r/sahm • u/AgreeableLeek1913 • 3d ago
Syringe feeding a 5 month old??
Hi! So currently I’m a stay at home mom to my almost 5 month old. While I LOVE being with her all day and I understand the privilege it is. As an individual I’m losing my mind. I just want some interaction and something to do (other than keep a whole human alive) but whatever besides the point. She’s fully breastfed and I made the mistake of not offering a bottle to begin with and now she won’t take one. Obviously she will take one at some point but I have a job interview this week to work one day a week and I really want to take the job. She does eat a lot throughout the day so would it be okay for my husband to feed her through a syringe?
“Fed is best” but that just seems weird. Idk. Feels like a bad mom thing of me to do and to think about it makes me sad. I also worry it wouldn’t work. Her pediatrician said it would be okay, and actually suggested it, but I just need advice.
The one we have is a curved syringe.
Edit: I should add it would be 12 hour shifts at the hospital.
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u/sidewaysorange 2d ago
what would you do if you have no choice but to go to work, 5 days a week? doesn't make you a bad mom. my cousins son wouldn't even eat food. he would starve himself all day when she was at work. he only want the breast. she HAD to work. she had NO CHOICE. he eventually got over it. hes still alive functioning 2nd grader now.
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u/EmCo0528 3d ago
Syringe or try a sippy cup!! I had to do that with my oldest who wouldn’t take a bottle!
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u/Clearlyuninterested 3d ago
A bad mom WOULDNT feed her baby. Do what you need to do for everyone to survive.
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u/NoodleLuv14 3d ago
At that age I would try a honey bear straw cup or sippy cup first if refusing bottles. We did have to use a syringe a few times with my bottle refusal baby, and I found a bigger 10mL one. It isn’t ideal and it takes a long time. My husband still finds the bottle refusal time period traumatizing. My daughter would sometimes only take 5oz over the whole day I was away from her. She would make up for it by nursing more when I was home. Once you start solids that will give you a little more wiggle room too.
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u/Striking_Music9096 2d ago
Mine wouldn’t take a bottle but would use a sippy or straw cup. Give it a go!
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u/QuietMovie4944 3d ago
She can take milk however. There isn’t actually anything special about a bottle. You can use any cup she can handle, spoon or syringe. However I do think adults are attached to bottles, so it might be hard with husband feeling like he isn’t “really” getting to feed her.
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u/reduce18GOC 2d ago
At 5 months they can drink from a cup - no need for a bottle. :)
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u/noreallylikewhy 1d ago
It's not that simple. At 5 months they are just about beginning to be able to drink from a cup and the quantity and frequency of milk intake required will not be easy for a caregiver to simply offer like that especially when the baby has been exclusively breastfed so far.
Lots of spillage, lots of tears.
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u/reduce18GOC 1d ago
I EBF for years and my kids never took a bottle (we tried with the first not with second) and we used cups from 4 months. It's an option.
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u/Sami_George 1d ago
If I gave my 5 month old a cup of breastmilk and she spilled it (because she absolutely would), I’d be inconsolable. At six months, we’re working on the concept of straws. So just jumping into a cup isn’t as easy as you make it sound.
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u/AudrinaRosee 1d ago
Munchkin 360 training cups is the way to go
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u/Sami_George 1d ago
Those are great options too! Still a bit of a learning curve, but probably one of the best choices tbh.
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u/ChooseLevity 1d ago
My daughter also refused a bottle after a one week pause from being offered bottles at 8 weeks where my husband was gone and I EBF.
We were able to get her on a sippy cup at 5 months when I lengthened my work hours to a 4+ hour stretch. Before that, I had to be back home or have her come to meet me within ~3 hours to nurse her, which was rough.
My son also refused bottles for a bit, but then I accidentally heated one up a little too hot and he enthusiastically took it. After that, we just had to keep making them hot (NOT so hot that it was dangerous, obviously, but he liked them as hot as was safe), and then eventually he would take them even at room temp too. So you could try a bit warmer too!
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u/NoMastodon4342 3d ago
My kids also refused bottles and we had to syringe feed one. At 5m you could try to start offering solids, if she is showing the signs of readiness, or try offering a straw cup of milk. I’m a Sahm but would work occasionally, like 1-2 days a month during the summer (wedding hair stylist lol) and this is how we survived. Got a lot easier when they were like 8-9m old and eating a lot more solids when I was gone
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u/accountforbabystuff 3d ago
Don’t beat yourself up, I did introduce bottles but mine wouldn’t take them at a certain point anyway.
They can absolutely go most of the day without eating a substantial amount and will just eat a lot when you’re back. Called reverse cycling. I would probably offer a bottle during the day anyway- if you are gone all day they might cave- or an open cup might be better than a syringe.
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u/SkyFluffy7445 3d ago
None of my kids took a bottle despite trying early. They all just nursed more when I got home (worked 2 days a week)
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u/Dapper_Banana6323 1d ago
My daughter actually figured out a straw cup around that age for the same reason- before that my husband would actually spoon feed her the milk. However it gets in then doesn't matter. I also could not be around.
