Bottle Woes

Adalynn definitely has a healthy appetite! At about 3 weeks old, she really got the hang of nursing and it quickly became her favorite pasttime! :) Before that, it was a bit of a challenge. I was warned that breastfeeding is difficult at first, but never could quite understand why until I actually had to do it every 3 hours a day for at least 45 minutes at a time! Thankfully feedings have gotten much quicker and farther apart now! I am so glad I have stuck with it this long and would love to do it for as long as possible! My goal for now is to make it to at least 6 months if not longer.

When we first got Adalynn home, neither she nor I quite knew what we were doing when it came to feeding time. For a few days, I had to pump and give her bottles because nursing was just not working for us and she had to eat. This really upset me because I was afraid she would never take to nursing and always have to be a bottle baby. Thanfully, this was not the case. In fact, we now have the opposite problem on our hands.

I had given Adalynn bottles here and there when need be. It was not her favorite, but she would take them just fine. At about weeks 5-7 she was not given a bottle. I kind of figured she already knew how to do it and was not worried about it. On July 10th, I went to a professional development day and my grandma came to my house to watch her. The night before I decided to give her a bottle to practice again, and to my surprise, she would not take it! She screamed and screamed. I was very nervous about how the day would go. Luckily, I was able to come home during lunch and nurse. A couple hours later, my grandma thought she was hungry and tried to give her a bottle and she screamed again! She did not stop until I came home!

Ever since then, I have been giving her bottles everyday. This has been going on for about 2 weeks and she is still not wanting to take them. I have tried every nipple and bottle they sale. She seems to like the NUK the best, but she still does not quite know how to take it. I have left the room and let my husband do it. My mom, who is a mother of 4 and a pediatric nurse, has tried several times. None of this is working. She screams, she gags, she spits, she pushes it out with her tongue... It really seems like she has totally forgotten how to do it. She has the same reaction when I try to give her a pacifier. And the worst part is, she looks at me with these big eyes. It's like she's saying, "Why are you doing this to me mommy?" It really is awful!

Somedays she will do better than others, but then have a really bad day the next day. Everyday when it is the dreaded "bottle time" I just have a sick feeling in my stomach. I keep thinking that I'm going to have to go back to work in 3 weeks and she will eventually need to eat. People have told me that she will eat when she is hungry enough, but I'm not quite sure.

This Wednesday we have an appointment with her pediatrician for her 2 month checkup. I am going to see if he has any suggestions. I keep hoping that if we keep at it, she will eventually get the hang of it.

Here is a picture of "bottle time" today. She actually did okay. She didn't cry or scream but she didn't exaclty eat either. She was more interested in her Uncle Mikey taking the picture than she was her bottle. :)

I have been trying to get her to take it in her bouncy seat. I read that they may be more willing to do this because they will disassociate it from nursing. We will keep trying! It has been frustrating, but I am hoping that practice will make perfect!