5 month old bottle refusal.

I have a beautiful, healthy EBF 5 month old baby boy. And while I'm super stoked he is such a good breast feeder, he absolutely refuses a bottle alltogether! Whether it is expressed milk or formula, he absolutely hates it! We've tried new bottles/teats/formula etc. He will shake his head side to side, and spit out whatever we can get into his mouth.. I feel awful as he gets so upset over the whole experience, so we usually stop after about 5mins.
he has only ever had one single bottle of expressed breast milk once in the span of a month and a half of us trying to get him to drink something from a bottle.
I'm not intending to wean him from the breast, I just want to be able to leave the house without him! I haven't even been for a haircut or grocery shop without him, I even have to take him to my physio appointments! sad
I love that he just wants me, but it's making it extremely difficult being attatched at the hip with him. My husband and I have been out once in the last 5 months without the kids, he refused to drink an expressed bottle and just slept instead. I've been out once last week for four hours and left him with my husband who said he didn't stop screaming and refused the expressed milk and formula I left him. I got home and he had a completely dry nappy! I cried and felt so guilty for leaving him, because he hated the bottle so much he'd rather cry himself to sleep and become dehydrated sad
I feel so stupid complaining my baby won't take a bottle, when usually people just pray their baby would breastfeed properly..
Just after any tips/support/suggestions.

Thanks guys x

Don't try again for a few days then try a sippy cup. My daughter has never had a bottle she just didn't seem to know what to do with it! She would drink water from a cup so I tried that but she still wouldn't have milk from it. A friend from Mum's group said to stop trying for a week then try again and it worked. Not sure why maybe because we just took the pressure off. She is still having a b'feed on a morning and night she is 14 months and will drink from a cup otherwise, it is better for their teeth so it has actually worked out easier as I don't have to wean her from a bottle.
You are doing a great job it will work out. He will be fine for 4 hours without you just feed him before you go and let him have sips of boiled water it all else fails, you deserve a haircut!
Good luck

If only I had the problem of them not wanting a bottle, mine are always far to keen lol. One thing you could try is start of on the boob and then slip the bottle in when he is settled and leave your boob still next to his face so that he is still nice and close.

As for going out on your own I know what you mean! my youngest is also 5 months and though he loves the bottle he still loves it best from mummy...so refuses it a lot from any one else.

Got the same dilemma. I'm having a hard time to introduce bottle feeding.
sad

My 11 month is the same, refuses a bottle and we have tried the same things that you have. Different formulas, different bottles, sippy cups, her water bottle. Refuses it all. I'm lucky that she is a little older in that I can leave her with hubby now and she can have solids when she gets hungry. But up until a couple of months ago I had to take her to hairdresser, Chiropractors etc.

No help to the OP but it does get better once they get on solids

My first never took a bottle and we did the sippy cup too - she happily took that and continued breastfeeding until 13 months.

My second is 9 weeks and is refusing a bottle too - good thing I can breastfeed!

I think sippy cup works. We tried to give the sippy cup, of course we didn't put any liquids...she wants to sip the cup.

Uhmmm we'll put small amount of water or express my milk next time.

I think sippy cup works. We tried to give the sippy cup, of course we didn't put any liquids...she wants to sip the cup.

Uhmmm we'll put small amount of water or express my milk next time.

Update!

Thanks for all your replies!
I've given him a break from the bottle for the last few days and today he took half of a cold formula bottle while we were out at a party!
I don't know if this was a one off however, but I guess it's some kind of progress?
For now I'll give him a break and just try a bottle every couple of days rather than every single day, twice a day haha.
smile

Well done

Can't help sorry but sounds like you are on the right track!!

I have a 5 month old but have the opposite problem... as soon as i started giving him bottles... that was it!! no more bf! he got frustated with slow supply and the lack of and within only about a week or so he was on to bottles only sad so i kept expressing but there is only so much expressing you can do in a day and eventually supply got so poor he is now formula only!

Best of luck tho

Hi there ladies ... my little boy will be 8 months next week. I tried for 3 months to get him to take a bottle with no luck. A lady who owns a local baby shop suggested i try a trick that has worked for every Mum she has spoken to and that is to boil a latex teat in breast milk and then pop it onto a bottle and try feeding your baby. I thought it was a weird idea but it worked!!! I only had to boil about 3 x and now he takes a bottle sweet as!!