Leah is currently waging a battle against her bottles. My little protester! That's right Leah, damn the ma- , Oh wait this is a bad thing. Since last week, Leah has been refusing to take a bottle. Which means on the two days she is with my MIL, she doesn't eat the entire 9 hours that I am gone. Well, my MIL tries to get her to drink, but it's probably only an ounce or so that she'll get down. Brian has even come home during the day to help try, but to no avail.
I spoke with our Pediatrician as well as consulting Dr. Google and they both said there is not a whole lot I can do, and then they both made the same points:
1. Babies will not starve themselves. She is not smart enough to be so stubborn as to put herself in serious danger. Is it good for her not to eat? Of course not, but she will be okay.
2. Eventually she will forget why she is not taking the bottle, and eat like normal again.
3. She will soon be on solids, so if she is not drinking by then she will at least have that.
She nurses perfectly with me, so on the days that I am at work, I only pump once instead of two to three times, that way I am extra full for her when I get home. Uncomfortable, but ready to oblige her growling little tummy. I usually pump every night about 3-4 hours after she's gone to bed, but I will skip it on the nights before I work that way her morning feeding with me is extra plentiful as well. At first I wondered if I should just go home on my lunch breaks to feed her, but our pediatrician just said that would only reinforce her not having to take a bottle...
I've read that changing the bottle/nipple can be helpful at times. But it only works about 40-50% of the time . I have been using Dr. Brown glass bottles, which worked PERFECTLY until recently. I went shopping yesterday, and found the nipple on the Tommie Tippie bottles to be the most different looking compared to the Dr. Brown. I'm disappointed that they only come in plastic with no glass alternative. But I'm sort of desperate at this point. So I'll give this a shot. She's home with my MIL right now, so I should know in a few hours whether it worked or not.
My poor MIL has tried a lot of different things to help. She tried feeding her in different positions - Leah sitting up, laying down, on her side. She's tried feeding her on my nursing pillows. Still with no luck. So today she is going to take one of my night gowns with her when she feeds her to see if that will help.
Any other suggestions, homies?
4 comments:
Your MIL is so sweet for trying so many things for Leah! I've heard good things about the Tommie Tippie bottles, but a friend of mine used Breast Flow bottles with her baby that refused bottles, and it helped as well. How about sippy cups? Or even regular cups? Maybe your MIL can hold a cup up to Leah's mouth and she'll drink?
I hope Leah figures this out soon! And no, she will not starve - she'll just eat more and more from you in the evening and nighttime.
Hi there. Maybe Leah would get a bit of a thrill from trying to hold her bottle herself? My daughter is 6 months old, and for a couple of weeks, has been particularly pleased with herself when she tries to feed herself. I help her a bit by holding the bottom when she gets tired. She breastfeeds morning and night.
Ugh, some babies are just reverse cyclers...and often times, there isn't much you can do about it. Do you follow Natalie? Her son Jack pulled this ...well, for months and months. Maybe email her for advice!
http://pajamasarecomfy.wordpress.com/
My other advice would be to check out kellymom.com if you haven't already. Good luck!
Maybe she's just ready for something different from MIL and only milk from Mommy! Meaning...maybe some rice cereal from MIL? I really have zero experience with this, my poor kiddos had to take milk from whoever would give it to them and they never refused a bottle. I hope you figure something out!
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