Bottle Blues and Smiles

Post from Owner of the Band:

We almost had a MAJOR crisis on our hands here this week.

The first time I gave McKenna a bottle, she took it. I fed her an ounce and then said, "All right. We got it." I nursed her and put her to bed.

A few weeks later I left her with a friend for my root canal. My friend Lizza gave McKenna a bottle and told me that she only drank about an ounce (very half heartedly) and then didn't want any more.

So I tested the bottle a few more times, and it turns out ... SHE HATES IT! One time when I tried to give her soy formula, I swear there was actually MORE in the bottle everytime I checked the measures on the side to see how much she had eated. Aunt Sue was there. She'll tell you the milk was multiplying.

So I have been pumping my milk and testing the bottle more and more in hopes that she'll take more than half an ounce. I have to start working in about a week, and so I do not really have a choice. She has to work this out. I have to work this out. This had to get worked out! Dear me.

She has never even swallowed one sip of formula until this week. She took about half an ounce of Imfamil which was a step forward. But mostly she wants breast milk, so here I am feeling like a dairy farm all day long.

I have tried a lot of bottle feeding methods and nothing worked. But whenever I got on the Internet to search for more ideas, I started to cry. WHAT? I know. I don't really know what was going on. I wasn't really all that upset, but reading about other women facing this struggle while they too are preparing to go back to work just made me start crying every time.

So I did what any classic American girl would do. I call my sister and my girlfriend and I asked them to do the research for me and tell me what to do. I talked it out with Bridget, and then Kristie called with a list of ideas. We put a game plan together with a new perspective and BHAM! 3 Ounces!!!!

I woke her from a nap, so she would be drousy and submissive, and I laied her on her side like I do when she nurses. She went to town on the bottle, and she even fell asleep for a little bit like she does when she nurses.

It really does make sense. She hates to sleep on her back unless she is tightly swaddled. When she nurses, she relaxes almsot to the point of sleep. I always try to keep her awake, but there is an element of comfort for her in the process. I don't think she could get to that state on her back in a tradiational bottle feeding position. So when I would give her the bottle, she would drink because she was starving, and when she wasn't starving anymore, she would just stop and smile at me. So for the next little while, I will bottle feed her on her side or swaddle her.

I am so grateful that we have made some progress!!


Thanks, Bridget. Thanks, Kristie.

Thanks, Kenna-Benna.