Okay just so you know before reading this- it's about me breast feeding. Some people get freaked out about this subject- so I'm just giving you fair warning.
First of all I have to say that I think it's freaking amazing what a little baby knows to do as soon as they are out in this big bad world. I mean there she was swimming around inside me for almost a year, getting her food from this chord attached to her belly button and then before she knows it- it's time to come out! When she pops out they place her on my chest and she just immediately goes for mother's milk. No one told her what to do or guided her head in the right direction, she just went for it! Seriously if you sit down and think about it, it's just amazing. At least it is to me.
I had no problem with feeding her. The lactation nurse came in for a session and said "well I'm not sure why I'm hear, you seem to have it" It's always been really easy when it comes to feeding her but I'm fully aware that some women have trouble with this, some find it painful and some just don't want to do it. To that I say it is up to each mother to make that decision for their baby and themselves and it's no ones business. I pass no judgement on women who choose to not breastfeed or only breastfeed for a short time. What I think is funny is that I don't care what other mom's do but I have had my fair share of eye's rolled and comments about the fact that I would like to try to breast feed her as long as possible and not use formula.
With that being said, I also like to have a social life and if you're a mom you know that's hard when someone needs you to eat every 2-3 hours, even later on at every 4-5 hours. So from the get go I started pumping so that I could go to Braves Games, Georgia Games, weddings, birthday parties, wedding showers etc... Isabelle was such a good little girl and would easily take the bottle of pumped milk from her babysitters. I never had to worry about her when I was away. It was great!
Then about 2 - 2 and 1/2 months in, she started fussing more and more when people gave her a bottle. Soon she was screaming bloody murder at even the sight of the bottle. The only thing I can think, is that in October UGA had a lot of away games so I was staying home a lot and not giving her the bottle. Whatever it was she was just NOT having that bottle nonsense! I sent out an alert to all my mom friends looking for advice.
Try freshly pumped milk, did that- didn't work.
Try a different nipple type, did that- didn't work.
Try a different bottle- ummm I now have pretty much every type of bottle that target/kroger/babies R us/publix sells- tried all of those- didn't work.
Try sitting her up when you feed her, did that- didn't work.
Try having someone else feed her and leave the house, did that- didn't work.
Try sweetening the nipple with clear caro syrup, did that- didn't work.
Try heating the nipple, did that- didn't work.
I mean seriously ANYTHING and EVERYTHING that was told to me or that I read, I tried. If you would have told me to stand under the full moon naked, singing dixie and holding her to feed her, I would have! Some said maybe she just doesn't want your milk anymore. That was funny because as soon as I came home and put her in my arms she went straight for my jugs! She knew it was mommy and she wanted mommy/baby feeding time!
Slowly I started reading from blogs online that other mothers were experiencing this too. Some friends started having the same problem too. Hearing this actually made me feel better. It made me feel like I wasn't alone. That this wasn't something I was doing wrong- it was just a phase that some babies go through and I was just going to have to deal with it.
We never gave up, in fact I'm still working at it. But slowly she's starting to take the bottle. Yesterday she actually finished a whole bottle!
So now for about 3 months she's needed me to feed her but hopefully soon she will be good with taking a bottle from someone else. The important thing is that I don't give up.
I plan to go back to work in a month and I will still pump but I needed to know she would be ok taking mother's milk from a bottle when I wasn't there to feed her. If she continues the way she's progressing now, I don't think I will have to worry.
So today's blog is for you moms out there that are at your wits end. Mom's out there that are rushing home from a dinner with friends so your baby can eat, or scheduling hair or nail appointments in between feedings- I have news for you... It gets better! You aren't alone, you aren't doing something wrong, you do not have a weirdo baby. Your baby just loves that feeding time with mommy. They love snuggling against you and getting that vital nutrition, they love that bond you two share and they love looking up at you. So if you need to vent- come to me! I'm here for you.
I can say that so far what is working with us is having her in a chair or sitting up. That does work however two months ago, that didn't work for us. She's coming out of the phase and getting older so that's why I think it works now. When breastfeeding it's a snuggling time so if you put them in the same position when trying to give a bottle they might get upset that they aren't getting it directly from you. So try feeding them sitting up. If you don't have a high chair yet, try the swing and adjust it so they are sitting up as much as they can. That's what we've been using as we wait for her high chair to arrive.
Her thrust reflex is slowly disappearing and she's going to be on rice cereal next month which should also help with the bottle.
I let her play with the bottle, I give her just the top to play with, suck on like a pacifier- let her know it's not so scary. Sometimes I put a little bit of something sweet that's clear (NOT honey) to make her suck at it and then I slowly tilt it back.
These are just some things that have worked for me. And out of all the MANY bottles the playtex drop-ins are working so far for us. The others might work too now as she seems to be ending this phase but I don't want to play with what is working now so I've kept using the drop-ins
I love breast feeding her. Don't get me wrong- it can be frustrating when you want to do things and you are stuck at the mercy of the boob and baby. But it's one of my favorite things with her right now. I love knowing that I'm giving her nourishment. I love looking down at the those big beautiful eyes, I love when her little hand wrap around my fingers and I love her little humming noise she makes when eating. Feeding is our special time- something just the two of us share. Again- just amazing what the human body is capable of!
So to all of you mommies out there that are going through this or mommies-to-be that might experience this- You aren't alone!
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