PS Mommy Thread-Newborn to 12 months!

[meresal]

Mara, thanks for the input. I'm really not sure what might have changed. Nothing more than him getting older. The only weird thing going on right now, is that he wont take naps during the day without nursing himself to sleep, and this is as of the last week. I just happened one day. No clue why. He stopped taking his paci as well. It used to put him to sleep, but now he just wants boob. The other problem that creates, is that he only nurses for like 5 minutes and then passes out. Which means he isn't full, and this leads to a ridiculous schedule of "snacking" about every hour and a half, and only eating for about 5-10 minutes each time. If that.

The only problem with using the bottle when I am there, it that I hate to give him formula when I could just nurse him. Ya know? We use the bottles for when we want to go out, or I have some time away. (I don't produce enough to pump BM for bottles.) Maybe we need to make his last meal of the night a bottle and DH should give it to him? Maybe we should try and get him used to that. Then I can just pump that feeding instead and use it the following night in the bottle?

I feel like I shouldn't be there though. I worry that me being "away" is the problem, it's not the bottle or the formula.

 

[Mara]

It could just be a phase he's going through as well. One of my friends was BF with some bottle supplement and she said one week her 7mo old rejected the bottle entirely and would only take boob and then like a month later did the same thing but opposite ... then back to normal again.

You could try giving him a bottle to start...see how he reacts with YOU feeding him a bottle (since Mom normally gives him boob). Then maybe have DH give him a bottle with you there. Then a bottle without you there. Or you can take larger steps--one of my friends had to be gone from the house for her son to take a bottle from her hub, if she was in the house the baby would smell the milk and cry for her. Or just try the same thing (DH feeding him bottle) again tomorrow night while you hide out at a local coffee shop or around the corner or something. It might have just been a fluke.

Since we did not do total EBF without some bottle (I'd pump ... and I also supplemented)...I always tried to have Greg give him at least one of his bottles if not more...that way he never got used to just me doing all the feeding. Again could just be a phase!

 

[drk]

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. Had really long workdays last week, then FIL is visiting and I couldn't do much posting in the evenings.

Ginger - I agree, K is growing up way too fast! She's sitting really well already, trying to take stuff off our dinner plates or pull things off the table. Guess crawling is next.

Mere - I agree with Mara to just keep trying. It took us a week or so of continually trying the bottle to get K to take it when I went back to work. Even now, when she gets really upset, we have to calm her down first by taking her outside or walking around with her before she'll take the bottle (and we know she's starved). Sometimes solids will distract and take the edge off before the bottle.

AFM - eczema seems to have reared its ugly head now. Things aren't pretty behind those little knees. Not sure what to put on it at this point.

 

[ljmorgan]

I hear you on bottle refusal. Yesterday was my first day back to work and by lunch time, my kiddo had only taken half an ounce! Luckily in the afternoon he took a few more ounces. Hopefully today will go better. For the breastfeeding mamas who pump and bottle feed, how many ounces do you give in each bottle? The rule that I keep reading is 1-1.5 ounces an hour. When I'm home he nurses every two hours in the day, so if my husband offers 3 ounces every two hours, does that sound like enough for a 15 week old?

 

[gingerB]

lindsey - that sounds reasonable. what i did was i had reserve. so i made 3 oz bottles that were offered. if A still was hungry, they could take more from the reserve. if he wasn't as hungry, the nice thing about breast milk is you can put it back int he fridge for the next feeding, so it wasn't wasted. i had the person feeding him keep a log of when and how much -- after a few days a pattern emerged and i would use that to guide me on how much to make.

drk - hello little miss diva! what a cutie boo about the eczema -- is it bothering her? what did the ped say? i think you're supposed to super moisturize the area -- for adults we would recommend eucerin or aquaphor; esp applying at night and covering the area to let it really sink in.

mere - i agree with mara. def keep trying until something sticks. these kiddos change from, well it seems like minute to minute, and def not in a linear fashion. i have a feeling deuce'll go back to his back and forth after a bit of time.

