Breastfed baby won't take a bottle

My LO is 16 weeks old and we have been exclusively breastfeeding since birth. We've introduced a bottle of expressed milk every so often but all she's ever done is chew/play with the teat. I'm keen to start offering a bottle a lot more regularly but it seems a waste when she won't drink from it. Have I left it too late to introduce a bottle? Any advice/tips would be appreciated!

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Following as we are in the same position

At 13ish weeks we started to reintroduce a bottle since I had to go to work. She now opens her mouth ready for the bottle once put on my husbands lap on her side. She won’t take a bottle from me. I’d just keep trying, she may not take it from you since she knows you breastfeed her. She might not like the bottle your trying though too, we tried one early on and she didn’t like it but would take the dr brown so now we only use the dr brown. Maybe buy the bottle pack and see try different ones and just keep trying. I had to be out of sight and out of the room for her when we started to introduce the bottle.

What size teat are you using?Maybe try sizing one up or down?I think 16 weeks is also an age where they start to realise they have a bit of a say and can turn things down if they want so all healthy part of development!Good luck x

Try going out the house. My first wouldn't take a bottle when I was around but would when I was out the house.

Following as am in the same situation

Just posted this on another thread!

Sorry you’re struggling! My baby has one bottle of expressed milk a day and we’ve stuck to it in the hopes he won’t ever get bottle aversion. I think the consistency of it really helps.

We use mam bottles, but have heard that lansinoh bottles are really good as they’re so soft and breast like.

Another thing that helped my friend that had bottle aversion was giving a bottle whilst baby was still drowsy from a nap. She had success with this after weeks of no joy.

I know it’s also heartbreaking when they don’t drink expressed milk, but if I ever have left over, I collect it in a bag and freeze so I create a stash to add to a bath. Does wonders for his skin x

Try using different bottles/teats and change the size of the teat as it may be too big or small for her. Or try her in different positions. Hopefully it works out for you though!

1. Persist, keep trying
2. Ask someone else to give bottle
3. Try not to be in the same room
4. Whoever is feeding can wear a shawl or something you wear that smells of you, it makes th baby comfortable
5. Try lansinoh medium teats
6. Try with formula as it is so painful to see expressed breastmilk go to waste 🤣 once lo is comfortable with bottle, start using expressed breastmklk if that's the aim.
7. Try to warm the bottle/teat
8. Sometimes they don't like cold milk. Even expressed breastmilk when goes in the bottle, doesn't stay as warm as it would normally be directly in baby's mouth so put th storage bag in a bit hit water to make the milk a bit wam.

Gotta be patient. It is so difficult I have been trying for over a month, she would cry as if we are trying to poiaon her .we have had a little success now with lansinoh teats, still a work in progress but she has taken milk from it a couple times. I feel like i should have introduced bottle early on as this has been really difficult transition.

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Ok, this might get a bit long, and a bit bumpy, so get comfy and buckle up.

So about a week or 2 ago, there was a post on here regarding sleepovers. Not letting their child go to them as you can't trust who'll be at the house etc.

Now, given recent incidents in nurseries and schools, plus my own experience back in the 90s, I am more concerned about sending my child to nursery and later school than I am to a friend's house for a sleep over.

The other day a man was jailed for abusing children at the nursery he worked at. A woman has been arrested for sleeping with an underage boy and then getting pregnant by a different underage boy while on bail for the first offence.

Young girls and boys get sexually harassed and bullied when at school, not all of them. But more than you think. And not just by other kids, but by adults who we as parents are trusting to look after our kids.

A sleepover, is a more controlled environment, with only a handful of people coming into contact with your child. A school, a club etc there can be 100s of people coming into contact with your child.

I was targeted at 7 years old by the owner of a prominent private school. Thankfully, I wasn't SA'd. In year 5 of primary school, I started to develop early, I was harassed by the boys and teachers made remarks about how my uniform didn't fit right, always "adjusting it" around my chest and legs.

Years 7-9 of secondary school were hell. But it was all under the guise of "we're just messing around". A teacher twanging my exposed bra strap (none uniform day) is not "messing around".

Boys pinning me down trying to rip open my shirt to see my breasts.

I fear for my daughter. I hope she takes after my father's family, flat chested.

We need to educate all our children, what is acceptable behaviour. And to come to us, as their parents should ANYTHING happen.

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What can I do?