If you boil those nipples for 5 min let them sit in the water till it cools they will be much softer.
WHen I hand raised mine we tubed at first then went to bottles and it was much easier for them to nurse out of a soft nipple.

okay I have another question. After feeding the puppy there is some milk left in the bottle (I always put more incase he wants more, I don't want him sucking air) my question is can I re-warm that milk on his next feeding and give it to him? Or once its been warmed it can't be warmed again (I warm it in the bottle and put the bottle in a cup of very hot water)??

Thanks,

Thanks!!! He didn't like the new nipples and I figured it was because they were hard so I've been using his old one. I'm going to boil some water now. Thanks :thumbup:

I am sorry I just saw your thread or I would have answered earlier, as I have just been through this same thing. I see Mardelin has been helping though -- she is the one that gave me the peace of mind to know I was doing right. It is one thing to read it in a book and quite another to be able to ask specific questions and get feedback from someone you already know about. With her help and a couple of others experienced with hand-feeding, I was able to save all 5 of my puppies, even my tiny one that the vet held no hope for.

I got to quit wiping their bums about 2 weeks old. When you start seeing they are pooping on their own and you are having to pick up the little things all over their pen, it is time to not worry about wiping. I continued for awhile after I started seeing evidence they were doing it on their own, just to make sure all 5 of mine were going -- then I left out that step.

I switched from the formula to diluted goats milk and had much better luck with that. After the 3rd week, I started adding just a bit of baby rice cereal to the evening feedings -- that was the greatest for me as I finally got several hours of sleep at one time! After 4 weeks, I started giving a little kibble and letting them get their milk lapped from a bowl. Poops solid up then but do smell. To tell the truth, I really missed the feeding time we had. It is such a maternal feeling to give them their little bottle or syringe full of milk. I also switched to the syringe with nipple on the end, as Mardelin suggested. It was easier to feed my tiny non-suckling baby and always know exactly how much each had gotten with their feeding.

Mine just turned 14 weeks old and 4 of the 5 have gone to their forever homes. We are missing them! The last little guy will probably stay with us unless someone begs me in the next week or so. You really get close with pups you have handfed! I think they are even more people-loving than the usual Yorkie! These little ones are just amazing! Please don't hesitate to PM if you have any questions I might be able to help with or just to share the experience! Best wishes to you and your little one!

I did not reheat milk. Once I had it out and had been feeding from it, I threw out any excess. One reason is there can be a little backwash which could let bacteria transfer to the milk and grow. I always warmed a tiny measuring cup of milk and then transferred as much as I thought I would need for each puppy into the syringe (and later the bottle) at one time. Any left in the measuring cup could go back in the pitcher I had in the fridge. But if there was some left in the bottle or syringe, it went down the sink. Any left out over an hour got thrown out too.

You are doing right with warming it in warm water. That is the safe way -- stay away form warming in the microwave.

Oh wow! Thanks for all the advice :).

Is it normal is poo is yellow and mushy?

Okay thats what I thought and have been doing. I was going to keep him on the milk from the vet because he seems to be doing well on it. But I keep hearing about goats milk, but one person said goats milk actually killed her puppy, geez I don't know what to do.. And if I did decide to go to goats milk were would I get it, I know revivil carriers it but he'll be 2 weeks old by the time it gets here.

Yep -- just like a newborn baby -- yellow and mushy! :D

I would continue on the formula you have since he is already doing well on it. Keep the goat's milk in mind if you have problems with the formula. Not sure how it could kill a puppy unless she overfed with undiluted goat's milk. Goat's milk is supposed tobe the closest to their own mother's milk available. But the formulas are scientifically made for great nutrition so if your puppy is handling it well, I would have all the confidence in the world with it.

I usually don't.

I was told by my vet told me to use goats milk since it's the closests thing to mother's milk (95% closets). You can get the canned goats milk at the grocery store dilute it with 50% distilled water. Or you can get the fresh from a health food store, a bit more expensive. You will find that he'll eat wonderfully and gain weight amazingly so.