Baby refusing the bottle? Minbie can help.

There are many reasons why your baby may be refusing the bottle and we know it’s not only exhausting for Mum, it can be really upsetting too. Most bottles offer a completely different feeding experience to the breast making it really tricky, and let’s face it, for your little one, there’s nothing quite like the comfort of being attached to Mum. Breastfeeding not only provides valuable nutrition for your growing bub, it also nurtures a comfort & closeness that no bottle can substitute. This is why it’s so important that you choose a bottle that truly replicates the breast from the very beginning!

Offering a bottle

Sometimes we have no choice but to offer our babies a bottle, whether it was in our plans or not. However, when the time comes, it’s important to remember that babies have to adapt to a very different feeding experience when offered a standard baby bottle. The nipple of most bottles has a very different texture and shape to that of a mother’s breast, so it’s no wonder they find it a struggle. Then, if you do successfully manage to feed your baby from a generic bottle, you’re faced with the task of getting them back to the breast, which can be challenging to say the least.

To understand bottle refusal, it’s important to know exactly what happens when your baby attaches to your nipple with suction. When your little one uses their instinctive latch: 

• They roll their tongue for suckling. This technique sets the pattern for a correct healthy swallow right up to the adult stage. 
• The movements of your little ones tongue, lower lip and lower jaw draw out the milk while feeding. These movements exercise the muscles, ensuring that baby’s facial musculature development is better supported.

With all of this in mind, choosing your baby’s bottle should be done based on how similarly your little one can feed from you and from a bottle, therefore avoiding both bottle & breast refusal.  

Bottle Preference

Yes! Bottle preference is a thing! Many, many mums find their baby becomes happier to accept the bottle over the breast and hence decide that it’s too hard or unfair to then offer them the breast again. Bottle preference is real and it can be heartbreaking, but it usually only occurs when using an inadequate bottle. The incredible thing about Minbie is that you are choosing a baby bottle that replicates the breast like no other. It’s not like other bottles that make it easy for baby to guzzle milk. Instead it works just as your nipple does so baby MUST work for their milk as they do on the breast. This ensures that your little one doesn’t become a lazy feeder who prefers the ease of a generic bottle & teat which in turn causes colic! 

What are the possible causes of bottle refusal? 

You may have heard people say that offering a bottle to a newborn will lead to nipple confusion and destroy any chances of getting them back to breastfeeding. This can be true, but not with Minbie.

For a number of reasons many babies are fed away from the breast in the first few days after birth (in the hospital) with a bottle. The problem with this is that feeding from generic bottles is a very different feeding experience for a newborn who instinctively wants to and knows how to breastfeed. Introduction of the wrong bottle at such a critical time can and will lead to nipple confusion as baby uses a completely different technique to extract the milk. 

Far less effort is required by your baby to feed from generic bottles, so when returning to the breast a newborn can have difficulty adjusting, especially to the latch and the flow, and will inevitably fuss or refuse the breast. It’s not as easy!! Nature enables a mother’s milk to come in, in stages, slowly at first with colostrum, which helps a newborn adjust to the flow gradually. Your baby instinctively uses more effort (more muscles) to latch properly to the breast and to control the flow while extracting the milk, so it’s critical to introduce the right bottles that replicate instinct.

The shape of the teat is the other factor that may throw off a baby’s feeding. Choosing a teat that is so different from mum’s breast, and allows them to guzzle their feed, means they become lazy. By default babies (like adults) will choose to stick with the easiest option. Choosing a teat like Minbie, that replicates the breast, means baby will seamlessly switch between breast and bottle, protecting your breastfeeding journey.

How can the Minbie teat help you & your baby?

• Minbie's design is uniquely suited to protecting a baby's ability to latch correctly back onto the breast.
• When feeding from Minbie your baby is practicing for returning to the breast with no confusion.
• Babies work for the feed with their instinctive breastfeeding technique. This prevents lazy-feeding. They control the feed rate for themselves, a life-skill that transfers to supporting your breastfeeding.
• Babies feeding from Minbie aren't likely to overfeed or swallow excess air.  Minbie assists you with reducing or stopping the symptoms of reflux and colic.
• Your Bub's feeding muscles will be working to support their natural jaw and facial development, just like when feeding on your breast!
• Best of all, Mum gets incredible support for her breastfeeding journey whilst avoiding the worry of nipple confusion.

The breakthrough functionality of this Australian designed teat is profound. When babies are fed with Minbie’s incredible collection of perfect flow teats & bottles, they are practicing their instinctive breastfeeding muscle-memory making for a more successful breastfeeding journey. Keeping babies feeding as they were genetically programmed to feed is key. This is why the overwhelming majority of babies accept Minbie bottles. We can help you with your breast and bottle feeding journey. Check out our range today!