Okay, so i have a question for all of you out there, here it is... I have a 4 month old baby who is ebf. I went back to work full-time in november. My daycare providers had been giving her a bottle(breastmilk) which she is very difficult to give in the first place, all she wants is me. Well over this past week she has absolutely refused a bottle, i have tried every bottle out there, even went to babies r' us yesterday to get one that I had read so many good reviews online about, anyway she was home with my husband today, and took absolutely nothing, my sister and brother in law came over to help, and she still took nothing.(over 9 hours) How do i get her to take a bottle, she gives my mom the worst time on mondays, and I don't know what to do. How do I get her to take a bottle when I am not home? I love breastfeeding, but can't be around 24/7, I am afraid to hire a babysitter for a nite out. I had to leave work on wed to go feed her, just so she had something in her tummy. Also, from what daycare has told me is that she isn't always screaming looking for food, mostly content and sleeps all day, with my mom she screams all day. Is it possible that she will refuse to eat and can wait till I get home at nite, my workdays are anywhere from 8-10 hrs long. Please help, looking for any advice you are willing to give.
S.:
I see this a lot in my practice and have done a number of consults for this. The first step is understanding why she won't take the bottle.
There are also other alternatives - cups, spoons, specialty feeders,,, it all depends on what will work
P., RLC, IBCLC, CST
Lactation and Parenting Solutions
www.lactationsupportgroup.com
It's not uncommon for babies to "reverse cycle" when their mother is away. Your baby prefers the breast so she just waits. When a baby sleeps through the night they can go 8-10 hours without eating adn this is waht she is doing when you are at work. Here is a link to the Kellymom page that talks about it: http://www.kellymom.com/newman/17feed_baby_working_moms.html
It's totally normal. Good luck with everything.
Dear S.,
Hope the info helps a little...I am the mother of four grown children and the Grandma of three... I've been
caring for the three since they were born and they also have a Mom who is pumping at work, while I bottle feed at home.
I had success with Dr. Brown's bottles with two of the children but had to search elsewhere with the third. Have you tried the Adrini bottle? You can read about the company by going to "Google". The company was /is very small, but consistantly sells out whatever they produce. A daughter took over the company after her father passed away and has done wll with it.The bottles are not inexpensive therefore I would recommend buying one first to see if it works. They come in three different "grades" depending on your baby's needs and age. Google Adrini and it will come up in a list of bottles or just google Adrini.... you will not find them in stores.
I would be more concerned about a baby who is sleeping so much in daycare. Are they getting her up and holding/rocking her even if she is asleep? At four months she needs to be eating and getting visual stimulation and interaction with her caregivers.
Good luck to you... you are certainly juggling alot!
I have been nursing and bottle feeding my little one. This is just a thought but maybe she is used to your smell or something? Maybe if you have a shirt that you might wear over night and give it to your mom and when your mom feeds her have it laying on her close, with the bottle?? Just a thought??? Im sure anything wuld be good to try.
My mom had a similar problem so I decided to pump from day one. One thing that our nurse did in the hospital was put some breast milk on the nipple? Have you tried feeding her from the bottle at home? We use Dr. Browns bottles and the level one niple but Im not sure how the bottle has a great deal to do with it. Sometimes I think its just the feeling the baby gets of cmfort and the smell etc.
Hi S.,
I feel your pain. My sweet little boy did the same thing around 4 months. He just flat out refused to eat when I wasn't there.
2 things really helped us (although it was not an overnight resolution). The first was the bottle. We used Dr Brown's wide neck bottles. There was something about the wideness of the bottle that seemed to be similar to breastfeeding. The other thing was what Megan suggested . . .a piece of cloth that I put between myself and the baby whenever I nursed him. What we used was a lovey (it is a Taggie, if you know what that is, but I am sure that any piece of cloth that is soft would work).
So, I put it near his face when I nursed him and then I actually slept with it to get more of my scent. My little guy also gave my mom the hardest time, but my husband got a lot of it too. Once we started using the Taggie, my mom would hold that near his cheek when she fed him with the bottle.
I hope this helps and your sweet little girl starts taking a bottle soon!
B.
I breastfed both or my boys and had to bottle feed while at work. The bottles that worked best for me were the Playtex bottles with the drop in liners. The nipples are more like the breast. Any nipple you use make sure it's Stage 1 or slow flow!
