So our latest issue with the little guy (why use the word 'problem'?) is bottle-feeding. If you remember, we had some breastfeeding problems the first week of his life so we had to give him formula. At that time, he immediately took the bottle, no problem. And then he easily switched back to the breast. Before Jack was born I knew I wanted to pump so that John could take some turns feeding him and eventually we could leave him with a babysitter to, you know, maybe have a dinner that lasts longer than 10 minutes. Forget actual individual luxuries like haircuts and massages. I know those are out the window but I would like to hang out with my husband one on one at least once in the next 6 months.
Anyways, that was my plan. Pump so that we could use a bottle when necessary. Then I actually had a baby and started using the pump and guess what? Pumping sucks. And it's incredibly hard to find time to do it when you're holding a baby all day. But I have pumped and have a small frozen stash. Now, around week 5 I thought about trying to give him a bottle but things got in the way and it just seemed like a hassle. Besides, he had taken a bottle week 1 so it wouldn't be a problem. WRONG. Last week we tried to give him a bottle and he rejected it. Big time. Like, 'how dare you try to make me suck on this'. We've tried all different things...me giving it to him, John giving it to him, him in our arms, him in his bouncy seat, different bottles and nipples, etc. He rejects all of them. I suppose I should have seen this coming since he refuses to suck on a pacifier. Our next step is to have John take a day to just keep at it. Not give up after 3 minutes like we usually do. Which sounds terrible and hard. And I think he'll just get more and more upset and refuse to take it. We'll see. The worst part of all this? The damn waste of pumped milk. Every time I thaw a bag and he refuses to drink it I weep as I pour the milk down the drain and think of that crappy 20 minute pump session.
One of the best things I ever did was feed Johnny AND pump at the same time. A little cumbersome, yes, but I could get double the milk in less time than if I did it by myself. I'd put the Boppy sideways, put Johnny in the "football hold", strap the pump on the other breast and let Johnny do his thing. Since he'd stimulate my let down naturally, the whole thing was so much easier and faster. IF you haven't tried it yet, you should. Your double pump should be able to be used as a single so you have all of the equipment necessary. Then your stash will be a little larger and you only have to worry about getting Jack to take it...
ReplyDeleteI had exactly the same problem with Simon - he refused to take the bottle for a while. Eventually, he took it regularly with no problem, but I think we let it go for a while before trying it again, since we didn't really need him to take the bottle until I went back to work when he was 6 or 7 months.
ReplyDeleteOnce I spilled a bottle of breast milk that I had just taken thirty minutes to pump. You can imagine the cursing you could probably hear halfway down the block. Brings new meaning to crying over spilt milk!
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