mara - i hear ya on the guy giving up more easily. and literally lol on the window of oppurtunity. when DH feeds him, he gives these little bites, then wonders why the kiddo doesn't finish and is hungry later. me, i do the shovel in whatever i can anytime i see those little lips open . i never force it, but i def take advantage. most of the time he tastes the food on the spoon and is like "oh yeah! i'm hungry and this tastes good!" which booster seat are you using? A's been in his booster seat for a while and i t works so well i'm hesitant to bring out the high chair. and i've been thinking about puffs also. A LOVES feeding himself. i usually give him 2-2.5 oz feeding him with a spoon, then will give another 0.5-1 oz frozen or via the fresh food feeder. he gets sooooo excited when i bring out the feeder -- grunting and wiggling and staring me down until i hand it over i figure he'll enjoy puffs. when is a good time or what is a good signal that it safe to start?

i tried giving A the sippy cup. FAIL. he only wants to drink from a real cup which obviously one of us has to help him with. and is a MESS. i guess i gotta keep trying other brands until i find one that works. cheap entertainment? ha!

 

[fieryred33143]

I hear you on bottle refusal. Yesterday was my first day back to work and by lunch time, my kiddo had only taken half an ounce! Luckily in the afternoon he took a few more ounces. Hopefully today will go better. For the breastfeeding mamas who pump and bottle feed, how many ounces do you give in each bottle? The rule that I keep reading is 1-1.5 ounces an hour. When I'm home he nurses every two hours in the day, so if my husband offers 3 ounces every two hours, does that sound like enough for a 15 week old?

Sounds reasonable to me. At that age, Sophia was only taking in 3oz every 3 hours. Hope your first week back goes well! He'll pick up on the bottle eventually.

Ginger-Have you tried one with a straw?

 

[drk]

Lindsey - I went back to work at about 16 weeks. We started out trying to give 3oz every 3 hours, but it turned out she actually wanted 4-5oz every 2.5-3h during the day. And then she'd sleep 10h through the night. She's definitely not satisfied after only 3oz these days, nor was she then. That's partly why I gave up on BF - she was distracted and not drinking well, frustrated by my poor flow and the volume she was getting, and she did much better when I'd exclusively pump and just give her bigger bottles less frequently. It allowed her to get into a better eat-activity-sleep schedule/routine too.
I agree with Ginger too about getting extra ready ahead. We'd either make a 4-5oz bottle and save whatever was leftover for the next meal, or we'll start with 3oz and add an extra 1oz at a time to that bottle if she's still hungry. Hope A takes to the bottle better today!

Ginger - we haven't taken her to the doc yet, as we've really started noticing it in the last week or so. I can't imagine eucerin or aquaphor being bad for a baby, but will do a little more research before using them on her. For now I've smeared on vaseline a couple times. DH was putting zinc diaper cream on it, but I don't think that's any good for it. Her regular moisturizer didn't seem to help at all either. Poor baby - I was so hoping she wouldn't end up with DH's atopic dermatitis...

 

[Sha]

Hi,
So Hurricane Earl wasn't too bad, as far as hurricanes go. We had lots of wind and rain, and quite a few uprooted trees and debris around, but electricity and water were on throughout, thankfully. Dalila didn't seem to notice anything was amiss at all...

Will be back later to catch up.

drk -Have you tried Aveeno for K's eczema? Someone recommended it to me, and it really works! D had a bad patch of eczema behind her knees a few months ago. It was reddish and scaly and dry, and sometimes she would scratch it and cause it to bruise. I'd left it for a while because I wasn't sure what to do about it. After it got worse I tried some vaseline, but that didn't help. Then I read that it's best to moisturize the area really well, since eczema is a dry skin condition. I tried applying more of her regular lotion but it only improved a tiny bit. What really helped was the Aveeno lotion. I forget the type, but I think it has in a 24-hour moisturizing thingy (humectant/surfectant?) that helps seal in moisture. Ever since I started using the Aveeno her eczema has cleared up dramatically!

I think the zinc diaper cream will probably make it worse since that will absorb moisture instead of creating it. Also, if you don't already, try bathing her in lukewarm water and washing her clothes in hypoallergenic detergent.

