to look after babies while i went to work

Well no more babies for us!! But I can guarantee you that it's not Colin feeling useless, but just a basic uncomfortableness with pre-verbal kids. He is awesome with them from about 2 onwards.

But this was actually a deal we made long before we had Sarah even. Kids are both of our responsibilities, but babies are solely my department. And I'm cool with that. I just need to get my baby babysitter ready for my one night out a year

maybe a wet nurse then ? ..i know , but i can still squirt milk weeks after weaning .

hahahaha, if all the nursing moms I knew weren't going to Ladies Night with me I might seriously contemplate that. It would be a lot easier.