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January 2016 Moms
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Baby wanting to comfort suck after bottle - suggestions?

EmmyMommy123EmmyMommy123 member
in January 2016 Moms
DH gave babe (4 weeks tomorrow) a bottle of breast milk for the first time last night (3 oz). He said babe took it after only about 10 seconds of fighting it, but downed it in 5 minutes and then still acted like he was hungry and wouldn't fall asleep after an hour of DH trying to help him fall asleep. I got up and offered my breast and he sucked for not even two minutes before totally passing out. He woke up a few minutes after I put him down, but after a quick change, re Swaddle and another few minutes at the boob he was down for 4.5 hours! Only the second time he's slept that long.

So I realize it was only our first attempt, but it seems to me like babe was satisfied at the 3 oz but wanted to suck in order to fall asleep. I've tried offering a paci at different occasions and will keep trying, but he doesn't take it so far. That's my only thought - to have DH give babe a paci after he's finished the bottle. Maybe it would go better taking it from DH? 

Tonight I'll have DH give 5 oz and see if that makes a difference and suggest he offers a paci if babe is still sucking. 

I welcome any other suggestions!

FWIW I was ebf up until now, this nightly bottle is simply to get babe used to taking a bottle so DH gets some bonding time, I get a little extra sleep, and in the future we can go out and have someone babysit! 
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Re: Baby wanting to comfort suck after bottle - suggestions?

  • AchaeAchae member
    5 oz is a ton to give a baby, especially at such a young age. You should look into paced bottle feeding, it should take the same amount of time as if baby is at the breast. 

    I'd also try a different pacifier if comfort sucking is what he wants, maybe he just doesn't like the shape of which one you've been trying?
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  • ainversoainverso member
    They say a breast fed baby will only ever take 4 oz BC the body makes Breastmilk full of fat the baby needs. 5 oz is prob way too much. As for suggestions, I never offer there bottle as the feed before "bed" or a long stretch. I chose a time that baby is going to stay awake and play. Might not be the easiest to do though wither your dh work schedule if the goal is he is feeding baby
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  • PedsIsHardcorePedsIsHardcore member
    Breastfed babies eat more often than formula fed babies. Also instead of giving more formula, you should try a pacifier. I say that because that's how baby's soothe themselves, but it's our choice.
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  • EmmyMommy123EmmyMommy123 member
    I'm only giving pumped breast milk, not formula, and I'll stick with the 3 oz and have DH do the paced feeding and see how that goes and offer the paci after if he still wants to suck. I'd only said the 5 oz as I'd read of other babies eating that much at 4 weeks, but like I said I thought he was satisfied with 3 and just wanted to suck but since he did take a bit more then 3 at the breast afterwards maybe the extra 2 oz would be a good option if the 3 wasn't enough. Now that I know about paced feeding I can appreciate he'd probably drink all 5 whether he needed it or not. Thankfully I get a really good pumping yield so we can play around with amounts. 

    I have tried a few pacifiers and babe seemed ok with one I offered today but after a minute would spit it out (improvement over totally gagging over other ones). Maybe DH will have more success since with me babe knows the boob is readily available over a paci.

    Thanks for the suggestions!
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