" I don't like the bottle mommy.."
" I love rice!" (maybe it's the Chinese in her...)
I have been periodically trying rice cereal with Ella Reese for the past month on and off. She wouldn't really take to it. But yesterday I offered it to her again and she slopped it right up! I even read somewhere that some babies will take to a sippy cup before a bottle. So I tilted the small cup I was feeding her from and she drank the rest of it,...or sipped it.
I am very glad because she is still not taking the bottle! It is slightly frustrating. We have been trying, it seems like for over a month now, and she will be 5 months on the 8th. I know, we should have tried sooner...We have tried it all. Ryan has tried, I have tried, we have tried before, after and during feedings. BUT, I did have a break through last week. Lately here she is putting everything in her mouth. So last week after a normal feeding I let her hold the bottle and she put it right into her mouth and she took a few sips. She drank maybe half an ounce.
SO, here is my plan of action. Everyday, and I will try at almost every feeding, offer her an once at the end of a feeding. IF she continues to take it, I will increase the amount and offer it earlier in the feeding until I see that she will drink a good amount. I will be helping take photographs for Kim N. 's wedding on January 20th...so that is D-DAY. I will be gone from about 4 pm till late evening and Ryan is watching her.
I am beckoning all mothers out there...do you have any suggestions, ideas or pointers for me?
Dr. Perry told me not to stress about it since I am not away from her for long periods of time consistently. He did suggest, once she took to cereal, to offer half water and half apple juice to get her to take the bottle.
What do you think? All I really want is to be able to leave her and know that she will take it anytime and from anyone. Thoughts???
10 comments:
Whenever I have a question about breastfeeding I go to http://www.kellymom.com/
They have some tips about introducing a bottle. Jacks has never had a problem because I had to pump and give him a bottle when he was 3 days old because I got engorged. Good Luck! I hope this site helps!
ps She is SOO cute!
Lil! i finally found your blog. I've been looking for it but your name didn'tt have a link on the comment you left me and the link on the mullins blog is wrong... but here you are!
A couple of thoughts...
1. Personally, I would steer clear of juice until she's older but I'm kind of particular with my kids about juice and sugary things.
2. have you tried different types of bottles? Dr. Browns is supposed to be nice. I use Avent and my kids take it fine but the nipples are kind of hard. Playtex has much softer nipples and that might be easier for her since she's used to nursing.
3. STICK WITH IT. I rarely left Addy when she was young (and even now - and the same with John Michael) so when I wanted her to take a bottle she all of a sudden refused it. She maybe was around the same age.... anyway - we tried EVERY SINGLE NIGHT and eventually she took it again! She never loved it and I didn't mind b/c I didn't want her addicted to a bottle - I preferred a sippy cup for her - but it was definitely a nice option for me to leave her if i needed to.
4. What stage nipple are you using? She may not like it because it isn'tt coming out fast enough or because it is coming out too fast. It something to consider.
5. Is she on a schedule? If she is - try feeding her the bottle about 20 minutes before she is scheduled to eat. If she is starving she isn't going to want to try something new - she's only going to want what is familiar and fast. That might be why she took the bottle after she was done eating last time - b/c she wasn't desperate for food.
Wow. i'm opnionated. :) hope SOMEthing in there is helpful!!
Looking forward to meeting your sweet doll soon. Send Ryan and Ella a big howdy from us!
those are all great suggestions!
michelle,
I was a little leary of the juice thing too.
I have tried diff bottles. I have a vent-aire playtex systems, tried avent, tried something weird called natural flow( i think) where the nippple has a lot of holes and opens only when sucked on,, and i have a first year's one that i am using now that the nipple is really soft. it is suppose to mimic a breast...it is really weird looking. It has two nipples that go inside each other.
Actually just yesterday I was giving her rice ceral and i decided to experiment with all the sippy cups we have. She didn't like the sippy cups that were no-spill. The ONLY thing she would drink from was a cheap sippy cup that did not have a no-spill thing on it...she looked like a baby bird with her mouth open wanting more of the rice ceral-which i only used water with it. And she would drink it from a normal cup. SO at least i know now could leave that sippy cup and rice ceral. But i will still try the bottle. The no-spill sippy cup made a mess!
Did you find that giving her the bottle at night was the best? And did she only take it from johnny?
I will try that 20 min before feeding..And she is on a schdl.
I am using a stage 2 nipple right now. maybe i should look to get one where the milk pours out-since she took to that sippy cup.
thanks michelle!
np! Yah, it sounds like she likes the ones where the milk "pours" out because she doesn't like to work for it! haha. That's funny because nursing is way more work than bottles anyway.
keep experimenting Lil - something is bound to work if you're persistent!
I didn't find that Addy preferred bottles at any particular time of day or from any particular person... but I have definitely heard that sometimes a baby won't take one from her mom.
Also, Addy didn't care for the sippy cup at first either ( I used Avent ) so I just gave it to her every single day several times a day with watter in it and let her play with it. Eventually she figured it out and drinks out of them as well as the NUBY cup now. Have you tried a NUBY cup? It has a silicone top and might double as a bottle if you needed it to. A lot of kids love it.
Good luck!!
Hey Lillian. Ella Reece came with Ryan to drop off the stuff to Clifton and I was there and man is she cute! She was so content sitting in her car seat. I hope you had a great time at Babies R US.
Also, I tried the link on our page and It works on my end. Can you get to from our blog?
the link just worked for me jan - maybe i was having a weird internet connection...?
Lil, I use a Canon digital Rebel. It was a birthday gift from Johnny, my parents and his parents. I had the 35 mm version so I only needed to buy the body. I love it.
The sling was made by a friend of mine. She makes them for $30. If you ever decide you want one let me know. I'm giving one to Em as a baby gift.
Hey Lil!!
When can you come over and have a play date? My boys liked the standard Dr. Brown and Playtex vent aire. When I was nursing I would try to slip in the bottle and vice versa if they were rejecting one. Happy New Year!
Love ya,
Fran
Lillian,
It is so fun to read your blog - i really rarely read blogs or even comment but I am so reminded of God's faithfulness in your life! I remember all our talks years ago about you & Ryan and seeing you get married, buy a home, have a beautiful baby! WOW! Amazing love - I am thankful for you and Ryan and Ella Reese is too adorable! I enjoy your blog,
Allison
Hey Lillian. I've a picture of Ella Reece on our blog.
http://babytalk3.blogspot.com
Sorry I spelled Ella Reese's name wrong!
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