I had the same problem when I went back to work. I tried soooo many different bottles and teats. The one that worked best for my son was the Nuk brand teats with the valve to let out the air (he was VERY windy too). But I made sure that I wasn't the one giving him the bottle and wasn't in the room either. I f he could see me, he would only take it from the source! You could also try giving the person feeding him something of yours like a piece of clothing or even a pillow slip, so that he can smell you, but not smell your milk on it. It may coax him into feeding from the bottle if it smells more like mum.

I know at times this stage feels like forever, but it does pass very quickly, and before you know it they are leaving home!!!!

You are doing a wonderful job breast feeding your little one and he will benefit from it in so many ways......give yourself a huge pat on the back.

For this short time in their life your baby needs you to be there. Maybe its better to take short breaks between feeds so you dont need the bottle. By the time your baby is 12 months old you will be able to have longer time away.

Enjoy being a mum (mom) and take baby with you and do activities suitable. Before long you will see them off to school and help them into their first apartment and you will wonder where the time went!

Cheers, Miriam

I had the same trouble with both my boys - they hated bottles with a passion! On the very rare time I had to leave them (twice for each I think) I fed them a bottle with my milk in it myself once a day for 3-4 days before & on the day or 2 before I would start them off with the bottle then pass them over to my hubby or my mum as she was the one that would be looking after them. This seemed to work each time, but I had to go through the same thing each time. I also used wide necked Avent bottles as they seemed to be most like the breast. Another thing you can try, it worked for me, is a straw cup...you would be surprised how well babies take to them from this age on as they have a good sucking reflex. Good luck!

We had the same problem with our last.  What worked in the end was using the wide necked bottles, because they are closer to resembling a breast.  Also, I gave her the first few bottles so that it wasn't completely different.  It took some coaxing, but once she realised it was my milk, the hungry little thing took it.  From that point, when I wanted a break, my partner was able to give her a bottle.

You may have to experiment with the kind of bottle you are using. I would several different cheap ones see how that goes.

My son was exactly the same. He wouldnt take anything but the boob either. What i did was, i chose 1 feed, the one where he was most happy - for me this was the lunch time feed - and i gave him his milk from a bottle at that feed every day. It took about 2 weeks, but he eventually got the point. I would lay down with him, as i would for his breast feed. I would let him suck at the breast for the first 30 seconds or so, so that he would be comfortable, then i would (as quickly as possible) swap from the breast to the bottle, still snuggled up nice and close. The first few times, he put up a fight, but eventually he took it.

I hope this helps.

Cass xx

Had the same problem with Harrison.  He took it a few times around 2 months but we didn't keep it up (had mastitis) unfortunately.  So when I tried again, he refused.  So someone suggested sneaking the bottle when you do a twilight feed.  You know the one where you go in before you go to bed and give a top up feed.  Just wake the baby enough so he will take the nipple (of the bottle) into his mouth but not enough to realize the difference.  Keep up the bottle every night for a few weeks with twilight feeds and he may take to it while awake.

I have to say Harrison ended up fully refusing the bottle because I got cheeky and tried to give him formula and he was like what is this poison you are giving me?  So note to self, don't try to be sneaky like I was, it back fired.