Feeding Bottle Hello: And they say we can't get along!



Tastes like breastmilk, yummy!

Five days. That’s how long it took for Mom to get me to feed from the bottle.

And they say it is sooo hard. For breastfed infants to take the leap from breastfeeding to bottles.

They are sooo wrong. And you will find out the whys and hows.

It is not so hard if you look at this issue of feeding from the bottle from the baby's point of view.

And that would be me. I tell it as it is. No Mom says or Dad says or Brother says.

First off, let me introduce myself. You can call me Golly. I turned two on January 21.

Two months that is.

On Monday, Mom started trying to give me milk in feeding bottles for the following reasons:

• In the past week, she noticed that I was crying more often. Thank God for that! What would I have done if she wasn’t so observant?
• She noticed that I stopped taking long naps during the day. Mostly short naps with some crying in-between.
• She confirmed it was not all colic because I was not writhing in pain.
• She noticed that the quantity and quality of my poo have reduced considerably. Quantity as in, you know, amount. Quality as in, my poo used to be bright yellow, good enough to eat really, but suddenly turned dark yellow. Or more like light green.

She concluded that I was not getting enough food from breastfeeding. So she decided to introduce her exclusively breastfed baby to the bottle. She did a few things while trying to make this baby take the bottle. But first let me tell you the things she didn’t do.

Things Mom did not do while introducing the bottle to me:

• Pump breast into the bottle. Most babies can’t be fooled by a breast in a bottle so don’t try this at home.
• Hold me in a nursing position while bottle-feeding me. Do Moms still hold the baby in a nursing position while trying to introduce a bottle to a breastfed baby? That's sooo 1990.
• Try different nipples, no BreastFlow, no NUK. She had already bought Dr Brown’s BPA free Natural Flow bottle before I was born. And that’s what she was feeding me with.
• Play the trick of start breastfeeding me then switch to the bottle as if I will not notice. She knows I am not dumb.
• Set a date or deadline for me to take the bottle. This way she was not stressed out if I do not take the bottle.
• Force the nipple of the feeding bottle into my mouth.

What Mom did?

• Took a sewing needle (brand new one) and made about 8 extra pin holes on the nipple of the feeding bottle. Duh! Moms, when you press your nipples, a spray of breast milk comes out. Feeding bottle makers, why can’t you make the nipples for infants bottle spray the milk like breasts? Only one tiny hole? Beats me!
• She reduced the quantity specified on the formula pack. On the pack, the recommended quantity is 1 level spoon to 30mls / 1 oz of water. Mom mixed ½ level spoon to 30mls / 1 oz of water. She just felt that the taste of the baby formula is too strong compared to breasts.
• Prepared ½ oz (15 mls) for me during the 5 days I was learning to suck from the bottle. That woman? She is not one to waste the baby formula as she expected that I will not finish it.
• Kept a cup of hot water close by so she could re-warm the bottle as it got cold. O yea, she understands that I am not in a hurry to take the bottle so feeding will take time.
• Walked around while feeding me so that I was distracted by the different things I see. Look, sucking is an involuntary action and I learn faster if I do not have to concentrate on the sucking. The key is to keep me entertained while I used my tongue to explore this new nipple she was trying to force into my mouth.
• She sat down and used one of her hands to prop up my head facing her while she fed me. This way, she could smile to me, cooing and singing to me. She did this to take a break from holding me with one hand as she walked around.
• At first, she held the nipple to the side of my lips so that the milk dripped naturally into my mouth. O yea, much better than pushing it down my throat! She let me take the nipple when I was ready rather than force it on me.
• Cheered me on. On the third day, I took one sip without crying and she gave me a big big cheer, telling Brother to give me a big clap! O yes, I am number 2. Bummer!  

The result

The first two days, all I did was cry as soon as the nipple of the feeding bottle touched my mouth. I, like other babies, hate the smell and taste of latex.

I guess adults hate it too.

The thing makes me want to throw up. So whenever I cried so much that Mom saw it was futile trying further, she kept the bottle aside, shook the baby rattler for me and I calmed down. She did not give me the breast right away because she thought I will refuse the bottle more if I thought that refusing to feed from the bottle will get me the breast faster. She gave me the breast later once she felt I will not associate it with the bottle.

Once I realized that this woman will not give me the breast soon after I refused the bottle, I relaxed; tasting the milk to see what good can come out of it! I even started biting the nipple on the third day.

Advice to Moms

Don’t panic! Be patient.

Getting babies to take the bottle is so easy. You don’t have to starve us into submission! That would be mean! Just relax about the whole thing. If you are planning on going back to work, start early say one month before you go back to work. That way, you will not be stressed out about it.

You can start with one bottle-feed of 15mls of formula on the first day. Increase to 2 bottle-feeds, also of 15mls on the second day. Remember that the feeding of this small quantity may take up to an hour and half on the first day. Come on, it’s not a long time to dedicate to baby! If the baby starts to cry so much, take a break and resume when he/she has calmed down.

Moms please, just buy one type of artificial nipple and stick to it. Just know that whenever you change nipples, we start the learning process afresh. You are making is harder for me and other babies.

Remember that when bottle feeding fails, you can cup-feed or spoon-feed your baby. But bottle-feeding is soo the best. Brother was better fed with feeding bottles. I can tell from the way he looks.

On the fifth day, I progressed to taking 3 sucks in one feeding, the rest of the time, Mom just let the formula drip into my mouth and I swallowed all of it. Sometimes I bite the artificial nipple just out of confusion. I am still trying to figure out this new ‘technology’.

Right now, I'm still biting on the artificial nipples sometimes. I will take it one day at a time. All I know is that at this rate, very soon, I will be a pro feeding-bottle sucker!

To Moms reading this, goodluck in your efforts in making your baby accept the bottle. Goodluck to the Dads as well ;)