Bottle refusal can be a huge challenge for many families. Some breastfed babies will happily move between breast and bottle with no issues, for some however, this can be a huge challenge and something that creates a lot of anxiety and stress for parents and baby alike.
So, you’ve navigated the early weeks of breastfeeding, made it through any challenges you may have faced and your supply has settled to your baby’s needs. Now you are considering the option of offering your baby a bottle, and assumed that this would be so easy in comparison to establishing breastfeeding. You have tried to offer the bottle but not had any success, baby turns away; simply chews the teat; gags as soon as the teat is in their mouth; cries as soon as you bring the teat near.
Perhaps…..- You’ve got a cupboard/drawer full of varying teats and bottles;
- Your most searched topic online currently is ‘which bottle is best for a breastfed baby’;
- You are returning to work soon;
- You are wanting to reduce breastfeeding and change to combination feeding for reasons personal to you;
- You have an event or occasion coming up that you are not able to take baby to and you are feeling the pressure to ensure they can feed in another way other than breastfeeding;
If any of these resonate with you, but you are finding that your baby is not taking the bottle, you are in the right place!
Bottle feeding is another skill that your baby needs to master, just as it can take some infants time to become proficient at breastfeeding it can also take some little one’s time and practice to become skilled at bottle feeding
‘But my baby used to take the bottle just fine, they’ve only just recently started to refuse the bottle’
Under 8 weeks of age, the sucking reflex is an innate reflex, this means that your baby is hardwired to suck anything that come into their mouth – think of it as an inbuilt survival instinct ensuring they come into the world ready to feed. Around 8 weeks of age, sucking changes from being an instinctive reflex, to being something your baby has to learn to do. Breastfeeding and bottle feeding are very different processes and require the use of oral muscles in very different ways. For this reason, many breastfed babies, even those who have had regular bottles from a young age, may suddenly become confused and disorientated when being offered a bottle.Please understand that your baby’s refusal to take the bottle is not a matter of wilfulness; they are not being fussy or deliberately opting for breastfeeding instead. Young babies simply lack the cognitive development to make such calculations, regardless of what Aunt Nora might suggest! Instead, your baby is unable to take the bottle because they can’t do so at this time.
So what can you do?
I offer bottle refusal consultations to help explore what may be going on for your baby and support you with coming up with an appropriate, gentle plan to help your baby with learning this skill. This is individualised to you, your baby and your family and will always involve responsive and nurturing approaches to support your little one with this new skill. Together we will explore the following
- Your feeding journey so far and any relevant history via my detailed registration form
- Your goals and individual needs
- Your little one’s oral function and possible reasons they are finding feeding from a bottle challenging
- Types of teat that may best suit your individual baby (spoiler alert…there is no ‘best’ teat for all breastfed babies despite all the claims!!)
- A staged plan that will support this learning for your baby and empower you to know how to recognise progress and when to move on to the next step
- Ongoing WhatsApp support for 2 weeks after your consultation