 

[Mara]

re: aquaphor--i have read it recommended on a bunch of sites for things like exema and also the teething rashes. i figure it can't be worse than vaseline, which greg likes to point out is PETROLEUM jelly and is convinced J will grow a 6th toe or something. i point out we all had it slathered all over us growing up and look how fine we are! but if you are curious--email your pedi maybe?

ginger... lol yep i am all about shoveling it in if there is that half open hanging mouth going on. he will def let us know when he's done, he starts turning his head purposefully or batting away the spoon--but if he's just looking around or something else has his interest he will still eat, just not as 'interestedly' as he normally would. Greg likes to wait until he has his full attn before feeding him--but that gets only like 1/3 of the food in there! and yep 10 min later the kid has had enough and wants to move on and he's not full.

we got the FP booster--the brown and red one for $25 from walmart.com and so far we love it. we don't plan to get a high chair so this is it for now. he should be able to be in here for a long time, weight limit is 45lbs and it has 3 tummy levels, LOL. the only thing is we need to stabilize the chair better for as he grows--or get a heavier chair!

re: puffs...i just started with him about two weeks ago. our first try was disastrous with my finger ending up halfway down his throat and him crying...i was being too paranoid. so i started breaking them in half and giving them to him, he was able to gum them and swallow them that way. then i graduated to full ones. and now he's like a pro. i was worried because he tends to just gulp his purees down and not gum or chew them so i was afraid he'd do the same thing with the puffs but he seemed to realize quickly he needs to chew/gum up and down movement and then swallow. so now i just scatter a few on his little booster table and let him try to pick them up. sometimes he gets them in his mouth and other times he doesn't. it's also a great distraction for him if i need to buy myself 5-10 min to do something in the kitchen or prep his food rather than him realizing 'i'm hungry' and screaming bloody murder.

i bought some of those baby mum mums that someone recommended last week but then i saw they are made in china so now my mom won't let me give them to him! she's like greg, convinced he'll grow a 6th toe. drat!

drk...pic is soo cute!!! doll face.
linds...yay for back to work, boo on no bottle. good luck!
mere... hope something sticks with C..keep at it!

damn the tree guys next door! J just woke up an hour early from his 'nap.

 

[ChinaCat]

Hi girls!

They make Aquaphor for babies. We use it a LOT as O has sensitive skin. Not sure what the difference is, but it says "Baby" on it. And our ped said it was fine to use.

Sha- SO glad to hear all is ok. I actually was just stopping in to check on you, was watching the news this morning and thinking about you and Miss D.

 

[somethingshiny]

Meresal~ I don't BF but I agree with Mara to keep trying to be able to bottle feed. I'd definitely get him used to YOU giving the bottle too. Then he'll see that food is food no matter where it comes from. Don't feel like you can't leave or that you shouldn't leave. Moms have to take care of themselves in order to care for their families. Getting burnt out will only lead to resentment. Take the time for yourself to re-energize and come back happy.

Lily is on the verge of smiling! So exciting!!

 

[MonkeyPie]

The other problem that creates, is that he only nurses for like 5 minutes and then passes out. Which means he isn't full, and this leads to a ridiculous schedule of "snacking" about every hour and a half, and only eating for about 5-10 minutes each time. If that.

For the (very short) period of time that Micah nursed, he would do this. So I would pat his head, stroke his cheeks, touch his eyelids, ANYTHING to keep him awake and he would keep on eating as long as I could keep him up. Might help.

Lol Mara, DH is like that with Micah about eating, too. He has a tendency to blow outward every other bite and it makes his food splatter, and DH gets frustrated and thinks he just doesn't want to eat. But when it's me, I just keep poking it back in even if he's looking away. And Micah is a champion eater, he doesn't get distracted or mad, just keeps opening up until he's full. Oh, men, so easily swayed. And DH says I am the one spoiling him!

 

[Sha]

meresal - I agree with everyone else about continuing to try the bottle. D used to have random bottle-strikes too. Hope things settle down in time for the activities you have coming up soon.

drk - cute pic!! forgot to mention earlier when I posted!

mara - J seems to be quite good with eating. I hear you on being paranoid, though. I have the same concerns about the puffs - they seem a bit dry and cardboardy to me... at least the brand I have. I don't think I'd be that interested in eating them if I were a baby... Had a bit of a scare yesterday when I tried to give D some pieces of toasted bread and she gagged a bit.

China - awwww..... thanks for thinking of me.

