Hittin' the bottle
If someone were to randomly ask you how babies eat/drink, I'm guessing your answer would be "from a bottle". Because that's what babies do, right? They drink from bottles. Now that I'm a Mom I can correct this statement. True, most babies drink from a bottle, but not all babies. I know this is true, because I have one of those babies. Cute as she may be, she's very stubborn. I know that my Mom is smiling down on us from heaven, having a bit of a chuckle knowing that I'm getting a taste of my own medicine as I was supposedly also a stubborn baby/child. You can keep you comments to yourself about whether this characteristic has carried on into my adulthood...
Let me start off by saying that I feel incredibly fortunate that breastfeeding has worked for me. I know many women who struggle with it. It always seems like the easiest, most natural thing to do, but then when it comes time to actually feed your newborn, it's not always the easiest thing. Sometimes it just doesn't work. I know many women who had to give up and felt tremendous guilt over it. So I'm thankful. As you can see from our HUGE baby, there's no doubt that breastfeeding is working for us.
Early on, I got lots of advice about bottle feeding. Key points went something like this:
--If you ever want to feed your baby with a bottle (even if it's pumped breast milk), be sure to introduce a bottle early so they don't resist it.
--Don't introduce a bottle too early, before successful breastfeeding is established or else your baby may prefer the bottle and have something called "nipple confusion". Seriously, that's what they call it.
Based on these two concepts, I decided to try a bottle at around 6 weeks of age. I went down to the neighborhood Apotheke and rented a state-of-the-art pump (this is common here as an alternative to buying a very expensive machine you will likely use for only a short period of time). Thinking back to that first time we tried a bottle, I was almost hesitant. This is a big move, I thought. She could potentially love the bottle, start to resist taking the breast, and eventually I'll have to stop breastfeeding and switch totally to bottles, etc. Silly me. Baby is now almost 6 month old, and STILL will not take a bottle!
We've tried everything. We've tried different bottles, different nipples, different flow levels. We've tried pumped breast milk and are now trying formula. At least that way I don't feel so angry and frustrated about throwing out the contents of the bottle! We try almost every single day. Kirk has tried. My friends have tried. Grandma Caril tried every day during her visit. But yet she still won't take the bottle.
Did I mention that we have a stubborn baby?!
Did I also mention that because she won't take a bottle I still have never been apart from her for more than a dog walk or a trip to the grocery store?
Yes, it's true. Our baby is almost 6 months old, and Kirk and I have yet to go out on a date night. I've yet to go out with friends. My friends in my Mom's group all went out for a ladies' night last month, and I couldn't go. Bah humbug. I never would have imagined this would be the situation. So many people have offered to babysit. Oh, how I wish I could take them up on the offer!
Still, I will remain persistent. I remain hopeful. Somedays she does drink a little bit of it, and most days she at least allows it in her mouth so she can play with it (leading to the formula dripping out of her mouth and down her chin). I have a feeling that one day, on her own time, she will gulp the whole thing down. She'll do it when she's ready. From what my Mom used to tell me, that's how I was as a child. I decided to do something new on my own time, when I was ready. So now we know that this little girl takes after her mother. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
Let me start off by saying that I feel incredibly fortunate that breastfeeding has worked for me. I know many women who struggle with it. It always seems like the easiest, most natural thing to do, but then when it comes time to actually feed your newborn, it's not always the easiest thing. Sometimes it just doesn't work. I know many women who had to give up and felt tremendous guilt over it. So I'm thankful. As you can see from our HUGE baby, there's no doubt that breastfeeding is working for us.
Early on, I got lots of advice about bottle feeding. Key points went something like this:
--If you ever want to feed your baby with a bottle (even if it's pumped breast milk), be sure to introduce a bottle early so they don't resist it.
--Don't introduce a bottle too early, before successful breastfeeding is established or else your baby may prefer the bottle and have something called "nipple confusion". Seriously, that's what they call it.
Based on these two concepts, I decided to try a bottle at around 6 weeks of age. I went down to the neighborhood Apotheke and rented a state-of-the-art pump (this is common here as an alternative to buying a very expensive machine you will likely use for only a short period of time). Thinking back to that first time we tried a bottle, I was almost hesitant. This is a big move, I thought. She could potentially love the bottle, start to resist taking the breast, and eventually I'll have to stop breastfeeding and switch totally to bottles, etc. Silly me. Baby is now almost 6 month old, and STILL will not take a bottle!
We've tried everything. We've tried different bottles, different nipples, different flow levels. We've tried pumped breast milk and are now trying formula. At least that way I don't feel so angry and frustrated about throwing out the contents of the bottle! We try almost every single day. Kirk has tried. My friends have tried. Grandma Caril tried every day during her visit. But yet she still won't take the bottle.
Did I mention that we have a stubborn baby?!
Did I also mention that because she won't take a bottle I still have never been apart from her for more than a dog walk or a trip to the grocery store?
Yes, it's true. Our baby is almost 6 months old, and Kirk and I have yet to go out on a date night. I've yet to go out with friends. My friends in my Mom's group all went out for a ladies' night last month, and I couldn't go. Bah humbug. I never would have imagined this would be the situation. So many people have offered to babysit. Oh, how I wish I could take them up on the offer!
Still, I will remain persistent. I remain hopeful. Somedays she does drink a little bit of it, and most days she at least allows it in her mouth so she can play with it (leading to the formula dripping out of her mouth and down her chin). I have a feeling that one day, on her own time, she will gulp the whole thing down. She'll do it when she's ready. From what my Mom used to tell me, that's how I was as a child. I decided to do something new on my own time, when I was ready. So now we know that this little girl takes after her mother. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
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