Argh! My 7 month old (in a week) is a very good natured, chatty, independent little fella. I just cannot get him to take a bottle.
When he was about 2 or 3 weeks old, against my midwife's advice (to avoid nipple confusion) I introduced a bottle in the evenings. He took it happily even though it was only once a day (in the evening before bed time). He would take the bottle from anyone and was quite happy to get his milk from the breast or the bottle.
When he was about 2.5 months old, we (hubby, me and baby) went to Chicago on holiday. The flight was a breeze and he settled right back into his routine - we couldn't believe it. While in Chicago I stopped feeding him with a bottle for these two weeks as it was more convenient to just breastfeed. When we got back again, the flight was a breeze and again and he settled right back into his routine once again. He even took the bottle again after being exclusively breastfed for two weeks. But that only lasted about a week.
I suspect at that point he started teething because he stopped sleeping through the night (which he had been doing for about a month or so) and he also refused to take the bottle. In the past he didn't seem to care whether I fed him formula or breastmilk. I experimented with both for a while, but I just could not get him to take it (nor my husband, while I was hiding away to avoid being seen by my little one).
When he was 5 months old, I took him to South Africa for a month. While we were there he cut his two bottom teeth (without too much fuss), started sitting on his own but still wouldn't take a bottle. Not for lack of trying though. My mother-in-law tried every day for a week. My mother then tried for a further week and a half. I even stayed out of sight for 2 and a half days but my little one just starved himself and refused to eat. He was very miserable during this time, which is completely the opposite to his usual temprament. My family were getting completely stressed out and it was ruining our holiday, so I just threw in the towel and breast fed him. The moment he took milk from me again, he returned to his usual playful and friendly self. As he is now approaching 7 months, I am getting concerned that he is not taking a bottle. I have to do a trip to Australia soon (for a month) and when I get back I have to go back to work.
I have tried cup feeding. I can get it down, but is very, very messy as he is a very active boy and grabs anything that comes within arms reach. I do feel we have made some progress though. He used to scream if I put the bottle to his lips, but I gave him a few bottles and magic cups to play with and how he no longer screams his head off when we bring the bottle to his lips. He is quite happy to chew on the teat or mouth piece, but he seems to have forgotten how to suck. I have also tried a bottle with a spoon attached to the end, but that is also very messy and also isn't really a solution for me. Initially I trained him to sleep thought the night with a dummy and I have tried it again to get him to sleep and to get used to the sucking again, but it seems that he prefers to chew it and when he does actually suck it (once a week!) it doesn't seem to soothe him. Certainly not in the same way it used to.
I am out of ideas. HELP!!
