HELPPPPPP!!!!!!!! - Bottle feeding

Hillbilly Housewife wrote: Ok - some of you know I have to go back to work early - well we just found a sitter - she just called, she can take Naomie, and she isn't that much farther than our other sitter - we're meeting her this afternoon - guess I can't go to the gym!! lol - doh - it's only 1:15...

anyways...

Naomie hasn't taken to the bottle. We've been trying, believe me... the night my mom and grandmother came to babysit, they hhad to give Naomie my pumped milk out of a small plastic medecine cup because she absolutely refused the bottle.

I have 7 ounces pumped at the moment - and that's from one day of pumping while Naomie is feeding. I'm not able to pump much.... it just doesn't WORK!!

Anyways - we're meeting with this sitter this afternoon - she can start as early as next monday... which means I basically have 1 week to get Naomie to take a bottle. My supply is SOOOO going to decrease if I can't start pumping more... helpppppp!!!!

ETA: she also refuses to take a pacifier.....

PrairieMom replied: I'm sorry, I'm not going to be much help. I never had a problem with this. Have you tried a different type nipple? The baby I used to babysit was the same way, she just refused to bottle for anyone. the only way her father could do it was to lay her on her changing table and just hold the bottle up for her. Good luck.

coasterqueen replied: If she won't talk to a bottle don't stress. I know, that's easier said than done . Megan wouldn't for quite some time and then all of a sudden took to one. It just meant she held out til I got home from work and then she'd nurse all evening/night. Naomie won't starve not nursing all day, trust me. Megan did just fine. My sitter would feed her from a dropper a bit at a time when Megan seemed interested and I'm sure your sitter can do the same for Naomie. There's nothing wrong with 'cup' feeding until she does get used to the bottle. Some babies, like my niece, NEVER take to the bottle. My SIL would just come home on her lunch hour and nurse Kirsten and other than that Kirsten never got milk/food until SIL got home, then she'd nurse all evening.

To be honest Megan still only takes about 6 ounces a day at the sitter and then nurses several times in the evening/night time. I send 12 ounces. 9 times out of 10 she will only take 6, but a day here or there she'll take 9 or 12, but it's rare.

As far as pumping, when are you trying to pump? How is her sleep schedule? If you can answer those maybe I can give you some help. Oh also, what type of pump are you using and how long are you pumping for?

Kaitlin'smom replied: Kait refused a bottle till she was about 6 months when she finnaly took to the playtex nurser after trying EVERTHING, thankfully the sitter worked with me I would take her to the sitter, nurse her, go over on my lunch hour and nurse her then she woudl nurse a few times in the evening, once she got used to this it was not a problem. The sitter would try on occasion a bottle with expressed milk but she would never take expressed milk so she occasionly got formula plus like you I was not good at pumping hardly ever got anything out. I know now that it was partly the pump and party me, I just did not try very hard. If I were to have another one there are lots of thing I would do different when it comes to that.

Try not to stress over it case she WILL pick up on it, just relax and honestly your DH is gonna have to be the one to work with her more than you.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I pump almost everytime Naomie eats. She only feeds about 5 - 10 minutes at a time, sometimes but rarely longer. I can hardly pump anything if she's not at the other breast. I pump as long as I can express - I've tried all lengths of time. I've gotten a 2nd letdown only once - and that's because I kept the pump on for 20 minutes, even after she stopped eating. My boob would sure had felt better if I'd just waited the 20 minutes, and tried then...

It's a "first years" electric pump. I'm soon going to have an Isys pump (thanks Julie! )

Her sleep schedule sucks - she doesn't really have one. She sleeps when she is tired, and that's usually ON me. She wakes up if i put her down. She does sleep frpm abput 12:30am to 11am, wakes up 2 or 3 times to nurse.

amynicole21 replied: Nora refused a bottle and was fed by spoon for a few days at daycare. She finally gave in and took the bottle. Sophia held out longer, but like Karen said, she just made up for it at night.

7oz while she's still nursing all day is really good! That means more than 14oz if she wasn't nursing, right? Nora, my chunky monkey, never ate more than 12oz a day at daycare.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I'm not sure i understand waht you mean.... do i pump 14 ounces if she's not nursing? havren't tried....

i'm just worried because my other 2 seemed to eat a lot more at daycare.... but they had formula in bottles as well as nursing right from birth...

coasterqueen replied: I agree the amount of ounces you are pumping is GREAT. What I did if I didn't have enough milk to send the next day is get up in the middle of the night and pump while Kylie (don't have to do this with Megan obviously) nursed the other side.

The Isis is definitely a better pump so maybe you'll get more w/it. But in all honesty you are getting a very good amount.

amynicole21 replied: If she wasn't nursing while you pumped, you'd be pumping both breasts and getting double what you get now, right?

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I have no idea, I've never tried both breats at once.... i have only a single pump....

but i have a really hard time pumping when she's not nursing... only a few "squirts" lol so i'm not sure - i'll have to try it sometime!

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
I'm glad... that makes me feel much better. I on't know why I have this impression I should be pumping like 24 ounces a day...

coasterqueen replied:
Well that might be the case IF you weren't nursing at all .

Also, when you go back to work you will pump both breasts at each sitting. If you are at work for roughly 8/9 hour day you would pump 3 times a day both breasts at each time. Roughly pumping at 10, 1, 4 something like that. Those were my pump times when I was pumping for Kylie and my work hours were 8:30 to 5 pm. She was nursed right before I'd leave for work at about 7:45 am so the rule is every 3 hours at the most.

With Megan I have way too much oversupply and she only nurses for survival so I only have to pump 1 breast each pump session and get 12 ounces. With Kylie, like I said, it was both breasts at each session getting about 16 ounces. This was give or take. Edit to add that my pump times with Megan are more like 10:30/11 am - 1 to 2 pm - 4 pm. I'm a bit off with her times than I was with Kylie.

AF will also play a HUGE roll in what you pump, at least for me it always has. I take a calcium/magnesium supplement during ovulation and AF to help counteract the dip in supply.

kit_kats_mom replied: As always, great advice from the gurus.
Just wanted to add that Dr sear's site has tips on getting a BF baby to accept a bottle & other options for if they don't.
Neither of my girls ever took a bottle. They both started avent sippys at 3 mos (they make them for 3 mos+). K wouldn't take anything but watered down apple juice so all of my pumped milk went to waste but she was able to survive if I had to leave for a few hours.

Hillbilly Housewife replied:
Hmmm. as it is, she nurses about every 90 minutes.... so should i still only pump every 3 hours or so? or should i contionue every 90 minutes? I have my own office with a locking door... so it won't be a problem...

i haven't gotten AF back yet...!I had it by now with the other kids I think...

Sippy cups for 3 month olds? I'll have to look into that...

PhiMuMommy replied: they make bottle nipples that are nipple shaped and "feel" like real nipples.. also try holding her really really close and turning her so she faces the breasts.. or swaddle her tightly..

maybe one of those will work..