MP - how's Micah and the toothies? Did his second bottom one come through?

 

[Mara]

speaking of food and kids eating...

how did the older kid mamas transition their babies to more solid pieces of food? i know you can try thicker purees, which we are doing with J--he loves texture.

but then do we just move to extremely tiny diced food? my girlfriend told me she did this with her 9mo old and she is doing really well--that i can dice as tiny as i want for him to get used to it. is that what you moms would recommend? sometimes we let him 'gum' on pieces of food, like a carrot stick or a quesadilla or a pancake. he really likes it so far...but it's not actually him 'eating' anything, more like just getting used to real solids.

i can tell that he wants to do more solids and it keeps him full a lot longer than liquids now--he is eating like 5-6oz 2x a day (just cannot get us to that 3x a day schedule yet!) so short of giving him more purees, just wondering what else we can do to fill that solid gap from a 'tummy full' perspective. he is not AS interested in the bottle during the day--he takes his night and morning bottle wonderfully but the 2 day bottles are starting to only get 'snacked' on.

sha...we have the happy baby puffs. they are apple i think. J loves them--they are kind of bland but that's ok. they only have natural sugar in them from the fruit. portia loves them, lol!

 

[jcrow]

i dunno, all i do know is that the whole food stage scares me! i'm not ready!! :]

 

[phoenixgirl]

i dunno, all i do know is that the whole food stage scares me! i'm not ready!! :]

Yeah, you and Claire. I just cannot get this girl to eat anything that's not pureed. She doesn't even like the stage 3 thicker stuff. She gags like it's poison. We just had "snack time," which consisted of her throwing Cheerios over the edge while I tried to demonstrate eating them and cheered like crazy the one time she (accidentally?) put one near her mouth. Yesterday during "snack time" she smeared her chunk of banana in this perfectly even film all over the tray.

 

[meresal]

Thanks for all of the advice ladies. You are the best!

SS- My mom told me the same thing. That he needs to get used to me giving him a bottle as well.

So, I bought some packages of the 8oz quick bottles of Similac, just in case he might have been tired of the Infamil. I decided that I am going to give him a bottle of Formula once during the day and then DH will give him a bottle before he goes to bed. (The idea was for me to pump during the day when I give C the bottle, and then DH could give him the BM before bed.) Well, I just pumped and got 4 oz... however, C just ate 7 WHOLE OUNCES of formula! LOL.

He must have switched to eating every hour and a hlaf because I am not producing enough. Maybe? I will give myself a few days, to see if I start producing more, but this might be the end of my BF'ing road. 4.5 months ain't to shabby. For now, when DH gives C the bottle at night, we will mix my 4oz of pumped milk with 2 or 3 oz of formula.

Did this happen to anyone else? Your body just didn't produce enough anymore?

Jcrow- Real food scares the crap out of me as well.

 

[MonkeyPie]

MP - how's Micah and the toothies? Did his second bottom one come through?

I just noticed I didn't comment on your SUPER CUTE DIVA pictures, omg, she is just so adorable. She's going to be a show-stopper for sure! And no more teeth for Micah yet, though I can feel the second bottom tooth right there and he has been chewing on everything like crazy. The first tooth is way further out now and when I feed him, he will chomp on the spoon with it, and keep it in his mouth lol. There are all these little gouges and teeth marks in the bottom of the spoon. Silly baby.

jcrow, the baby food part is SO FUN! We have been giving Micah regular feedings of his purees for about a month now (just once a day so far, with the occasional second if he's really hungry) and before that we gave him some here and there from 3 months on. He absolutely LOVES to eat, and he has never had any confusion about what the spoon is for. The moment he sees it he opens his mouth up. My piggy baby.

I hadn't posted this here (some of you saw it on the other site), but I am LOVING screen printing so much. I still do it the DIY way at home, no screens or anything, but it is just so much fun and extremely relaxing. I give DH the baby and go to town!

 

[PrettyBlues]

Ginger, love that chin story! So cute, I can hardly wait until M reaches that stage.

Mere, I haven't had to deal with M not taking bottles (yet I'm sure) but I've heard it's quite common for them to go on feeding strikes, with both breast and bottle. I would just do as others suggested and keep trying. I'm sure he will pick it up again.

