6 Month Old Starting Day Care - Help

[@llli*alliecat123]

My 6 month old started day care this week. I am not working until January so we are using December as the adjustment period. I am taking him a couple days a week for a few hours a day.

Prior to this week, my baby has only had a couple of bottles. I realize in hindsight that we should have been working on this knowing I would be eventually going back to work, but we did not. Yesterday was his first day and he was there for almost 4 hours. I did feed him right before we left, so he ate when he woke up (6:30 AM) and then top-off at 7:45 AM. I sent 2 2 ounce bottles for him and they gave him one around 10:30 AM and he drank about 1.5 ounces.

Today he was there from 10:30 AM until 3:00 PM. I fed him when he woke up (6:00 AM), before his first nap (8:00 AM) and before we left for day care (9:45 AM). He eats with me usually every 2 hours, so I told them to offer a 2 ounce bottle at 11:45 AM before his nap, and then I had a 3 ounce bottle for when he woke up. He would not eat the 2 ounce bottle and they said 4 people had to try to give him the second one and he took about 1.5-2 ounces finally around 1:30 PM after trying for about an hour. I did nurse him when I picked him up at 3:00 PM and then made sure to nurse him every hour after that until bedtime at 6:30 PM.

Just wondering what else I can do or tell the day care to do to make this go smoother, or if it will just take time? We are using Tommy Tippee bottles and I ordered some different ones off Amazon tonight to see if maybe he will like a different bottle. I am not sure how they are giving it to him. I know yesterday they said that he wanted to hold the bottle himself and didn't want the day care workers to hold it. I believe this - the last time I left him with my husband and a bottle he was holding it himself.

I figure I will keep taking him for the next 2-3 weeks for a few hours instead of full days so that he can work on the bottle. I am also going to have my husband work with him on the weekends. Any advice or tips would be much appreciated.

[@llli*jeno]

A few things off the top of my head:

- Try a bottle w/ a latex nipple. Mine will only take latex nipples.
- You might want to either leave him there longer (5-6 hrs), or not nurse him so close to leaving him there. He's old enough that he might could go 4 hours without nursing w/o problem, esp if he's trying to hold out for the real thing. I wouldn't tell them to try to feed him the bottle at any certain time, just to wait for his hunger cues.
- Is he eating solids at all? Will you be going there to nurse him on your lunch hour once you go back?

[@llli*still.here]

I think the fact that he is taking the bottles (even after an initial struggle) is a positive sign. I'm guessing it will just take a little more time for him to get used to his care-givers and for them to get used to him. You might want to share this article about bottle feeding a breastfed baby to help them learn some tips.

[@llli*mercystreet]

I agree with @Still.Here -- the fact that he is accepting the bottle is really great -- he is just sometimes choosing not to. You can certainly experiment with different bottle brands and nipple types to see if there is something else he prefers. (We tried four brands before finding one ours would take.) But he might just prefer you! (and be willing to wait for it ;-) I suggest giving it time as well. You can feel reassured knowing that he CAN take a bottle if hungry, so he's not going to starve himself. And if he chooses to wait for mom's buffet, then you'll know that he will probably want to nurse more later that day and you can be prepared for possible increased evening/night nursing. It will work out :-) (FWIW, my LO refused the bottle for his first 6 weeks of daycare ... he would eat 2-4 oz spread out over 8 hours! I started calling him "my stubborn little holdout" ... and then one day, it was like he just decided to accept the bottle situation, and ate 12 oz/day from then on out.)

[@llli*alliecat123]

Thanks! I did buy a latex nipple for the Playtex Drop In Nurser and we will try that.

So if he is eating every 2 hours with me, will he stretch longer at day care? He is in the 6 to 9 month old room and I get the sense that most babies start at the day care much younger so the workers in the 6-9 month room are not really used to having to teach a baby to take a bottle. I told them 2-4 ounces every 2-3 hours but that was just me guessing. It's just so hard to see his "cues" these days now that he is 6 months. He eats and sucks on his fingers all the time, and crying/fussiness is not always a sign of hunger for him (especially when I am leaving him at day care and it is an unfamiliar environment).

He is eating some solids but not much - mostly just plays with it.

I can go over there for lunch - I am working from home and the day care center is about 10 minutes from my house. I am not working long hours, though (so that I can pick him up earlier and have more time with him before he goes to bed), so it will be tough to carve out almost an hour at lunch to go over to feed him.

I guess we will just keep trying.

[@llli*bfwmomof3]

The rule of thumb is 1 to 1.5 ounces of milk per hour. So 4 ounces every 2 hours would be too much, and may make it hard for you to keep up with pumping. (Note that he may easily TAKE that much at one time, but that doesn't mean that he NEEDS that much at one time.) You could give them 2 ounce bottles with 1 ounce "toppers" (mercystreet suggested in a previous post to give the topper as frozen milk, so they have to go through the extra step of thawing it). If it seems like he is spacing his feedings every 3 hours, you can give them 3 ounce bottles with 1 ounce toppers.
I agree with PPs, give it time - he'll get there!