bottle drama

FtrMrsC

Today was ds2's first day at daycare. He refused the bottle and took in at most 1.5oz of pumped milk. 8oz wasted. He used to take the bottle no problem but we only offered it occasionally since I EBF. Now my dcp tells me I should go straight to only bottles at home to so he gets used to it. I know it was only one day but I start back to work next week and I'm stressing. Tried many nipples/bottles:-( he's almost 5months. Any advice? He will be in daycare 3 days a week.

litzo27

She is telling you to switch from Ebf while at home to EP?? I think that's very bad advice. Like you said, its only one day and he is going through a major adjustment. In fact he is likely to reverse cycle, nurse more at night to make up for lack of intake during the day.
And why is it 8oz wasted? Make sure to make small bottles to start - 2oz. Plus they can be offered again within the hour. They should experiment with temperatures, positions, etc. If he took the bottle before he certainly will again. Good luck.

FtrMrsC

litzo27 said:

She is telling you to switch from Ebf while at home to EP?? I think that's very bad advice. Like you said, its only one day and he is going through a major adjustment. In fact he is likely to reverse cycle, nurse more at night to make up for lack of intake during the day. And why is it 8oz wasted? Make sure to make small bottles to start - 2oz. Plus they can be offered again within the hour. They should experiment with temperatures, positions, etc. If he took the bottle before he certainly will again. Good luck.

Yes she wants me to EP and I told her that I won't do that.  My supply is crap as it is and I love our BFing time together. He previously would take 4oz in a bottle so I made frozen bags in those amounts for her.  That is why 8oz was wasted.  Today I pumped fresh while he was there so I'll give her some smaller bottles tomorrow.  She said she tried all types of positions and such.  My husband tried to give him a bottle tonight to see if what had worked in the past for him would work again, and he threw a fit.  I ended up nursing him. We went through this with DS#1 and I think he went like 1-2 weeks with minimal eating until it just clicked.  Someone suggested a sippy.  Not sure if he would take that either since he is so young though....

cedenton

It's totally normal for them to not want to eat as much. it could take a couple of weeks for him to adjust, but he will. Tell her to keep trying and mind her own business about BF'ing.

thedash

Whoa I would be pissed that she told you to stop nursing. Like maybe pissed enough to find a new DCP. He will certainly adjust. Check out kellymom.com for some advice and print some of it for your DCP. Hang in there!

Amelia4

The one thing that finally worked for us was for me to wear a shirt overnight, then send that shirt to daycare so they could wrap my LO in it when they fed him.  My smell at bottle time is what finally got it to click (3 days in).  Then after a few more days, he didn't need the shirt anymore.  It's worth a shot, and definitely don't EP at home for the convenience of DCP.  They'll figure it out.  Just try to not stress too much (easier said than done, I know!)

jennyelf

Agree with all that there is no way you should EP just for your DCP's convenience. My LO also bottle fought for the first week or so at DC and just nursed more when he got home to me. After a few weeks it was a lot better, but in the first few days, I think he probably ate 2-3 oz slowly upping to 9-10 oz a day by the end of the first month.

honeybee111

While definitely stressful, I think it's normal for babies to eat less when they are adjusting to daycare.  DD barely ate for the first week when I returned to work.  Our nanny was so patient and good about trying different strategies to get her to take the bottle, which was hard when DD was basically screaming all day.  I don't think your daycare provider is being very helpful.  DS will only take the bottle if the milk and nipple are warm and he has to be held in a BFing position.

JWSchwarz

DS was a bottle refuser and I did have to pump and try to give him a bottle when I first picked him up. Otherwise, he will just hold out all day because he knows you will nurse him right when you get him. You can try one ounce of bottle and then breast...it doesn't have to be all or nothing but I strongly believe it would help to try at least one bottle at the same time each day at home one time. Like I said, it doesn't have to be a full feeding, just a 1/2 or 1 ounce. I don't think your DCP had ill intent with her advice and I wouldn't be pissed or they'll be less willing to work with you. I did this and BF for 15 months, so if you have a quality double electric pump it shouldn't really effect your supply if it's just an ounce a day for a couple of weeks until he comes around to taking bottles. It might actually help your supply if you pump some first and then feed him as it will trigger you to produce more. The BF board and Amy G might have some more solid advice on that. dS ended up cluster feeding all night until he was 6 months old and then he started taking bottles. Just keep up the pumping at work and he will eventually come around! What helped was having daycare have the room completely silent and feeding him in a bouncer while he was distracted by toys. Might have them try that. Good luck, I've been there and know how hard it is!!

Netty_3

Just do what you're doing.  Having him BF at home will help keep your supply up. It'll get better.

FtrMrsC

Thanks ladies for all the support. I've been making smaller bottles. Dh had success yesterday swaddling him to feed him so he couldn't push the bottles away. It took a while but he finished 2oz then ate 2 more with no fuss. Hopefully my dcp can try the same thing.