Combination feeding
Sep. 7th, 2019 06:35 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
halojedhaE has gone on bottle strike. We're breastfeeding, and when they were 2 or 3 weeks old I started pumping and we introduced occasional bottle feeds. At our antenatal classes we were told that breastfeeding babies sometimes refuse to take the bottle, but equally that if you introduce bottle feeding too early it can disrupt breastfeeding. We're keen to establish combination feeding. We want to mostly breastfeed, and do child led weaning, but it's also important to me to be able to take time for myself from time to time, so I can go to a Tai Chi class, do some uninterrupted work, or have a decent chunk of sleep. strongwomanplant came to stay for a couple of days, and my mum came for a day, and it was absolutely lovely. We caught up on housework, cooked delicious food, and I got an hour's work done on the laptop while the others watched E. It's so lovely to see the grandmas interacting with them. E was pretty upset on vaccination day, so it was good for Leo and I to have the extra support, but I was relieved that my mum got to enjoy E in smiley relaxed mode today, so I could show off what a chilled out baby we have!
This morning me, my mum andstrongwomanplant took E out in the buggy for a long walk around the park. It was E's first time in the buggy; we've used slings every time we've left the house before. I really enjoyed watching them look at the trees, and I got to breastfeed (and do a nappy change) sitting on a coat on a log by the stream in the woods, which was delightful. We had long, open and honest chats and it was great to feel so connected. Since E arrived I've felt so close to Leo's and my birth families; it's an unlooked-for bonus of parenting that we now have something so huge in common, and it's very welcome.
We started with one bottle feed a day or so, allowing me to have a nap or a lie in. After a couple of weeks, we noticed that E's latch on my boob was suffering. We went breast only for a couple of weeks, and the latch improved. Encouraged, we reintroduced a bottle feed a day, and that went well for a while - but then a few days ago E started refusing the bottle.
We had a few days of really difficult bottle feeds, and then last Monday I went to Tai Chi class and came back to find Leo and their girlfriend were very frazzled Leo after dealing with an inconsolable crying baby for an hour and a half, who was desperately hungry but steadfastly refusing to take any milk from the bottle.
We had a few days of really difficult bottle feeds, and then last Monday I went to Tai Chi class and came back to find Leo and their girlfriend were very frazzled Leo after dealing with an inconsolable crying baby for an hour and a half, who was desperately hungry but steadfastly refusing to take any milk from the bottle.
So I fed the baby, and we did some research, and asked our new parenting group on Facebook for advice. Someone recommended Minbie, a brand of bottles optimised to mimic the breast, which support breastfeeding by requiring the baby to latch on properly to get milk. We ordered one, and it arrived on Friday.
However, Friday was the day of E's 8 week vaccinations, which are fairly dramatic - three jabs and an oral vaccine. One of the jabs is Meningitis B, which causes inflammation and fever, and is quite sore on the vaccination site for a couple of days after the shot. So we obviously didn't want to introduce something new on a day when E was already pretty sore and upset.
However, Friday was the day of E's 8 week vaccinations, which are fairly dramatic - three jabs and an oral vaccine. One of the jabs is Meningitis B, which causes inflammation and fever, and is quite sore on the vaccination site for a couple of days after the shot. So we obviously didn't want to introduce something new on a day when E was already pretty sore and upset.
Thankfully they made a fantastically swift recovery. Their temperature was elevated for a few hours and we had some crying, but it went down overnight with the help of a couple of doses of Calpol and they slept well. Today they've been their normal, cheery, chilled out self.
So we offered the bottle again; waiting for an opportunity when E was asking for food, but had recently fed so wasn't dying of hunger, using freshly pumped breast milk. And we had some success! They drank a few millimetres of milk, not a lot, but they latched on for a bit! We stopped because they puked up a bit, and we decided to leave it there.
It's a bit depressing watching the expressed milk go to waste when they refuse the bottle, as it's no good after being heated, but we're just heating a little at a time and I guess it's all part of the process. What with puking and leaky boobs, plenty of milk gets 'wasted' while breastfeeding too.
