problems with taking bottles

[juniper]

Hello!

Zoe is 14 weeks old, and we started giving her occasional bottles (a few
a week) of EBM at about five weeks. At first, she took them very well,
but over the last couple of weeks has started playing with the nipple
with her tongue, eating only an ounce or two (and taking an hour or so
to eat that much), fusses a lot, and then when I get home is extremely
fussy and dives for the breast -- and feeds for a long time. She usually
gets the bottle when I'm out for a little while, so that she doesn't
think I'm right there to nurse from. But this hasn't really worked lately.

Any tips on getting her to be better with the bottle? I'm going back to
work next week and am really worried. I'll be able to come home to
nurse most days at lunch time, but she will need the EBM at least two
times during the work day (at the least). For the rest of the year, she
will be home with DH two days a week, with MIL two days a week, and I
will work at home on Fridays.

Thanks, in advance. I love breastfeeding my child, and I hate having to
deal with bottles, but it's a necessity.

- Jennifer from Delaware, who generally lurks but loves the knowledge
here....

[Hillary Israeli]

In >,
juniper > wrote:

*Any tips on getting her to be better with the bottle? I'm going back to
*work next week and am really worried. I'll be able to come home to
*nurse most days at lunch time, but she will need the EBM at least two
*times during the work day (at the least). For the rest of the year, she
*will be home with DH two days a week, with MIL two days a week, and I
*will work at home on Fridays.

You might remember that when I went back to work, Naomi (at about 13
weeks) still was not taking bottles at all... although she ultimately did
decide she would drink a little from a bottle, she never warmed up to the
idea and she ultimately ended up just nursing a LOT MORE after I got home.
I mean, I was only gone a short time - five hours - and ordinarily she'd
have nursed at least two good sessions during that time, but she'd only
take an ounce, maybe, while I was away, and then she'd latch on the second
I got home....

I hope you are able to work things out so it is a little more convenient
for you but worst case scenario is you reverse cycle, right?

--
hillary israeli vmd http://www.hillary.net
"uber vaccae in quattuor partes divisum est."
not-so-newly minted veterinarian-at-large :)

[KarenC]

Jennifer: Neither of my two kids ever took the bottle well. For my first,
I was working full time and was able to nurse him every day at lunchtime.
He would only snack (an ounce or two, maybe twice per day) on ebm the rest
of the time we were apart. Every night was a marathon nursing session - not
only did he nurse immediately when I picked him up from daycare, he would
nurse most of the evening (I would read and watch tv) and then nurse
frequently during the night (we co-slept). Although this might sound like a
bit much, it was a joy after being apart all day, and was pretty doable
because I didn't have other children to tend to. While this schedule
lessened once he started solids at about six months, he always continued to
be an enthusiastic nurser, night and day and would eschew the bottle. I
would freak when I saw the daycare charts of the FF babies - they were
drinking 20-30 oz per day, and my baby was struggling with a few ounces.

For my second, I was only working two days per week, and he followed the
same pattern of taking only snacks from the bottle while we were apart and
making up for it at night. He pretty much refused solids till he was a year
old (quite humorous to go from completely BFed to grilled cheese
sandwiches). He nursed much more at night after a day of us being apart
than the other days, but he always liked to graze.

With my first, I was much more panicked that he wasn't taking much during
the day, but the evidence (good growth, wet diapers, etc.) proved that he
was getting what he needed in the manner he preferred - and if he couldn't
have me during the day, he got me at night. One can't deny that our babies
miss us while we are gone, and that once a baby is an experienced BFer, s/he
usually vastly prefers BFing. I think they do what they do to reconnect
with us. And that's a good thing, IMO.

Good luck to you, and as long as your baby continues to thrive, I wouldn't
worry too much about her bottle rejection.

HTH.
Karen
Mom to two boys, each BFed for two years, and due with another any minute
:-)

> Any tips on getting her to be better with the bottle? I'm going back to
> work next week and am really worried. I'll be able to come home to
> nurse most days at lunch time, but she will need the EBM at least two
> times during the work day (at the least). For the rest of the year, she
> will be home with DH two days a week, with MIL two days a week, and I
> will work at home on Fridays.