DRK, cute pic. I have heard before that doing a baking soda soak (bath) works really well for rash or eczema....don't know if it's true, but worth a shot maybe?

Sha, what a darling. I'm glad to hear the hurricane wasn't too bad, that must be a relief.

re food, I'm not ready for this either! I don't know why it seems so daunting, but it does. Also, I want to start doing some reading up - I know of the wholesomebabyfood website, any others people can recommend?

Not really much going on here. D was gone on the annual bike trip he does each year to raise money for MS. They do 150 kilometers in two days. I definitely realised I appreciate having him around on weekends, and it makes all the difference for me getting a few hours rest.

Also I bought M a Halloween costume at Old Navy. This was not a necessary purchase, especially since he's a bit young to be going trick or treating but I was just so excited to dress him up. Anyone else doing this, or am I all alone in my crazy?

 

[somethingshiny]

Mara~ When we transitioned JT from baby food to more solid food we started by adding something he'd never had. I'd still give him pureed carrots from a spoon, but I'd put cheerios on his tray, etc. That satiated his need for texture and got him wanting more. Then I would just take our table food and mash/dice it with a fork and give him a spoon or two of that in addition to his baby food. After a short while, he wanted more table food and less baby food. I always gave him a spoon too and put all the food within his reach.

Things I tried that didn't work were adding carrot pieces into baby carrots and trying to quit baby food cold turkey. So, the adding method really worked for us.

Also, when we started transitioning is when we started adding "snacks." I'd put him in the high chair and give him bits of banana and things like that. Since he wasn't extremely hungry, he could play with them and try feeding himself for quite a while before getting frustrated.

 

[jcrow]

mara - thanks for the heads up on the plum food. we just stocked up on some. scary to think we'll be doing foods in october! yowza!

mere - don't give up hope on bfeeding! em did the same with me. she wanted to eat every hour to hour and a half! exhausting? yes, but she's better now. babies help regulate your supply. and if you were able to pump 4 oz., i think you're supply is fine. i pump about 2 oz on a good session! also, are you offering both sides to him?

re: halloween - um, we're totally getting em a costume and going t+t-ing. i'm actually thinking of hosting a halloween bash too! fun!!

--

afm - em just took a 2 hour nap - a rarity! she woke, and now she's being a super happy baby. and calm. me likes.

 

[KimberlyH]

Car Seat Information: I just took J to get her carseat checked by an organization run through our local children's hospital. We talked about transitioning to a convertible seat so I thought I'd pass along what they shared. There's a curve in the top of the carseat near the head, when the baby's head gets to be about 1" below that, which typically happens between 4-7 months, it's time to switch to the convertible. Leg length has nothing to do with the safety (but it is related to comfort).

Mara, we give J little bits of food such as avacado and banana now. She prefers it to purees but I make her eat the purees anyways.

JCrow, food is fun. Really.

 

[ljmorgan]

Meresal it definitely does not sound like you have low supply! A couple of things:

- If you give him a formula bottle once a day, pump during that feeding, and then offer that pumped milk before bed -- you will need to pump during that feed too. Otherwise your body thinks that you don't need to produce milk during that time period, and your supply will naturally lower.

- If you pumped 4 oz. you are producing PLENTY. Breastfed babies are supposed to take 1-1.5 oz per hour (as a guide), and the breast pump is not even as efficient as your baby nursing -- your baby can get even more milk out of you if necessary at a feeding. Formula is different -- babies that drink formula will gradually increase their intake in terms of ounces per bottle, but breastfed babies max out pretty early and that amount stays relatively constant.

- If he is wanting to eat every 1-1.5 hours, he IS stimulating your body to produce more milk -- that is a good thing! If you want to continue nursing, let him nurse as often as he wants. If he seems satisfied and is having wet and dirty diapers, you are producing plenty. I know how nerve wracking it can be wondering if your baby is getting enough. Breastfeeding seems more art than science when you can't tell me how much they're drinking!

