Why won't my baby take a bottle?

Work through these in order

1. Who is offering it

If the nursing parent is holding the bottle, or even in the room, the baby knows a familiar and preferred option is available. Having someone else offer it, with the nursing parent out of the house if necessary, is the single most effective change and it costs nothing.

This is also why "my baby won't take a bottle from dad" is often the opposite problem from what it looks like: the baby will frequently take a bottle from a partner precisely because that person is not the alternative.

2. Timing

Slightly hungry, not desperate. A ravenous baby has no patience for something unfamiliar, and a full one has no motivation. Also try a different time of day entirely — plenty of babies accept a bottle mid-morning and refuse it in the evening.

3. Milk temperature

Body temperature is the usual starting point, because it is closest to nursing. Some babies prefer it slightly cooler, and a few — especially when teething — prefer it noticeably cooler. Test on the inside of your wrist and never use a microwave; see how to warm breast milk.

4. Position

Do not recreate the nursing position — it sets an expectation the bottle cannot meet. Try upright and facing outwards, on a lap, or while walking around. Motion settles some babies enough to accept the bottle.

5. Nipple flow rate

This is the most commonly missed one. Too fast, and milk floods in without the baby working for it, so they cough, clamp down or turn away — which reads as refusal. Almost always start with the slowest nipple that brand makes, and note that numbering is inconsistent between brands. See bottle nipple flow sizes.

6. Technique

Touch the nipple to the lips and wait for them to open, rather than pushing it in. Then use paced feeding: upright baby, bottle close to horizontal, pauses built in. Full method in paced bottle feeding.

7. The bottle itself — last

If the first six have failed across several attempts, then change the bottle. What to try: a wider, softer, more breast-like nipple. The Comotomo is the usual next step, and the Mimijumi is the expensive last resort that works on some determined refusers. Both are in best bottles for breastfed babies.

If the refusal is sudden

A baby who took bottles happily and has suddenly stopped is a different problem from one who never started. Common explanations worth considering:

• Teething. Sucking hurts. Cooler milk sometimes helps.
• A cold or blocked nose. Feeding and breathing at the same time becomes hard.
• A worn or wrong-flow nipple. Nipples degrade; a stretched one can flow much faster than it did.
• An ear infection. Sucking changes pressure and can be painful.
• A gap in practice. A baby who has not had a bottle for three weeks may simply have forgotten.

The first four of those are worth mentioning to your pediatrician if they persist, particularly if your baby seems unwell or is feeding less overall.

What not to do

• Do not force it. Pushing a bottle on a distressed baby teaches aversion, and undoing that takes far longer than waiting a day.
• Do not starve them into it. Skipping feeds to increase motivation is not a technique, and a hungry baby is less receptive, not more.
• Do not buy five brands at once. You will not know which variable changed. One thing at a time.
• Do not widen the nipple hole. It is unsafe: you cannot control the resulting flow rate, and a flooded baby can aspirate.