Howdy!
As most of you may know, I am exclusively breastfeeding my little babe, which has been an amazing experience for us thus far. I completely love the bonding and feeling so needed to help him grow and thrive. In order to help prepare for when I go back to work, however, we must introduce Dill to the bottle.
We waited until Dill was over 5 weeks old to introduce the bottle to prevent "nipple confusion." Not everyone can do this if they have 6 weeks or less of maternity leave, but I just personally wanted to in order to be safe. Dill has never taken to pacifiers, so I was incredibly nervous that he would outright refuse a bottle at first.
On Sunday, I expressed 3 ounces of milk and put it in the fridge for when Dave was going to introduce the bottle to Dillinger. Dave was going to introduce the bottle, as babies will sometimes refuse the bottle from their mothers, as they know mom has the real thing. I fed Dill and then Dave warmed the bottle when the time came and Dillinger sucked a little bit, but ultimately refused the bottle. Our goal was to introduce the bottle at least once per day until I went back to work, so we were not too worried. We saved the leftover milk for his bath time since we could not use it for later. On Sunday we did the same thing, but I only expressed one ounce, as to not waste so much milk. Dill drank a little bit, but again, refused from Dave. I tried to give him the bottle and Dill drank most of it, but could not seem to get the last bit out of the nipple. It felt so heartbreaking watching him drink from the bottle that I bawled the entire time he was feeding. Yes, bottles mean freedom for the mother and the ability to allow others to bond and feed with baby, but all I could think of was that he doesn't need just me to survive any longer and he's getting too damn big too damn fast. I know that in the future I will be thankful for bottles so that I can run errands or go out with friends without having to bring the baby, but right now, it's too sad to think about.
Today, we introduced the bottle and he drank 2 ounces between pauses! We started with the Como Tomo silicone bottle, which he does well with, but the nipple is long and he cannot get the last of the milk out. I like the feeling and thinness of this nipple, however. He had less than an ounce left at the end of the bottle, so I put it in the Philips Avent glass bottle that we have. He drank from it, but did not love it. I think that rubber nipple was too fake and thick feeling for him. Finally, after a pause, I put the milk in our Born Free Breeze glass bottle, as it has a shorter, thinner nipple. He drank the rest of the milk, no problem! I am so proud today instead of just sad. He's just amazing and I couldn't be happier to be his mommy.
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| Philips Avent glass 4oz bottle |
We're jut going to continue giving the bottle once per day until he's not showing uncertainty about it and then we may be able to go on a date night and trust that he'll be able to eat appropriately.
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| Como Tomo silicone 5oz bottle |
I am following paced bottle feeding tips, as found on Kellymom.com. I love that website! http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/feeding-tools/bottle-feeding/
There is even a PDF that you can print off for babysitters/caregivers to learn paced bottle feeding to ensure the breastfeeding relationship is still strong despite the bottle feedings that baby is receiving each day.
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| Born Free Breeze 5 oz bottle |
More to come,
Lauren
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