- If you do want to continue nursing, at bedtime I would offer the 4 ounces of pumped milk and see if he seems satisfied. My only concern is that if you're trying to up your supply but then give him additional formula w/ the pumped milk, he will be full longer and will go longer without nursing (which he needs to do more frequently to bump up your supply.) Honestly if you're concerned about supply issues right now, I would mess with letting him try out bottles LATER -- perhaps in a few days or another week or so until you feel like things have smoothed out. Nothing stimulates your supply better than your nursing baby, not even a pump. Also the frequency of nursing/pumping is what boosts your supply, so I would get that baby on the boob as often as possible. If you're interested in nursing/pumping less and moving to formula, you can go ahead with trying to give him more bottles.

- When you say that you don't produce enough BM for bottles, what do you mean? When do you pump? How much did you produce? I started pumping after one feed in the morning, starting out getting say... half an ounce. Two weeks later I was getting 3 oz AFTER the feed. Then when A started going to bed at 8, I pumped at 10pm so that my body thought he still wanted to eat at 10, and I could put another 3-4 ounces away each night as well. It takes a while of regular pumping after a feed for your body to respond and make more at that time.

 

[Sabine]

I haven't read the whole page cause Jacks keeps hitting my computer, but I wanted to give some tips for eczema since we're dealing with it horribly at times.

Great things for mild eczema are aquaphor (the kids is the exact same as the adult, they just put it in the kids section) and plain ol vaseline, aveeno products, and gentle moisturizers/cleansers like cetaphil.

If those don't work though, I HIGHLY suggest CeraVe cleanser and cream (and apply the cream at every diaper change all over the body, not just where it's bad). You can find it at drug stores near stuff like cetaphil. It's expensive but it's worth it. It has ceridamides (sp?) in it to help rebuild the skin or something like that. Then comes otc hydrocortizone cream (just beware not to get it ANYWHERE near the eyes).

And zinc diaper cream really does help as well (we really like the aveeno...that's what we use on Jackson's face several times a day). And finally, if those don't work, see the dr. to get an rx cream.

 

[Mara]

re: the bf'ing and pumping etc...just wanted to say for some women pumping for bottle can work great if the baby is a lazy nurser or a snacker. i have a friend who pumps like 40oz a day. and i know ginger is an EP and she produces around that too. and i think swimmer also produces more than that pumping since she also donates.

anyway... mere if you want to offer C the bottle and still do BM you probably will be able to, but as the other ladies have said you'd need to work at building up more of your supply, it will be time consuming but possible--i think ginger pumped like every hour or something for a while to build up her supply. i agree also that if you do formula so DH can feed him, still pump that session so your body still makes milk for that 'time' of the day. if you start dropping times, then your body WILL make less.

for me.. J was a lazy nurser and i will be honest and say i liked the ease of bottle and pumping. i never really minded not being EBF and J is even a lazy eater on bottle most times, so i prob would have been stuck with him ALL DAY LONG on boob!!

when i first started pumping i only got like 1oz but the more you do it the more your body becomes familiar with it. at my max for pumping i could get like 7-8oz a session. i do think having baby AND pump going will help your body make the most milk, my body DEF produced less over time with only pump, but J was over the boob at 3.5mo so it was pump or nothing.

AFM i am loving working from home today... it's been a slow work day so i have enjoyed J a lot more. i went for a 2.5m walk with a friend and now i am sitting outside with J in his walker. he has socks on and is floating around the yard. he LOVES being outdoors. also.. strangely enough while he used to be a crazy man on walks, never still and would fuss after like 15min in the stroller...making long walks an exercise in patience for a while, the last week or so he is like a little slug on the walks, just laying there with the paci chilllin' out and taking it all in. i like it WAY better this way...i feel like now he really appreciates the outdoors. before i would be like really...how can you be bored?!?! it's new scenery every step of the way!

ss..thanks for the tips on the food! J is eating puffs so i toss a few on his tray while i prep his food now and he likes playing with them and trying to get them into his mouth. but just trying to figure out where to go from here. i mashed some rice and beans on my plate the other night at dinner for him and was appalled he didn't like it. he IS 1/4 mexican but you'd never know it to look at him HA!

 

[drk]

Thanks so much Sabine and Sha for the eczema tips. We got some Baby Aveeno lotion tonight, so hopefully that will help soon.

