Q. I have a six week old baby boy, and I have been breastfeeding him exclusively since birth. I am now trying to introduce him to the bottle but he will not take it. I have tried a number of different nipples but nothing is working so far. Do you have any suggestions? I really need some help because I cannot leave him with a sitter until he takes a bottle.
A. Try to have someone else feed the baby while you are not in the room. Or, hold the baby facing out so he doesn't smell you. Yes they can smell you and the breastmilk, and they know the real thing! Another trick that works is to feed him while you are rocking him back and forth, while standing up, even walking back and forth. It sounds like a lot, but amazingly some of these "tricks" have worked.
You did not mention whether or not you are trying to give him a bottle because you are going back to work or if it is for an occasional sitter. If you are going back to work, most sitters who do this for a living are able to get the baby to take the bottle. I am talking about people who have had experience with bottle feeding babies.
