 Ask
Roxanne
Hi there,
I have a 3.5 month old baby
boy who is completely breastfed. However, I am going back to full-time
work in about 2 months time. I would really love to continue breastfeeding
my baby for much longer (hopefully 1 year).
The trouble is, my baby now
flatly refuses to take any expressed milk from a bottle. We have tried
this several times, and each time, his wailing is so distressing that we
haven't got the heart to carry on and I end up breastfeeding him. I
realize that I will have to get him used to this sooner rather than
later.
When should I start
'training' him in earnest with the bottle -- or should I go straight to
the cup instead? And when can I safely start using the cup to feed him?
By the way, I thoroughly
enjoy your website. It's informative, friendly and unselfish. I've also
bought some of your t-shirts which are great, please keep me informed of
the spring/summer collection of clothes, those will be most useful to me
in sunny and hot Singapore. Keep up the excellent work. Ping
Dear Ping:
Well, this is a very common
question. Be not afraid, as countless babies, when faced with the sight of
a fake rubber nipple on a bottle of watery-looking milk offered by their
sweet-smelling mama whose milk delivery system is *right there* just
behind the $%^#@ bottle, snubs the thing and wails mightily. And who would
blame him? There are a couple keys to the situation.
One is,
just relax. He needn't ever take a bottle from you. And even if he never
takes a bottle from anyone, he will not starve. I can almost guarantee
that. They do have a survival instinct, you know.
Two. Even
preemies can drink from cups or droppers, bypassing bottles entirely. Now,
it takes longer, and the caregiver can't just prop a bottle and walk away,
but that's not your problem. While cradling him in a sitting up position,
your caregiver (or his dad) can put a cup to his lips and tilt until a
little milk hits the target. He'll eventually go, "hmm, that's good" and
let the tipping continue.
Three. By
the time you go back to work, he'll be able to go longer between nursing
sessions. He may turn out to be a kid who flatly refuses all nourishment
not from your body. Still, not a problem. You may have to spend lunch hour
speeding home to nurse, or someone can bring him to you for the noon
snack. Either way, he'll make up the difference when you're home.
Remember, breast milk is a big supply and demand item, and he'll demand
enough to make himself full, don't worry.
Four.
Here's what you were really looking for, info on how to "get" him to take
a bottle. I just needed to tell you all the other stuff so you wouldn't
panic. You'll notice that in my other tips, I never said that "you" should
do anything with the bottle. It's gonna be up to someone without a milk
supply to offer the bottle when you are not even in the house (they can
smell your presence) and see how it goes. Tell them (hubby?) to offer
before they get wailing, or it's just gonna be ugly. Maybe squeezing out a
drop of milk so that baby can tell what's inside the strange bottle will
help, too. But it's definitely not something you should try to do. It
pretty much is guaranteed to not work. What if you were all geared up for
a night of romance with your husband and he offered you a giant blow-up
version of himself? Close, but not cigar, not while he's right there
watching World Cup Soccer or something on tv.
So go easy on yourself, and
on baby. One last, unsolicited tip -- try to schedule your first day back
at work for midweek, so that you guys only have three days on the new
schedule before you get a weekend of non-stop nursing (be prepared for
that, just in case he needs to feel secure that you really do exist). Good
luck!
Regards,
Roxanne
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