(I wish this picture had audio. The screams are deafening.)I am basically a lazy mom. The easiest path is usually the one most traveled. This especially applies to feeding my babies. I don't introduce solids until at least six months. Why? It's messy and it takes too much time. And I rarely give them bottles.
We are currently paying the price for my Guernsey gift. I have enough milk to feed twins (in fact, I actually did help feed my friend's triplets when they were tiny and I was nursing Hyrum). So it's really inconvenient for me to use a bottle. I pump a lot and I have a ton of milk in the freezer, but it usually just sits there, keeping the shelf cold.
And now, little Miss Evie has forgotten the joys of the plastic nipple. Nourishment without the love, Daddy says. Who can blame her? We try to give her a bottle once a day--of breastmilk!--but you'd think we were poisoning the kid. Or at the very least torturing her. Like I said, I'm so lazy that it's usually not a big deal. But she's four months old now, and I'd like to be comfortable that she'll eat when I'm not present with my shirt open. I've tried everything I can think of, and my family is sick of wrestling her.
Me? I give in after 20 or so minutes and just nurse her.
Any suggestions? There is a lot of experience percolating out there.
Help!
Dear Jen, I so know these battles. My boys (now 5 and 8) did not want to take anything else but the breast for feeding which made me stay at home or nursing them wherever we were and my husband could not feed them with my milk in a bottle. well, expeience showed it worked only when I was not around as they then could not smell me not to speak of hear me. Maybe you should try this, just be out of the house or at least the room. And on the other hand: I think it's very good not giving her anything else but your milk. :-) Enjoy it as long as you can
ReplyDeleteGreetings from Germany Steffi
I worked part-time when my oldest daughter was an infant and she would not take a bottle from her daddy or me. "Breast is Best" must have been her motto. Stubborn, stubborn girl. I thought the dear and very experienced sitter had magical powers, but learned when I quit work that she was giving her solids and cow's milk in a sippy cup (at four months)out of pure exasperation! Extraordinary children call for extraordinary measures, I guess. Eve won't starve herself. She'll take the bottle, wait everyone out, or you may have to resort to solids. Don't you wish you had compliant children without a mind of their own?
ReplyDeleteWish I could be there to help.
ReplyDeleteOh I hear you...Griffy is now 8 months old and at around 4 months I gave up trying to pump and give him the bottle. Not one of my kids ever had a bottle...I'm lazy too with the food thing. Griffin is just now starting some solids! It is a mess! I'm trying to just enjoy nursing as he is probably my last. (Unless I can get pregnant at my old age!)...I actually do enjoy nursing for the most part..except for last night. Every hour! I love what your husband says..Nourishment without the love. Sweet!
ReplyDeleteHi, I somehow just came across your site, Org Junkie maybe? Anyways, I wanted to let you know you are not alone. I don't have any tips for you because my 1 year old and 3 year old would never take a bottle either. No matter who tried to give it to them they just got more and more upset. I don't mind though because nursing is so much easier, IMO. We started them both on solids at 6 months and Nuby straw cups around then w/ water as well just to play with. My son just turned 1 and will drink whole milk from a cup now but up until last week it was nothing but breast. Good luck! God bless you ;)
ReplyDeleteMy kids wouldn't take bottles with my breast milk in them. But oddly, they would take bottles with diluted apple juice. Go figure.
ReplyDeleteIt did at least give people an option when they were babysitting, so i'm glad they were willing to do the AJ and water.
=)
My kids all took bottles just fine.
ReplyDeleteTEEHEE!
Good Luck!
Oh yes, had a few of these too. Keep trying...eventually she'll either give in or you'll give up. Nice advice, huh?
ReplyDeleteI'm lazy about baby food too...none till they can pick it up and eat it by themselves...with a few exceptions.
My best luck was to use Avent bottles and not be around when someone fed them. Since Corbin is completely bottle fed I'm feeling free right now, but I do miss the experience of breastfeeding.
ReplyDeleteI worked in the infant room of a daycare for 3 years so boy howdy do I know about this one! So I have good news and bad news. The good news is with perseverance and a little inventiveness, every baby I saw eventually took a bottle. The bad news is that there isn't any one magic bullet, every child needed something different. Some things to try that I've seen work are different bottles/nipples, different feeding positions (higher, lower, almost laying flat), different adult positions (sitting, standing, rocking, swaying), different times of the day (baby is wide awake, sleepy, etc, using formula in the bottle instead of breastmilk, distraction techniques (get your older ones to entertain her while you slyly sneak a bottle in her month, or gently tapping on her cheek or forehead while feeding). The one consistency? I agree with all the above, you can't be anywhere near Eve when mission bottle is commencing. Babies are smart little things, they know where the good stuff is! If its available they will accept no substitutes (at least the ones who have issues taking a bottle). Good luck whatever you decide to try!
ReplyDelete