Mallory Milestone...
Mallory took a bottle for the first time just now! Kind of important as Josh is going to be the stay at home parent after I return to work, and I want her to have a full year of milk. So, for those of you trying to do something similar... (warning, uninterested men should quit reading this post now)
Pick a time of day when you know your baby will be calm and express before hand. Offer her the fresh bottle and not part of your existing stash. Make sure there is a little milk on the nipple so she knows what she's getting and aim for the roof of her mouth. It took about five minutes for her to catch on. Also, feed her in a different place then where you breast feed.
We're just going to do one bottle a day for a week or two; and then by the end of Josh's drill, I want her to be up to two bottles and then three before I go back to work. I'm also doing one extra pump a day for now. I want four or five feedings stored for the first day back at work; then I want four or five feedings for baby sitting or emergencies.
Things I've learned... go for the "slow" nipple or baby will wolf down the bottle and you're more likely going to have a spit up episode. Every one needs to be calm. We tried Sunday night to give her a bottle so I could have a full night sleep, and Josh could be more involved. That didn't work well because we don't have the warm the bottle/feeding timing worked out yet. I'll let you know if we experience nipple confusion or not; and how we decide to deal with it.
Update: I heard somewhere that it is impossible to feed ones baby too much breastmilk. Somewhere should stand corrected. Mallory lost a meal and then some this evening; no fever; nothing. And so, the hotline nurse suggested that I feed her smaller amounts... So, I had to ask, "How does one know how much one is feeding her?" The nurse elaborated and said 20 minutes should be sufficient... well, we already do 20 minutes at a time; so we're going to try, try, to cut her off at 15. And the doctor wonders how my baby gained a pound after being home for three days.
Pick a time of day when you know your baby will be calm and express before hand. Offer her the fresh bottle and not part of your existing stash. Make sure there is a little milk on the nipple so she knows what she's getting and aim for the roof of her mouth. It took about five minutes for her to catch on. Also, feed her in a different place then where you breast feed.
We're just going to do one bottle a day for a week or two; and then by the end of Josh's drill, I want her to be up to two bottles and then three before I go back to work. I'm also doing one extra pump a day for now. I want four or five feedings stored for the first day back at work; then I want four or five feedings for baby sitting or emergencies.
Things I've learned... go for the "slow" nipple or baby will wolf down the bottle and you're more likely going to have a spit up episode. Every one needs to be calm. We tried Sunday night to give her a bottle so I could have a full night sleep, and Josh could be more involved. That didn't work well because we don't have the warm the bottle/feeding timing worked out yet. I'll let you know if we experience nipple confusion or not; and how we decide to deal with it.
Update: I heard somewhere that it is impossible to feed ones baby too much breastmilk. Somewhere should stand corrected. Mallory lost a meal and then some this evening; no fever; nothing. And so, the hotline nurse suggested that I feed her smaller amounts... So, I had to ask, "How does one know how much one is feeding her?" The nurse elaborated and said 20 minutes should be sufficient... well, we already do 20 minutes at a time; so we're going to try, try, to cut her off at 15. And the doctor wonders how my baby gained a pound after being home for three days.
posted by Consecutive Odds @ 5:08 PM
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