Help with bottle feeding!

[@llli*mommal]

She's too young. Until 6 months, baby should be fed only breastmilk or formula (if breastmilk is not available).

[@llli*maddieb]

with mommal. If you are concerned about wasting your precious expressed milk, remember that there can be (and in fact probably should be) very very little in the cup (or bottle) at a time. You could start with a half ounce or even less.

I think a regular cup might even be easier than a sippy when it comes to avoiding (much) spillage. I occasionally give my 10 month old daughter water with her meals and I use a cup because using a sippy she either cannot get the water out with the spill protector thing in, or gets drenched when we take it out. I use a clear cup so I can see when the liquid is just barely touching her lips.

cup feeding video (taken during lactation consultation so mom is exposed fyi) http://www.breastfeedinginc.ca/conte...me=vid-cupfeed

The same general idea can work with sippy and bottles.

[@llli*zeebaby]

Thanks! A LC also recommended a regular cup too. Some have recommended a shot glass...This is new territory since my older daughter went from bottle to straw cup at 6 months.

[@llli*maddieb]

Sure a shot glass would work well. Small and clear glass or cup works best.

This is a description of how to cup feed written for a dad who was not able to get his baby to take a bottle when mom was at work. This was written by an IBCLC friend of mine:

"Some babies will slurp / lick / lip a soft warm cup of mom's warm milk and find
it interesting ... in my experience, cup feeding works best when bb is alert, happy and playful : )

Gently - slowly - easily touching the cup to babies bottom lip and then smiling
and nodding --- good baby ! slowly take it away and repeat. Its' important to
show baby calm acceptance of his/her willingness to allow the cup to touch the
lip !

Then ... when that is ok w/ baby, slowly tip the warm milk so it touches the
baby's lip or tongue - what ever is there. Avoid pouring milk in ... then,
smile, nod ... see how bb reacts. If it's ok w/ baby, leave the lightly touching
cup resting gently on the bottom lip.

Repeat, with a tad bit more milk seeping onto baby’s lips and tongue. STOP if bb
turns away, arches or otherwise says STOP .

OK ... may have to wait an hour or so before trying again ... No rush, no push,
no sign of urgency .. I know this is hard - very hard - but important to avoid a
resisting baby ... "

I like how she stresses that feedings tend to go better when baby (and caregiver) is not upset but calm and happy. This is also true of bottle feeding and even breastfeeding in many cases...
When mom is first back to work, baby may be distressed. There may not be much calm and happy time for the first few days. But as baby gets used to this new arrangement baby can relax and will probably feed better.

[@llli*karrieperry]

I know it's stressful when a baby refuses a bottle and you are already no doubt stressed enough returning to work! But I promise you, it will be ok. No mother has ever had to quit her job because her baby would not eat. Reverse cycling as djs.mom mentions may happen but that is pretty much the worst case scenario. Baby and your caregiver will figure it out and your baby will be ok.

Also, I suggest, revisit the sippy or even just a small, plain, open cup. the key is to hold baby upright, bring the edge of the cup to baby's lips, and slowly tip the cup so milk is just touching baby's lips, and let baby lap or slurp the milk, a tiny bit at a time, with frequent pauses as baby needs.

Actually my friend did quit her job because her baby wouldn't eat!

She tried everything and nothing worked. I'm sure it's quite rare though.

[@llli*djs.mom]

Actually my friend did quit her job because her baby wouldn't eat!

She tried everything and nothing worked. I'm sure it's quite rare though.

But quitting her job was a choice she made. Even if your child chooses to wait for you (Which is not THAT rare) you don't have to choose to quit your job. Because the baby won't starve because of reverse cycling.

[@llli*maddieb]

Actually my friend did quit her job because her baby wouldn't eat!

She tried everything and nothing worked. I'm sure it's quite rare though.

Ya know, I knew as soon as I wrote that that I was breaking the rule-never say never- especially when it comes to babies!

[@llli*m11612]

Tons of great advice on here! Just thought I'd add that my strange child prefers cold milk. At first she refused the bottle. One time we didn't re-heat and she took it much better. She was about 3 months old at that point. Since then she drinks cold milk from the refrigerator and now (17 months) she mostly prefers frozen milk when I'm working. (she prefers direct from the source when I'm home). She calls frozen milk brrrr. We're ice cream lovers in this family

[@llli*bbbsmama]

So what does one do if baby decides to reverse cycle? You would still pump as you normally would while away from baby, right? Anyone have experiences to share of when their LO did reverse cycle while they went to work?

My DS2 is 4 months and we haven't been good about trying to get him to use a bottle. I guess I am just lazy bc I don't go back to work until he is about 6.5months old.

Thanks!

[@llli*djs.mom]

You just let your baby eat as desired from the time you pick up until morning. It's not ideal because it means more broken sleep for the mother. But the reality of being a breastfeeding mother is that you aren't going to see solid chunks of sleep (like 4hours or more) until after the year point anyway.....which is hard to hear. But even if your child doesn't reverse cycle the chances that your are going to be nursing several times on a work night are about.....99% positive. There are these unicorn babies....that sleep straight thru the night...everyone ELSE has one...but I have never met one IRL...