Bottle Feeding

When I had Anna I was just so excited to have her stay with us in the room and bring her home with us when we came home that I strictly breastfed her. She ate great and there was no need to supplement with formula at all.

Well once she got 3 weeks old I realized she still hadn't had a bottle so we started feeding her at night with a bottle. She would take forever and still want more when she finished the bottle. So I would top her off then lay her down for the night.

Feeding her at night got frustrating just because it would take her so long and she didn't sleep as long when we would give her a bottle. So we stopped doing it every night and just fed her with a bottle a few times a week.

I went back to work when she was about 7 weeks old. So she had to start eating from a bottle at least 3 times a day (9, 12 and 3). My mom had trouble with getting her to eat. She would take it but would only eat a little bit and then act not interested like she wasn't hungry.

Her nice schedule she was on before I went back to work went out the window. She did something different every day.

Then in the last couple of weeks she got terrible. She would eat a little bit and then be inconsolable.She kept her hands in fists, she would act like she was fine then would get upset. She wouldn't take long naps and would only take cat naps during the day. She was actually a completely different child when she was away from me.

So we started brain storming and decided to try different bottles. I had a playtex drop in bottle with a bunch of the disposable bags. My mom tried those for a couple of days and Anna became a different child. She would eat the entire bottle in one sitting and then be pleasant until the next feeding. She would burp good and be happy after eating.

These bottles are designed to collapse while the baby is eating keeping air from entering into the milk. This is very similar to nursing.

I had messaged my sister in law, Andrea and asked if we could borrow some Dr. Brown bottles. She had trouble with my nephew Nate and those were the kind that worked for him. I tried feeding her the night we got them to see how she would do. She refused to take the bottle with me. This is what I expected but I wanted to see how she would do so Tim tried feeding her with the bottle. She drank the whole bottle with no problem and had no trouble burping.

These are designed to pump the air to the back of the bottle instead of through the milk.

Her trouble is not taking the bottle but drinking from the bottle. She never learned how to drink from a bottle so when she was forced to eat from one she couldn't get a hang of it. She was trying so hard to get the milk that she was sucking so hard and getting so much air. She became so uncomfortable after a few minutes that she couldn't work the air out.

So my advise for nursing mothers is even though you will be nursing doesn't mean that bottles are bad. Actually bottles are a necessity when you return to work or plan on spending any time away from your child. After your child latches on and can consistently eat from you, start bottle training young. If I could do any of this over again I would have supplemented at the beginning just to give her a taste to formula and to get her started on a bottle early.

This problem has caused us trouble. It makes it difficult for people to watch her and have a good time. When one child is screaming and needing attention it just makes the other one upset and want attention.

So glad we figured this out and can now get her on a schedule. She is even happier when she gets home from my parents house. She doesn't have left over gas. She is more rested and wants to play and look around instead of needing to be held the entire time.

Way to go Anna!