Feeding your baby using bottles

I was at a friend's house this week whose baby is 4 months old.  She's a darling baby who is happy, healthy and a great eater.  The only problem her mom confided, is that she won't take a bottle and mom is going back to work full time in 4 weeks.  Uh,oh!

I was happy to help her and managed through jiggling and rocking to get her little one to take 1/2 ounce of pumped milk from the bottle.  Was it easy?  No.  But I was determined to be happy, friendly and persistent in offering the bottle.  She'd take about 3 sucks and then be upset, but after allowing her to settle and then repeating the process, within 10 minutes she took 1/2 ounce and promptly fell asleep.  This was a good start, my friend sighed in relief, because previously she wouldn't take any.

Even if a baby only takes a few sips and then stops, keep trying, keep offering. Babies know what they want and will hold out. Sometimes you just have to be more persistent and find other ways to get the formula or breast milk into their mouths.  Some parents use a syringe, some wait until the baby will take a sippy cup.  Others sneak a bottle into their mouth while they're half asleep.

What happens when the baby refuses everything.  Well, that's known as a hunger strike.  We'll talk about that next week.