Some babies switch from breast to bottle — and back again — with no trouble. Others may need a little encouragement. Get great bottle-feeding tips here from experts and moms.
Experiment with temperature
"Start introducing it within the first month without the expectation that they'll take it. It may also take a bit of experimenting with temperature. I had to warm up my breast milk higher than what is considered our normal body temp. Make sure to swirl the milk and test the temperature before feeding the baby."
— Trang Le, mom of one
Don't wait too long
"Choose a feeding time that allows you a moment of much-needed rest as a new mommy. On a personal note, I breastfed three children for a year, and each of them went back and forth between breast and bottle from day one. If you wait too long, baby may reject the bottle completely, which I have seen happen."
— Heidi Miller, pediatric speech pathologist and feeding specialist, Florham Park, NJ
Make sure mom is not in the room if someone else gives them the bottle
"This was so hard for our little one. She refused the bottle for months and would rather go hungry until mom came home. We tried every type of nipple but nothing would work. Eventually I think she just grew out of her phase and was OK with the bottle. If you're having trouble, my greatest bit of advice is to switch off who tries giving the bottle … and make sure mom is not in the same room. Don't give up!"
—Cathlene Yapyuco Wong, mom of two
Bring in reinforcements
"It may take a while before baby will take a bottle from mom. Some tricks would be to have someone else feed baby when mom is out of the room and place a worn shirt from mom over the other person's shoulder."
— Jacalyn Wetzel, mom of four
Try right before they go to sleep
"Initially, you can pump your milk, put it in a bottle, and try that — since the taste will be same. Try to use bottle just before they sleep in the afternoon or in the night. Since they feel sleepy, they get used to it quicker."
— Mahati Ramya, mom of two
Rub breast milk on the bottle nipple
"Try different nipple types and see what works. You can rub breast milk on the outside of the bottle nipple to give them a taste. I found that using bottles intermittently from the very beginning made it easier when he needed to take bottles more often. And pumping to make sure I had milk for a bottle, plus feeding him from the breast also helped build supply."
— Ashleigh Adams, mom of one
It's about patience and consistency
"It is all about patience and consistency. They will either take to it right away because they find it easier/faster to get their milk or they will reject it multiple times. Trust they will eventually take that bottle, especially when they are very hungry. Just don't give up!"
— Erika Santos, mom of one
One bottle feeding a day with breast milk
"To promote bonding with another caregiver (i.e., my husband), to give myself a break, AND to promote getting used to the bottle from the very beginning, I encouraged one feeding a day with a bottle since Day 1 (with pumped breast milk)."
— Erika Greenblatt-Torres,
19-year teacher veteran, social thinking clinical trainee, and mom of two
