How do you get a kid to take a bottle?

[4HGoatGirl]

I have 2 kids. Mama is nursing them and they are doing great. The babies are just wild. The mom was a bottle baby and we are out with the babies all the time but they are just not friendly. We are trying to separate the babies from mom for a couple hours then milk mom and feed the milk to the kids. They won’t take the bottle though. And the nipple leaks so I feel like I’m drowning the poor things. We cut into a different nipple but it does the same thing! Is what I’m doing going to be worth it? If so how do I get the babies to take the bottle?

 

[rosti]

As long as it’s not pouring out, but just a drip or steady flow, they should be fine. Of course, if they start coughing it’s probably coming out too fast. What kind of a nipple are you using? There are different ways to cut the tips to adjust milk flow.

 

[AClark]

I used regular baby bottle nipples and cut an X into them - you can adjust the flow like that pretty easily, just trim until it drips to your satisfaction - scissors work great if you are careful and they were the yellowy nipples that are cheap. Wait until they are really actually hungry, it makes it that much more appealing for them - mine took about 6 hours before they decided that the bottle would work.
I sat them in my lap and tipped their heads up and would "pry" their mouths open (stick a finger in the back corner until they open, just be gentle) then stuff the bottle in. They picked it up fairly fast as soon as the milk hit their mouth. It took about a day of nothing but bottle feeding for them to catch on for me.