5. Try to be gentle and not just shove the teat in
Remember babies have tongue thrust reflex.  Notice how they will use their tongue to push out anything you try to put in their mouth?   It is nature's way of protecting the baby from ingesting solids before his time and choking on it.  It may also be the baby trying to figure out what to do with this new thing in his mouth!  Try to gently coax the baby to take the teat.  If you find your baby pushing the teat out with his tongue, try aiming the teat up at the roof of his mouth instead of just thrusting the teat straight in.  By aiming the teat towards the roof of his mouth, you avoid 'direct confrontation' with his tongue.

Last Words

Notwithstanding all the advice given, realise that all babies are different.  Yes, some babies do develop nipple preference and I have heard of a story about how giving a pacifier once supposedly messed up the mother's whole breastfeeding effort.  Yet, there are also a lot of other babies who feed well on the breasts even though they were given pacifiers.  Similarly, for some babies, breasts and bottles co-exist in perfect harmony right from the beginning.  Some babies will never take a bottle no matter how early you introduce it to him.  Some are easy to persuade to take a bottle while others will never agree to have a bottle.  Some babies, like my #1, are ok with anything else given in a bottle as long as it is not breastmilk.

My point is : don't beat yourself up if your baby does not take the bottle no matter what you do.  Chances are, it has got nothing to do with what you did or what you didn't do.  It is just your baby's preference and his personality.

When everything else fails, remember you only need to endure this inconvenience for about 6 months.  When your baby starts taking solids, it is time you start introducing the sippy cup and other fluids, e.g. water and juice.  Most babies are ok with sippy cup although they still need to take a bit of time learning how to use it.  And even if they are fussy about bottles and stuff, with the introduction of solids and other fluids, your baby will no longer be 100% dependent on your breastmilk, so that takes away quite a bit of your stress.  Your baby won't starve without you.