4 Tips to Help Overcome Your Baby’s Bottle-Feeding Refusal
The American Academy of Pediatrics suggests exclusively breastfeeding babies for the first 6 months of their life. This is crucial for developing the baby’s immune system, as the mom can transfer antibodies to help the baby fight illness. However, this may not be possible for a lot of moms who have low breast milk supply, health conditions, or busy schedules. Bottle-feeding then becomes a necessity much earlier than one may have planned for.
This can be another challenge as around 25% of parents report feeding-related issues when they switch to the bottle. So, what’s a parent to do to overcome their baby’s bottle feeding refusal? Here are some things you can try:
Find out why they’re refusing to take the bottle
In Rowena Bennett’s book, Your Baby’s Bottle-feeding Aversion, Reasons, and Solutions, she explains that medical conditions could be behind a baby’s refusal to drink from the bottle. It may not be because your baby is fussy, but their fussy behavior might stem from a health condition that needs to be addressed. For instance, they may have colic, GERD, or a cold that makes it difficult to breathe during feeding.
It may also be that they are still in the process of weaning and are not used to the taste of formula or the feel of a rubber nipple. In any case, parents need to observe their baby and, if possible, seek pediatric help if their bottle aversion persists.
Experiment with bottle and nipple sizes
If the baby is healthy, the next easy step is to try different sizes of bottles and nipples. Nicole Harris’ article on Parents, A Guide to Bottle Nipple Sizes, breaks down the different nipple “levels” that fit a baby depending on their age and preferred milk flow, which start from 0-4.
Although age is the major determining factor of the nipple level, Harris adds that you might want to switch up nipple levels if they show frustration, gag, spit up, cough, or turn away from the bottle. Mouthfeel and milk flow might be contributing to their aversion, so experiment until you find what they respond to the best.
Adjust your feeding position
Simply adjusting your feeding position, or the stance you apply, might also do the trick. The cradle hold is the most natural position and mimics how you breastfeed the baby. It can trick them into thinking they are being given a mother’s breast, which works well for a lot of babies.
An ideal position for babies with stomach problems is sitting upright on your lap, their back turned to you. Alternatively, you can lean against a wall or the back of the chair, face the baby toward you, and rest their back on your bent legs. This allows for eye contact between you and the baby and may encourage them to start feeding.
Try different techniques
If those tips don’t work, a baby’s refusal to feed from the bottle might require you to switch up your technique. For instance, we previously suggested trying paced bottle feeding here on Oh Baby! This is very similar to breastfeeding, which gives the baby more control of their hunger and feeding pace. This can work well for little ones who are still weaning from the breast to the bottle.
Another technique is dream feeding or bottle-feeding the baby as they sleep. The book The Dream Feed Method notes that this takes advantage of the baby’s natural instinct to suck on the nipple — if they’re asleep, it’s harder for them to tell if that nipple is the real thing or coming from a bottle. This can help them unconsciously get used to the mouthfeel of the bottle and slowly overcome their aversion to bottle-feeding.
If you can’t get your baby to latch on to a bottle right away, don’t fret — this doesn’t make you a bad parent. It just means your baby has different needs. Find out what those needs and preferences are and adjust your technique and you can nourish your baby the right way.