Photo by Alicia Voorhies
I previously shared with you our struggle to introduce a bottle to baby boy. Nearly four months later, the battle continues. This kid refuses to drink anything from a nipple that’s not my own! It doesn’t matter if it’s formula, juice, or even his beloved breast milk – if it’s in a bottle, he turns his head.
Now that he’s seven months old, I started to try using a sippy cup as well. While he doesn’t turn his head and fuss like he usually does with the bottle, he doesn’t really drink from it either. He mostly chews on it. If ever there were a time I wish there were some sippy cups that weren’t spill-proof, now would be it. At least that way he’d get some liquid in his mouth to let him know there’s something good inside the cup.
As far as bottles go, we’ve tried about four variations of bottle brands and nipples. It doesn’t matter. They all end up being pushed away or more recently, being chewed on. But, baby boy absolutely refuses to suck.
I should have written “stubborn” as the middle name on his birth certificate.
So, what are we to do? Everywhere I go, he goes. If I feed him right before I leave the house, then maybe I can run a quick errand and come back within two hours or so. Otherwise, it makes for interesting logistics in our house.
It also means that baby girl hasn’t truly had some one-on-one time with me in a while. Her baby brother is always along. And though I know she loves him dearly, I also know she’d enjoy a trip to the movies, a dinner out, or simply just hanging out together for a bit while abuela takes care of LB (little brother as she calls him). I know we would too.
I am happy to have breastfed him for seven months so far. It’s longer than I nursed baby girl and I’m not looking to wean him just yet. I simply would like to be able to break away from him every once in a while and have someone else feed him.
So the struggle continues as we try on a daily basis…wish me luck! I’ll be needing lots of it.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t know you but I’m trying to wean my son from a bottle to a sippy.u00a0 Try the Take and Toss ones or the generic dollar store ones.u00a0 They will leak slightly if turned upside down but they are the only ones that my son will take.u00a0 The reason being that most other sippys and bottles for that matter make them work a lot harder for what is in them.u00a0 I hope that helps, even if it is from a complete stranger.
Hi, I’m.struggling with this issue. My son started refusing the bottle at 9 weeks old. He’s now nearly 16 weeks and still refuses. He’s gone up to 10 hrs without the bottle. I just went back to work & I have to rush on my lunch to nurse him otherwise he gets too fussy! I’m starting to resent ebf & I hate that I’m feeling this way. Did it get better, did he finally take the bottle?
Hi Lisa! I know how frustrating it is! I gave up too easily, so he never really took it, though he did drink a (tiny) bit from bottles a couple of instances. It wasn’t consistent, though. I do believe, however, that if I had been more persistent and not given in so easily, he would have come around. I hope it’s going better since you left me this comment. Good luck!