So, we gave Anjali her first bottle that evening. It actually went okay. Our son only took a bottle under extreme duress or from my cousin the babysitter. So, we have been scarred from that experience and dreaded giving Anjali a bottle. However, Anjali is quickly earning her title as The Easy Baby and took well to the bottle as well. She sucked down 2 ounces like nobody's business.
It may seem odd that we waited 12 weeks to give Anju her first bottle, but really, we had no reason to hassle with it otherwise. However, in a few weeks I have a social event coming up that I would really prefer to go to sans progeny, so it is best to start with the bottle now.
Here are some tips for giving your baby a bottle. These are my tips, nothing "expert". If you have any to offer, I am most certainly open to ideas.
- Do not wait until the baby is ravenous, begin with the bottle about the time the baby is just getting hungry.
- It is best if someone other than the nursing mother give the bottle. Trust me on this. It is even better if the nursing mother can leave the room.
- When inserting the nipple of the bottle, point it towards the baby's palate to urge/stimulate the baby to suck.
- Try feeding the baby while the baby is sitting in a bouncy chair or highchair. This is the one that will drive grandmothers NUTS because they want to HOLD the baby. However, if a baby is being held while eating, he/she may expect her mother. My husband always had the best luck while our son was in the bouncy chair.
- If possible, borrow nipples/bottles from friends, then you will have a wide selection to test to figure out which your baby takes best rather than investing a chunk of change in one kind.
Here are some other great links for bottle feeding.
Breastfeeding.com
Dr. Sears
BabyCentre UK (Yes, this is the UK site, which I have always preferred to the US site, quite frankly. It is in the "formula" section, but still has good tips for breastfeeders. Particularly someone like me who little experience giving babies bottles)
3 comments:
Excellent post once again. Thanks for sharing. It definately is better if mama leaves the room. I always found that even though I had pumped, the let down would happen all over again. Who knew.
I'm back to work so my pump is now a very close friend again. Andrew is growing fast and therefore a very hungry guy. I'm averaging 7 ounces per pump session and he is taking 5-6 ounces by bottle. I'm still a little in awe that my body can produce just what he needs.
I would add that if you know you are going back to work and the baby will need to be bottle fed regularly, start introducing the bottle early, like around three weeks old. We did this with both our sons and did not have any issues with nipple confusion. I did choose wide nipples that I felt would be more like breastfeeding.
My two wouldn't take bottles or pacifiers no matter what I did. I just waited a few months more and then they took sippy cups.
I'm hoping #3 is a little more accommodating.
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