Helping parents nurture healthy babies

Hunger strikes

by Barbara Dehn - 2 May 2010

What do you do when you have a baby who refuses to eat or drink 
anything except breast milk directly from the source? If the baby is 
younger than 6 weeks, you'll have a better chance at helping them get 
used to a bottle.  If they are older than 7 or 8 weeks, this may be a 
big challenge that can reduce everyone in the family to tears.  Here are
a few hints that might help:

Start a feeding at the breast and as soon as the baby's initial hunger 
is satisfied, gently break the suction and insert bottle while gently 
rocking the baby.  Try using a nipple that has a bit faster flow so 
that the baby gets the same tasting breast milk easily.
You can also try introducing a bottle when the baby is awake and happy 
and you anticipate that he/she willl be hungry in 20-30 minutes.  Try 
feeding them before they have ravenous hunger.

You can also try dipping your clean finger in pumped breast milk and 
letting them suck it from there; sometimes they'll be curious and take 
a bottle after that.

Some moms have found that they have to use a soft rubber tipped spoon 
and offer milk from a spoon.

If they baby refuses everything, crying and shaking their head 
whenever you offer any other feeding option, sometimes all you can do 
is keep rocking them, holding them and trying again and again every 
few hours.  Eventually, even the most determined baby will get so 
hungry that they'll take the bottle. Most babies can hold out for 1 to 
1 1/2 days  before they finally take the bottle.  Check in with your 
pediatrician or health care provider for more help.

Comments

Anne

6:44 13/06/2010
I think the title of this post is misleading. First of all - it\'s not a "hunger strike" if the baby is refusing to take a bottle but will take the breast. Purposefully withholding nutrition via the breast in an effort to get the infant to take a bottle is wrong and neglectful. A more appropriate title would be "bottle strike." This "baby" in question is not refusing nutrition - but the method that it is being delivered. Secondly, your advice to introduce a faster flow nipple can be very detrimental to the breast feeding relationship - assuming that for some reason this hypothetical mother wishes to retain that relationship when there is no reason to be giving a bottle - for example when she\'s home from work and she and the baby need to reconnect. Breastmilk from the breast will never flow as fast and easily as it does through a bottle nipple - and especially a faster flow nipple. Introducing a faster flow nipple may actually end the breastfeeding relationship as the baby will start to prefer that faster flow nipple and get frustrated at the slower flow from the breast. I have seen this several times in my private lactation practice as well as at LLL meetings I lead. The mechanics of how a baby removes milk from the breast - by compressing the milk ducts with its mouth/jaw is far different from drinking milk from a nipple that is literally leaking into its mouth without any effort on the part of the baby. A "hunger" strike as you are calling it - that lasts 1- 1 1/2 days (keeping in mind that this baby you are writing about prefers the breast to the bottle and would willingly nurse - but refuses a bottle) - That length of time for a baby - especially a young infant is dangerous! By 24 hours with no fluids that child would be dehydrated and adding another 12 hours of no fluids is just poor advice. A mother reading this article might think that you\'re telling her it\'s ok for her to let her 3 week old go for almost 2 days without nursing just because she wants the baby to take a bottle! I am shocked that this blog post did not receive more careful review - the liabilities connected to saying that it\'s "normal" for a baby to go that length of time without eating are huge. That coupled with the fact that there is little regard to the preservation of the breastfeeding relationship over starving a baby to the point where they\'re willing to take the bottle - I\'m disgusted, really. Sincerely, Anne Hinze, CLEC, LLL Leader

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