We're going to keep trying, offering a bottle every day if we can, and hopefully after a while they'll get the hang of it again and I can have a bit more freedom. I fear being a milk slave, tied to the house / baby and unable to do anything by myself for more than an hour at a time. Hopefully we can crack the combination, and Leo will be able to help out with a few feeds. Not to mention it would be nice to be able to get a babysitter and have some time together as a couple - which definitely isn't possible unless E will take the bottle.
In other news, Leo's mum So we offered the bottle again; waiting for an opportunity when E was asking for food, but had recently fed so wasn't dying of hunger, using freshly pumped breast milk. And we had some success! They drank a few millimetres of milk, not a lot, but they latched on for a bit! We stopped because they puked up a bit, and we decided to leave it there.
It's a bit depressing watching the expressed milk go to waste when they refuse the bottle, as it's no good after being heated, but we're just heating a little at a time and I guess it's all part of the process. What with puking and leaky boobs, plenty of milk gets 'wasted' while breastfeeding too.
We're going to keep trying, offering a bottle every day if we can, and hopefully after a while they'll get the hang of it again and I can have a bit more freedom. I fear being a milk slave, tied to the house / baby and unable to do anything by myself for more than an hour at a time. Hopefully we can crack the combination, and Leo will be able to help out with a few feeds. Not to mention it would be nice to be able to get a babysitter and have some time together as a couple - which definitely isn't possible unless E will take the bottle.
strongwomanplant came to stay for a couple of days, and my mum came for a day, and it was absolutely lovely. We caught up on housework, cooked delicious food, and I got an hour's work done on the laptop while the others watched E. It's so lovely to see the grandmas interacting with them. E was pretty upset on vaccination day, so it was good for Leo and I to have the extra support, but I was relieved that my mum got to enjoy E in smiley relaxed mode today, so I could show off what a chilled out baby we have! This morning me, my mum and
strongwomanplant took E out in the buggy for a long walk around the park. It was E's first time in the buggy; we've used slings every time we've left the house before. I really enjoyed watching them look at the trees, and I got to breastfeed (and do a nappy change) sitting on a coat on a log by the stream in the woods, which was delightful. We had long, open and honest chats and it was great to feel so connected. Since E arrived I've felt so close to Leo's and my birth families; it's an unlooked-for bonus of parenting that we now have something so huge in common, and it's very welcome.
no subject
Date: 2019-09-08 11:19 am (UTC)FWIW we didn't bother with bottles for the first while (at least a couple of months, can't remember exactly) but L was fine with it when we did occasionally use bottles later on. So even if E isn't keen now that doesn't mean that they won't be OK with it when they're a little bigger; babies do change very fast. (We never did that much bottle feeding because I found expressing a massive PITA. I did it for the milk bank but it seemed more hassle than it was worth for feeding L.)
BTW re leaky boobs: a significant amount of what expressed milk I did save was through putting a breast shell over the opposite side when feeding & tipping that into a bag to freeze. Stopped working after a couple of months as my supply regulated but was handy while it did work!
no subject
Date: 2019-09-11 08:40 pm (UTC)I use an Elvie hands free breast bump, which is an electronic one that just pops in the bra and I can control it with my phone. I can get 100ml in under 10 mins if I do it while breastfeeding. The only hassle is remembering to wash and sterilise the pump parts afterwards. It was pricy, but so worth it!
no subject
Date: 2019-09-12 01:07 pm (UTC)Good luck with E getting the hang of it.
Oh -- the other thing we found (& which I heard other people say) is that breast-fed babies are in general much less likely to take a bottle either from the breastfeeding parent, or if they know that parent is around :) like: if I *can* get it from the source, why not?! That might apply when they're a little bit older & more able to reason, though (like, 6-9 months type 'reasoning', I mean); I can't remember entirely as L's first year or so is a bit of a blur in retrospect!
no subject
Date: 2019-09-13 09:03 pm (UTC)Yeah, I assumed that it wouldn't work for me to offer it, but one of the people in my parenting group said that when they had the same experience, everyone offering the bottle seemed to do the trick, so I guess experiences vary. I haven't had any more luck than Leo, but mostly I'm letting them try - after all, the whole point of bottle feeding is to give me a chance to do something else, even if it doesn't last very long!