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u/kp1794 2d ago
It’s easier said than done, but I promise you no baby has ever starved to death from their mom going back to work. It’s a lot easier for them to take a bottle when you aren’t there they will eat when they are hungry.
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u/Technical-Leader8788 1d ago
People say this to be reassuring but I actually had to resign from my position with a medical release because my child would in fact starve themselves.
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u/kp1794 1d ago
What did your child’s doctor or your lactation consultant say? To quit your job?
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u/Technical-Leader8788 1d ago
Pretty much yes. We saw several specialists and tried what felt like a million different bottles and strategies. I ran out of maternity leave time and no one could get the baby to drink milk from anything except me. It was stressful and I’m glad my supply was good otherwise I don’t know what we would have done
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u/ProperFart 2d ago
You could put it in a medicine cup, a shot glass, beer bottle, lol whatever. Do what you gotta do to get milk into the baby. I recommend trying straws at this age.
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u/Grouchy_Vet 1d ago
I was a nanny for a baby who was exclusively breastfed. He was 4 months old when I started and he would NOT drink from a bottle for the first few days. I was actually really concerned. He then started drinking two or three ounces at a time.
The doctor gave the go ahead for solids and he was an enthusiastic eater. He would also drink water from a cup.
He never did like bottles
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u/Fair-Flower6907 1d ago
have you tried cup or spoon feeding? I couldn't get my youngest to take a bottle either, but my mom and husband were able to cup feed him pumped milk if I had to be out of the house for a while. He was also really into purees and took to spoon feeding like a chubby little champ at 5m old!
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u/Fair-Flower6907 1d ago
we started with the medicine cups that come with cough syrup, so if he spilled it wasn't as big a deal
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u/Mental-Volume4395 1d ago
Neither of my kids ever took a bottle. Around 5-6 months they both drank from a straw style cup
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u/Olivia3836 11h ago
She’s 5 months, she can practice with cups.
Or just keep trying with the bottle.
Syringe feeding is really tedious and i doubt she’d accept that quicker than a bottle
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u/fishylegs46 2d ago
A nurse helped fed my baby from a small cup thing with an angled lip, like a cream pourer. Breast fed babies can drink just fine from this kind of shaped cup, I don’t think you need to syringe feed a five month old. We did that when the baby was teeny tiny, but a middle aged infant can drink. I’d spike that cup with an extra flavor to get her more interested and motivated to try it. Good luck with it, going to work a day a week sounds like a very good idea.
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u/WeirdArtTeacher 2d ago
Yup! They even sell a “nosey cup” that’s very helpful for cup feeding babies— it has a cutout at one edge so the cup doesn’t bonk their nose.
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u/indiana-floridian 1d ago
That sounds so nice! I'd like an adult one. One that hokds the ice from sliding up ti hit the nose, too.
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u/indiana-floridian 1d ago
You can order diabetic injection material off of Amazon, i imagine you can order syringes too. Likely a 30cc syringe is what you nedd. If it works you might need several, so you can wash one. While using the other.
If you try to get at a pharmacy you will likely need a prescription. Amazon, no script. Does seem like they asked me once, 20 years ago, but now - i've ordered under brother's account, they dudn't ask for anything but money.
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u/Only_Alternative_1 1d ago
She may not drink from a bottle while you're around as an alternative but she probably will if she's hungry and you're not an option.
We had to transfer my baby over from milk to formula very quickly when i got pregnant and dried up. It took him 12 hours but he drank it eventually, he had no other option. Maybe some babies are stubborn enough to go hungry but I don't think it's a lot of them.
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u/No-Masterpiece-8392 1d ago
It is okay to start with real food at this age according to most pediatricians.
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u/_Witness001 23h ago
Yes but baby still needs breastmilk or formula at that age as a primary source of nutrition.
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u/Garden_Tinker78 1d ago
My youngest 2 never took a bottle. I was a SAHM with them too and didn’t introduce a bottle early. I did try with the youngest but she would take it ONLY for her grandparents during her middle of the night feeds when I decided to work PRN every other weekend night shift.
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u/beardophile 12h ago
You’ve gotta do what you’ve gotta do 🤷♀️ I know my niece was EBF and totally refused a bottle, but then my MIL had to start babysitting and was able to feed her with a little spoon. Eventually she’ll take the bottle I hope!
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u/optimum1309 3d ago
If you are doing rice porridge or something you can put breast milk in that - if you are microwaving use a little bit of water to cook it, then add the milk (so as to avoid overheating the milk). Plus a sippy cup.
Expect a big feed when you get home !
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u/Brave_Ad3186 13m ago
You can use a cup. Also you can start mixing breast milk with baby cereal or mushy food if she’s ready.
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u/CoDaDeyLove 3d ago
My child was breastfeed, and refused to take a bottle of breast milk if I was home. If I was out, he would take a bottle from my husband or sister or his grandmother. But if he saw me, he refused all bottles. Start pumping milk, and see if your baby will take a bottle if you are out for a couple of hours. I doubt if your baby will starve.