we first gave the babe a bottle when he was four weeks old. it took a half hour or so, but he eventually drank it happily. a few days later we went out and left him with my parents and he drank two bottles, also happily. and then... everything changed. of course. just a few days after that, he started putting up a fight, and he hasn't willingly drank from a bottle since -- though he has forced down a few ounces here and there with pressure or out of necessity.
he absolutely has to get to a point where he can eat without a breast, because i've gotta go back to work. at first i thought it would just take time, but recently i started to get a little panicked. we were trying a bottle every day with practically no progress or success. i've gotten advice from lots of sources about this issue, and we've tried it all. we've varied the temperature of the milk, the age of the milk, the type of bottle, the type of nipple, who gives it to him, how he's held, the time of day... nothing works. he just seems to be a boob guy.
for your reference, the bottles we have in our house:
Philips Avent - these are the bottles i registered for after a ton of research. now i have a bunch of both the small and large sizes, and my baby seems to hate them.
mimijumi - as you can see, they really look like a breast, but the nipple wasn't as soft as i'd hoped. the babe was not a fan.
nuk -- my mom said these were the ones i liked as a baby, but my baby did not agree.
breastflow -- these have an interesting nipple that is supposed to simulate breastfeeding. it made no difference.
mam -- have one of these, haven't tried it.
Lansinoh Momma - i got one of these for free with something else i bought and tried it on a whim when he wouldn't take the Avent bottle. this was actually the bottle that he did take for a couple of weeks. now he seems to hate it, but i will keep trying just in case he changes his mind.
Tommee Tippee - the word around our neighborhood (and from our new pediatrician) is that these are the best for babies who go back and forth between breast and bottle. the babe successfully drank one on christmas, but then mostly stopped (other than a couple ounces when left alone with my parents). we may go back to it.
Playex drop ins - these nipples go on those old school bottles with the liners that you drop in already filled with milk. i swear they're what babies in the 70s and 80s used, but apparently they're still considered good -- especially for transitioning babies from breast to bottle. i was optimistic when we first tried these and still think they might be "the ones." he drinks a couple of swallows from them before he starts screaming...
it has been an exhausting and stressful few weeks on this front. while all else is going smoothly, this feels like such a big issue that i was starting to freak out. yesterday we had our first visit with a new pediatrician, and he reassured me that my son will not starve to death. first of all, he has some good fat stores going on (75th percentile in weight!!!). but most of all, the doc said babies will adjust when they have to, and when i go back to work it might be a rough couple of days for him but he will almost definitely drink from a bottle. (and if not, there are other options like a cup, a dropper, early use of a sippy cup -- apparently works for some babies -- or just adapting his feeding schedule so he nurses more when i'm home.)
the doctor advised that we lay off of the bottle battle right now. i still have five and a half weeks before i go back to work, so i should enjoy that time with the babe and not stress. the doc says it seems unlikely that he will "ease into" bottle feeding, so we might as well just wait to deal with it when we have to. i am so relieved by this advice! while i know it will likely still create some stress in a month or so, i am so glad to stop making my baby scream his head off for a half hour every day while he wonders why on earth i'm sticking this silicone monstrosity in his mouth.
the doc also said that changing our nursing habits could help. i'm still nursing on demand, which has meant about every two hours during the day and even more in the evening. i know the babe comfort nurses and isn't always that hungry, and his weight at our doctor visit yesterday confirmed that he is eating more than he needs to. the pediatrician suggested trying to extend the time between feedings and also making sure we have other ways to comfort him when he's fussy instead of always offering a breast. if he starts seeing nursing as mostly hunger related and not just bonding time with me when he's crabby he may accept a bottle more readily. i know this will help, so that's my focus over the next few weeks. we may still try a bottle once in awhile, but for now... i'm raising the white flag. to be continued...
UPDATE: April 6, 2013
the magic solution turned out to be a sippy cup nipple. i cannot explain why this made a difference to him, but he started taking it from me -- inconsistently, but with more success than we'd had with any bottle -- even before i went back to work. by the time the nanny was with him full time for two days, he had no issues whatsoever and has been happily taking a bottle ever since. it hasn't impacted his nursing when i'm home, and i think he'd still prefer the breast anytime, but what was the biggest battle of his babyhood thus far was resolved within days as soon as we thought outside the box. i bought the nuk learner cup and i just take off the handle so it looks like a regular bottle with the sippy cup nipple. worked like a charm. they're recommended for six months and older but he started taking it at four months and our pediatrician said it was fine. what a relief.
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