Refusing a bottle

My 6-month old baby does not take a bottle - he just chews on it and the amount of formula or water stays the same. He has been exclusively breastfed with an occasional bottle of water here and there. But now I have to go back to work and I am worried about him not taking milk from a bottle. Any ideas on how to make him drink from a bottle?

who is giving the bottle? you or someone else?

it will probably be easier if someone else gives him the bottle. If he smells you - he'll just prefer your natural breasts vs. the silicone rubbery thing that you are offering.


it will take a bit of time, but offer him a bottle of expressed breastmilk every day, given by someone other than you. Leave the room - and don't be around when someone else is giving it. No talking from you it will distract him.


If you baby has some sort of routine, offering the bottle as scheduled will be easier. Also make sure the milk is warm enough- the milk that comes out of your body is body temp - and so most babies prefer their bottles to be that warm.


I have exclusively bfed both of my babies, and both of them took to bottles - so just be patient and keep trying.

My little one never took the bottle, no matter how hard we tried. In fact, he went straight to a cup. And even that had to be introduced by someone else (grandma had the magic touch) before he would accept it. Keep trying, something will work eventually.

My bubbs refused the bottle for two weeks when I went back to work, and it got so bad he got a UTI from being progressively dried out and had to have a UV drip for three days. When we got him home from the hospital (on doctors advice) we gave him one ounce of breastmilk from the bottle on the hour until he was drinking. I started at 11am and went on like this through 7pm, when I finally fed him from the breast. It was the worst weekend of my life, he refused to drink each time and we threw out the one ounce and warmed up another one the next hour. That night I fed him the bottle again at his 3am feed, and lo and behold, he drank 5 oz!! When I went back to work the next morning he'd drunk 5oz for his 11am feed, and he's been drinking between 7 to 9oz ever since at his 11 feed. At first he'd only drink from my helper, but now he drinks from anyone.


So, on a pediatitian advice: one oz of milk on the hour until he starts drinking fully... (doc was prepared for me to do this for 24 hours (waaaah!!!), but he assured me that bubbs would be so hungry he'd start drinking sooner rather than later and he was right. I was prepared to do anything rather than have him get sick again, so I persevered.


Good luck!

I use the NUK teat, medium, the latex one, not the silicon one. Its shaped to fit the bubbs mouth and palate and has a valve for airflow to prevent wind. He hates the other teats.