Baby's First Year

Hi all-

I am sure this question has been asked, so I am sorry if its a repeat, but I haven't found it and after all the searching I thought I would just try again.  Thanks for your patience!!  The main issue is that my 6-mo-old wont take a bottle.  He took one just fine for several weeks when he was a newborn, but I think we stopped doing it enough and now he will not.  So, I have gone back to work part-time, but have to be home every day around 12:30 to feed him.  As you all know, I am sure, it's just such a loss of freedom to not be able to do anything for more than 3 to 4 hours b/c he will be starving!  So, question 1 is: how can I get him to take his bottle??  Which leads to question 2: What do I do when we start him on formula, when I go back to work full time, if he wont take the bottle now, why will he take it then??  Did we miss a critical period for this, will he ever take a bottle?  And then my last question: Now that he's eating solids, should I have our nanny give him this in the morning so that he can go longer without milk? I know he needs just as much milk, but I really need to be at work longer than 12:30, and I don't know how to get more time there if he's hungry.  I am also worried that this is messing with his night sleep b/c he is probably so hungry in the morning (although he doesn't seem to be, he's not fussy or anything).. but he eats so much at night probably in preparation for the long morning when I am at work from 9 to 12:30. Or is this a normal amount of time to go between feedings at this age? I am so unsure b/c I usually just feed on demand, and he's a huge baby, so obviously getting enough to eat.. I haven't worried about it until now, since full time work is looming.  Can you tell I am confused! And slightly frustrated!? ANY insight would be much appreciated!! Thank you in advance!!

#1: You don't have to do a bottle at this age, if he's refusing it. You can actually skip straight to a sippy cup or a straw cup. Typically, EBF babies do really well with straws, since it's the same type of action. :)

#2: If you're going back to work full-time very, very soon, then you will need to transition to formula gradually. Start with a sippy of mostly breastmik and 1/4 formula and work your way towards total formula.

Or, if you want to pump, you can do that too. At this point, he'd be game for that, I imagine. :) If he's started on solids, you can do breastmilk and a little water and some solids and that would be enough to hold him over for a few more hours. You can do juice too, if you're wanting to go down that road. Just be ready to nurse, nurse, nurse when you get back.

Or, if you nurse in the a.m., can nurse at lunch and then when you pick him up/get home. That, with any expressed milk and solids, would also work.

As to the night-time sleep, it sounds perfectly normal to me. :) He's six months and it's the beginning of a growth and development spurt.

He's also doing a bit of reverse-cycling. This is when a breastfed baby eats more at night when his/her mom works more during the day. Nursing isn't just about the food, but about snuggling close to mommy and spending that time with her. Bottle babies do this too, but just in a different way.

It sounds like you're doing really, really well with him. As long as you keep on nursing on demand and add in a bit of pumping if you need to work longer, you should be fine! :)

HTH! And you can also ask over at the breastfeeding and the breastfeeding/pumping boards too. :)

Loral

 

don't forget your purpose...

 

 

 

 

I agree with the PP. Try him on a sippy cup or a straw cup. If both those fail, and the bottle fails, you can also help him drink straight from a cup.  There is also nothing wrong with him having a solids snack in the morning at that age. If you nurse him before work, the nanny can feed him something mid-morning.

And if you are switching to formula, that is defiantly something that needs to be done gradually or he'll end up with a sore tummy.

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