quick clicks

babies today articles

babies today q&a

toddlers today articles

toddlers today q&a

breastfeed.com articles

breastfeed.com q&a

community & groups

research baby names

prepare a birth plan

content channels

ip channel rss feeds

read birth stories

read parenting stories

recommended books

e-newsletters

safety recalls

ip diaries

ip store

mom of the month

dad of the month

editor's letter

letters to the editor

Expert Q&A

	By Ann Calandro BSN, RNC, IBCLC Lactation Consultant

I have an 8-week-old son. I just went back to work today. We have been trying for four weeks to get him to take the bottle and he will not. We have tried different bottles and nipples. We have tried having someone else feed him while I go for a walk. We have tried daddy feeding him facing outward, cupping his chin. Nothing seems to work. He just cries and cries -- and it worries me. I only worked three hours today so that I could run to the babysitter and feed him. Is there something else we should be doing? Is there another way to get him to accept the bottle?

You have been doing many of the right things to help your son learn to accept an alternative to breastfeeding. Your son did not read the same books, though! Are you putting breast milk in the bottle? Or are you trying to offer him a new food and a new feeding method at the same time? Breast milk in the bottle would smell and taste much more familiar. Be sure some breast milk is covering the outside of the bottle nipple so that he gets a good taste of your milk right away. Be sure to try a ""slow flow"" bottle. Some bottles flow much faster than the breast, and breastfed babies may feel they are choking when the bottle flows so quickly. Test your bottle nipples by putting some water in them, turning them upside down, and squeezing the nipple. If a huge flow squirts across the room, this is the same thing that happens when he sucks, and the fast flow may be overwhelming to your son.

Sometimes it takes a good while to help your son learn to eat without the warmth and comfort of your breast. He sounds like an especially sensitive child. Sometimes having someone walk around with him while he eats may give him a view and help him forget that he is eating a different way. If this does not suit him, you may want the caregiver to feed him with one of the alternatives to bottle feeding, feeding with a tiny cup or shot glass, a spoon, or a syringe. Finger feeding is another alternative, when a feeding device or syringe is placed in his mouth at the same time as your finger (with the pad up) and as he sucks the finger, the milk is slowly fed. Your Lactation Consultant should be able to teach you these alternate methods of feeding for your son. Cup feeding is especially easy for a caregiver. The cup is filled and placed on baby's bottom lip, with the liquid up to the edge of the cup. The milk is NOT poured into his mouth. He would sip the milk out as his own pace. Even tiny newborns can cup feed with a little practice. Usually the baby's arms are wrapped down to his side so he won't grab or knock the cup away while feeding.

I hope one of these suggestions will be helpful. It is worrisome when your baby won't eat. Occasionally there are babies that wait all day for mom to return, and then feed frequently during the evening and night. However, most babies will accept a new feeding method with time and patience."

View more Q&A by this Expert