 

[meresal]

Thanks for the input Lindsey, Mara and J.
The info is very helpful. I will definitely pump at the night bottle as well. I don't plan on dropping any feedings. I am actually staying up a little later just so that I can get one more pump in before bed... since he is sleeping for the longer session at the beginning of the night now. I can usually get about 3 oz at that one. If this goes accordingly, I won't have to use much formula at all.
DH will feed him with what I pumped today, and then I will use tomorrow what I pumped tonight, and so on. I will start doing what you said, try getting whatever I can after each feeding and see if that increases my supply. I didn't realize that only half an ounce was enough worth saving.

My biggest worry about not getting him used to eating from a bottle again, or more specifically... from someone other than me that is holding said bottle, is that I will not be able to be more than 5 mintues away from him, EVER. That is a big deal to me.

Right now, everything I pump, I was trying to freeze and save for my MIL to have this weekend when she watches the little one. I don't think that he is boycotting formula though, I think that he is boycotting the bottle, which is why I think I need to incorporate more "bottle" feedings in. So that he will get used more used to it as an option. At this point, I can't leave him, just in case he might get hungry. That is not fun.


Lindsey- I had no idea that BF babies didn't increase their intake like formula babies. Did I understand you right?

 

[jcrow]

mere - have you tried a different type of bottle? just a thought...

 

[Mara]

your last line mere-- i think that babies do increase their intake, but it's hard to know what they are doing when they are EBF, because with bottle feeding you SEE the oz but with boob you don't--you just have to trust they are getting enough and if they are screaming 10 min later then they probably are not getting enough.

i know that a lot of people say/think if you have a formula fed baby they eat more than boob, but i actually think that can be the case with bottle fed babies period...not formula vs boob but rather bottle vs boob. BUT i also think that it depends on the kid and their general eating habits.

help, older baby moms... did any of your LO's 'vomit'... actual vomit when they were teething? J has always been a little spitty but the last 3-4 days he's actually started vomiting--the difference to me is that the vomit smells like actual vomit (and makes me feel sick!) rather than his general spitup. the only difference i can think of is that he's also been super drooly and fussy and we think he's been crazy teething. i know that their stomachs can be upset when teething as well, but should i worry? other than the super drooly and extreme bouts of fussiness and 'moaning' (in between giggles and smiles and he's still super active and eating normally)...this is the only new/odd thing. any advice appreciated. he has been doing it maybe 2-3x a day and it's not a ton but it's def vomit.

 

[gingerB]

mere - yep, you heard right. BF babies plateau out because momma's milk changes accordingly, so they get the the nutrition they need for their growing bodies without needing the extra volume. formula stays the same no matter what so babies have to intake more volume to meet their growing caloric needs. mara's right. i am EP and at the beginning was i puping every 3 hours to build/establish my supply. it was insanity. i got myself almost to 50z a day before returning to work. at that point i had to drop pumps and my supply dropped some, but i'm still making enough on 3 pumps a day to EBF. pumping is def hard work,, and in many ways more work than "straight from the tap" bf'ing with all the equipment to deal with and def the pump is no where near as efficient at getting the milk, but i very much like the aspect that anyone can feed A. and i'm crazy so i like knowing how much goes into him. and since my work hours are INSANE, the pumping overall just works better for me. hang in there...i totally agree that personal time is essential to your sanity and therefore to you being able to be a good mom to C.

fiery - i tried a straw, but he didn't get the concept of sucking the straw? i haven't figured out how to teach him. any advice? off to consult with dr. google.

mara - hmm.. loving that puffs distraction method. we have the FP booster seat also, my sister gifted us with the precious planet version with the toy tray. at first i didn't love it, but now i think it's genius! one of us feeds him while the other prepares dinner. then i give him the fresh food feeder which he'll happily, quietly gnaw away at for 10-15 minutes or so. then i pop the toy tray in and that's another 10 ish minutes of quiet distracted baby. all that equals to 20-30 minutes of dinner time without one of us holding him, or frantically shoveling in food before he starts fussing. aaahhhhhh...the luxuries of parenthood. lol

thritto on baby food being fun!! i was nervous starting also but am now having a blast introducing new foods etc...

A was being so cute today. super chatty. after his dinner, we just plopped him down in the living room and watched as he wandered about, chattering and babbling away as he explored on his own.