Before I had Estelle, I never imagined it would be a struggle to get her to drink from a bottle. Last Friday, she refused to take a bottle the entire 7 hours that my in-laws had her. So, we've decided we need to get her used to taking the bottle.
Day 1
*My first attempt at feeding Estelle with a bottle. She refused and cried... a lot. After a while, I handed her over to TJ where she cried some more while he tried. Clearly, she did NOT want a bottle and was mad at us for trying. We did not give in. She managed to swallow an ounce or so between all her crying and fit throwing.
*For our second attempt we were at Jame's house. She still refused and fussed quite a bit. Since it was getting late and we were with friends, I went ahead and nursed her a little to calm her down.
*Before leaving James' house, I tried to feed her one last time. This time she drank a little before fussing and managed to get about an ounce, just enough to keep her happy until we got home and I could nurse her to sleep.
Day 2
*After a couple sucks and swallows, she realized I had given her a bottle and began to cry. She cried and fussed for 15 minutes or so. It got to the point that she was too upset for me to even try anymore. She was kicking her legs and screaming. I simply could not get her to sit still so I laid her in her crib and let her cry for a while. When she'd calmed down a little, I picked her up and tried again. This time, the same as before she sucked for a second before realzing it was a bottle and then began the crying again. After an hour and a half of crying occasionally interrupted by short breaks she finally managed to drink about an ounce and a half from the bottle. Afterwards, she slept for almost three hours.
*This time I caught her when she was just bearly waking from a nap. She was not fully awake but obviously hungry so I got her bottle ready and gave it another try. This time she cried as soon as she saw the bottle, but shortly after I put it in her mouth she gave up crying and began drinking... gulping really. She finished the bottle off in less than a minute and cried when it was empty. I quickly pumped some more milk, but by the time I finished she was no longer interested in eating. I saved the new milk for later.
*TJ managed to feed her a little when he got home from work. She took an ounce or so, with a little fussing.
*At my parents house she fussed a little when I tried to feed her. I got her to eat just enough to keep her happy until we got home where I nursed her to sleep.
Day 3
*I nursed her for her first feeding of the day because I wasn't home and didn't have a bottle with me.
*She took the bottle without even a whimper this time.
*Nursed her again because I was at work and didn't have a bottle.
*Brought a bottle along to church in hopes that a nursry worker might be able to feed her. The nursery worker could not get her to take the bottle, but when I tried, she took it right away. She might have been upset that it wasn't me giving it to her.
2 comments:
I haven't bought one, because well I never go anywhere where I'm not with Emilie, but they do sell SNS (supplemental nursing systems) for babies who don't take bottles- or I"ve heard of syrienge feeding or even cup feeding if she gets desperate...If I had to be away from Emilie we'd probably do that- its just a few months left before cup time begins though...
It's been forever since I've checked your blog, Larissa! Sounds like you're doing a great job of parenting! Babies and children have a reputation of surprising us parents! We never know what we'll be having to deal with next, or when! Guess that means that we're not bored for long! Love ya, Esther/Mom/Grammy
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