Cold turkey for two days as a way to get a baby to take both breast and bottle?

[NannyOgg]

Hi all.  I joined this site because I wanted to ask about something I read in “The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems”.  I'm posting this in both the bottle-feeding and breast-feeding forums, as I wasn't sure which would be more relevant.

In the section about persuading a reluctant baby to take a bottle, Tracey tells the story of a woman whose 7-month-old had been refusing bottle while she was at work, and who eventually got him to take them by just not breastfeeding him, even after she came home, so that in the end he gave up and took a bottle later that evening.  The bit I wanted to ask about was that Tracey then advised the woman not to breastfeed him for two days, in order to avoid him refusing bottles again once he'd had a breastfeed.  She told the woman that if she gave him nothing but bottles for two days, after that he would go back and forth between breast and bottle without problems.  However, she doesn't say whether this actually happened or how things turned out for this woman.

So – have any of you tried this with a reluctant bottle-feeder?  I don't mean just refusing to breastfeed them until they've taken a bottle, but refusing to breastfeed at all for a day or two until they were really used to taking bottles, then going back to breastfeeding with bottles some of the time.  I'm thinking about trying this with my daughter when I go back to work, as she's currently refusing to take bottles – I know this is going to make life really difficult when I do go back, and I would like to get the really hard part over as quickly as possible.  I've heard that often babies will refuse bottles during the day for the first week or two after their mother goes back to work, and I'd like to avoid this.  So, if refusing to breastfeed her for a day or two will get her to the point where she does go back and forth between breast and bottle more easily, it could be worth it.  If anyone has tried this technique, I would really like to hear how you got on with it.  Thanks.

[taygensmom]

Yes, I have done this with my LO. She was ill and so for a week I just breastfed, then when she was better I tried to reintroduce the bottle she did not want it. So I only presented the bottle for a 24 hour period, and it did work. Now she will take both, although she still prefers the breast.

Only thing I would suggest is that you try it before you go back to work, rather that at the time you start work again. It can be pretty stressful and can interrupt your LOs sleep routine initially, so I personally would tackle it now and then get her back on track before you start work. HTH

[JenK]

I did this too - by the end of the day (of only bottle feeding) he was taking a bottle just fine, but the next day I went back to BF thinking that I'd just make the last feed of the day a bottle, but after returning to the BF he wouldn't take the bottle again.  I think if I'd given the bottle two days instead of one then it may have worked better...he seems to be an all or nothing baby though - if it was only bottle or only breast, he was fine.  We ended up weaning cold turkey to only bottles.  Good luck - I hope it works for you...I think the 48 hours may be better than 24 if your lo is stubborn?

[NannyOgg]

Thank you for replying!  Can I ask you both how old your LO was at the time you did this, and how strong they were on the bottle refusal (I mean, were they flat-out refusing even to take the teat in their mouth at all, or taking it but not drinking from it, or what)?  Katie does take the teat into her mouth and sometimes she'll even drink a tiny amount (less than half an ounce), so I'm really hoping that's a good sign.  Also, she's only three and a half months old, which I'm hoping will help - in the book, Tracy (sorry - got the name spelled right this time!) said that normally the difficult bit was over within 24 hours and it was only some older babies who took 48 hours to get used to it.  So I'm really hoping that if I have to do this at all, I can at least get away with only doing it for 24 hours, which would be a lot easier.

I did think about doing it before I return to work, but I'm hoping it won't be necessary at all.  I've heard that some bottle refusers do actually figure out really quickly when Mum's out for the day rather than just upstairs for the moment, so it may be that things actually won't be too bad on my first day back.  What I was thinking was that if she starts taking the bottle pretty quickly then I'll just nurse her as normal when I get in and give one bottle a day on my days off after that.  If she gives my husband a really hard time during the day, I'll pump and bottle-feed for 24 hours.  If that doesn't do the trick and she's still making a big fuss about the bottles after a few days, I'll try the 48-hour pumping marathon (gulp!)

Thank you - it helps a lot to hear your stories.  If anyone else has a similar story do please post - I'm still reading the thread.

[JenK]

Zach was about 3.5months when I tried, and I went through the process twice with him before finally just switching cold turkey to the bottle full time. I would have preferred to wean gradually, but it didn't seem to be an option.  Zach would take the nipple sometimes but just roll it around in his mouth, and then just scream at me.  Usually he'd just scream at me.  on the day(s) that we tried Cold Turkey, he figured out pretty fast that food wasn't coming from me, and decided he didn't like to go for his nap hungry so he reluctantly took the bottle and drank maybe 2oz.  He did this for the first 3 feedings (basically reversed his eating and activity times) and by the fourth feed we were back on schedule (EAS) and by the last feed he was taking the whole bottle.  I noticed though that the next day when I went to nurse him (after bottle feeding for the whole day previous) he expected the bottle and was almost looking for it, just like when I first offered him the bottle but he was looking for my breast.  And then after getting BF he didn't want the bottle again...and on we went.  Hopefully you don't have to do the marathon pumping - that was the biggest pain about it I thought.  For sure you'll want to offer one bottle per day to keep it up.  I do hear that it's easier with younger babies - good luck! 

[taygensmom]

My LO was about 11 weeks. She would take small amounts, just not alot and you really had to work for it. She now will take it easily, but still doesn't take quite as much as I know she does breastfeeding (3-4 oz of bottle right now at 3 months). I do still give 1 bottle every day or 4 or 5 ounces, and don't breastfeed until that bottle is gone. This just keeps us on track with her acceptance, as she does still prefer the breast. HTH

[NannyOgg]

Thanks for the further info.  JenK, I do hope it isn't as hard for me as it was for you - that does sound awful!  Taygen'smom - When you tried it, how many hours did it take on that first day before your LO did accept the bottle?