Usually, full-term newborns without any underlying medical conditions can bottle feed simply fine, thanks to the rooting & sucking reflexes they were born with. In fact, all the baby’s behavior is reflexive for the first few weeks, then it starts to transition to a more conscious behavior. By 4 months, this rooting & sucking reflex has disappeared. If you are interested in learning more about all the wonderful things your baby can do, Open the following link.
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/Pages/Newborn-Reflexes.aspx
If you were home during the pandemic, & you found it easier to just whip out your breast to feed your darling, you may now find it challenging to get this little one to take the bottle. But not all is lost, except perhaps your sleep :/ Some babies resort to reverse cycling, when they will wait for their favorite person to return home, so they can get ALL their nutritional needs from a warm, cozy breast. Who says babies aren’t smart & know what they want!? Open the following link for tips on reverse cycling.
https://kellymom.com/?s=reverse+cycling
Some people will say that a baby will drink from the bottle if they’re hungry enough. Well, sometimes (if you’re lucky) & sort of, but it may take a lot of tears & patience on both sides of the negotiating table. A baby not taking a bottle during the work day can be stressful for the caregiver & the sleep-deprived parent. What works & doesn’t work can be as varied as the breastfeeding relationship itself, as you will read from the link following this paragraph. After all, there are two unique individuals working out this change in the relationship. What we do know is that 1) it takes time, & 2) changing bottles & teats don’t usually work. To read tips on what may work, open the following link.
If a child is developmentally ready for solid food, you could add additional meals & snacks, perhaps adding breast milk to purees or freezing breast milk to make ice pops! Open the following link to see if your little one is ready for solid food.
