what would you do?

Gosh, I am stuck... Since I went back to work, I made sure to pump enough BM for a good supply for DS. Well, here is my dilemma. He will not DRINK IT! I have been EBF for months now, so he isn't quite use to the bottle. He drinks water from the sippy cup, so we even tried putting the BM in there.... but still, he will not drink it. I then picked up new bottles hoping he would try them, but he is just chewing on the nipple of it and doesn't drink. So two days now that I have been at work from 6:30 am to 4 pm, he hasn't taken any milk. They just give him water... Do you think this is okay? What other ways can I try to get him to drink milk? I even bought RTF Formula, thinking maybe he would like that, and still "he will not drink". When I get home each day, he nearly rips my shirt off and drinks forever... but is that okay to let him go that many hours with out BM or Formula? What would you guys do??? HELP!

Back to work Mommy needing advise

Re: what would you do?

stop the water, if water is not offered your bm will HAVE to be taken. your son will have no other choice and eventuall he will give in. It will work out, i promise, what bottle are you using?

Message edited 7/13/2006 11:37:16 PM.

Re: what would you do?

No more water IMO...try having them warm the BM needs to to your body temp..that could be throwing him off. I would also try a totally different bottle. Have you tried silicone, not latex nipples. Molly would only take 1 type of bottle and 1 type of sippy cup. Formula is the answer IMO..because he isn't drinking the BM I doubt he will drink formula. He wants your breasts..is he sleeping A LOT during the day and nursing all night? That is called reverse nursing and it known to happen.
Is this defrosted milk or freshly pumped?

Re: what would you do?

I found info for you
If your baby is refusing to take a bottle, do not try to force him; you and he may become very frustrated and there is just no need to go through all this. If the baby is at least 6 months of age when you start back at outside work, the baby quite simply does not need to take a bottle. If he is even 4 months, he does not need to take a bottle. He can be fed liquids or solids off a spoon just as any other 6 month old and by 6 months of age he can be taking enough so that he will not be hungry during the day. Furthermore, he can start learning to drink from a cup even by 5 or 6 months of age. The cup can be an open cup and does not need to have a spout. Start with water as your baby may spill a fair amount at first. If, however, he has not got the hang of the cup by the time you must leave him, do not worry, he can take fluids off a spoon, or the solid foods can be mixed with more liquid (expressed milk, juice, water). Obviously, if the baby is to be taking a fair amount of a variety of foods by 6 months of age, he may need to be started on solids by 5 months of age. However, some babies prefer to wait for the mother in order to drink something. This is fine; many babies sleep 12 hours at night without drinking or eating at all.

3. Babies need to drink milk when the mother is not at home.
Not true. Three or four good nursings during a 24 hour period plus a variety of solid foods gives the baby all he needs nutritionally, and thus he does not need any other type of milk when you are at your outside job. Of course, solid foods can be mixed with expressed milk or other milk, but this is not necessary.
http://www.kellymom.com/newman/17feed_baby_working_moms.html

Re: what would you do?

I have a few suggestions (Alex refused the bottle for a few weeks as well...):

1 - Switch and bait. When Alex wouldn't take the bottle I would sit down in the recliner with her, put her in the position I normally put her in to BF, and turn her toward my chest - as instinct she would automatically open her mouth so I would pop a bottle into her mouth before she would realize the difference. Maybe you can try that a few times at home to get him used to taking the bottle, and ask the workers at daycare to do the same thing. Edited to add - sometimes when she was REALLY stubborn, I would start BFing her, unlatch her very quickly and pop a bottle in her mouth. That helped as well...

2 - Give daycare a worn shirt that smells like you. My daycare asked that I do this when they had problems feeding Alex. I slept in a t-shirt a few nights and gave it to them. The daycare workers would put the shirt over their shoulder or on their chest, put Alex in a BFing position, but then put the bottle in her mouth. Worked like a charm.

3 - Have you tried the playtex nursers? They were the only nipples Alex would take.

Good luck!

Message edited 7/14/2006 7:37:10 AM.

Re: what would you do?

I had the same problem with Claire when I returned to work. IMO I would stop the water so he is forced to take the BM. I went back to work from 8:30-5:30 and for the first 3 days Claire would refuse the bottle and cry/fuss from 8:30-3:00 and then would give in. After about 3 days of torture for my mom watching her, she got over it and took the bottle. However she would drink less then normal and did get into a pattern of reverse nursing and ate more in the evening/night. We had tried every thing else we could think of to trick her but in the end we had to wait for her to give in.

Good Luck

Re: what would you do?

Thanks so much for sharing this with me. It really makes me feel better about him. I just tought babies needed the milk. He is 7 months and on solids. He does nurse a lot in the evening and may some time wake during the night too to nurse.