Monday, September 20, 2010

Banning All Bottles

All of a sudden, Kaitlyn has decided she does not want to take a bottle.  Today I had to leave work in the afternoon to go nurse her because she had gone 6 hours without eating.  Starting at age 1 month, we would give her an occasional bottle, and she only refused one (because it was cold.)  When I brought her to Natalie's, the first day I went back to work on 9/1, she did not want to take that first bottle especially.  After that, she did okay, although it was not her favorite activity.  This past weekend, I was on-call for the hospital and (of course) had to go in for 4 hours both days.  Micah kept Kaitlyn and she absolutely did not want her bottle on Saturday (crying louder than she ever has.)  On Sunday, she took a little, got choked, and then refused the rest.  Perhaps the flow-rate is too fast for her?
Tonight Micah bought two new kinds of bottles- Dr. Browns and Playtex Drop-Ins.  So far, the Playtex one has not been effective.  She played with it a little, but did not get any milk out.  I have read that Mom is not the best person to give the bottle to baby because they can smell the breast milk, and prefer that of course.  I'm going to call the wonderful lactation consultant, Gayle, at Providence tomorrow to ask for further advice as well as the pediatrician.  I've read that if the baby is hungry enough, they will take it, but today, Kaitlyn proved this was not true for her.  She is stubborn enough to hold out for mom.
I'm not worried about her wasting away- the child has plenty of extra reserves.  It does stress me out to no end to know my baby is not okay when I"m off at work all day.  Makes me feel guilty.  Makes me feel really bad for Natalie.
Going back to work has brought on mixed emotions.  On the one hand, it's nice to do something different during the day twice a week, see all my patients, have adult conversations, make some money, use my skills etc..  On the other hand, it is painful to leave Kaitlyn.  I now know how working moms feel, especially when they want to be at home with their little ones.  I love my job and they have been more than accommodating with my hours/ days of the week etc., but my priorities have changed a bit in the last 3 months.  It's a hard switch when I used to be somewhat of a workaholic.
I know that there are numerous hurdles that will come up in raising a child.  This is one of the many things I will have to deal with- be persistent with.  I want to just breastfeed her whenever possible and not have to worry about her crying or not liking bottles.  I want to take the easy way out.  BUT, if I choose to work (and if I think I'm supposed to work), then the child will have to take some bottles.  It would also be nice for our date night (if we ever have one) and other occasions.  We will try again tomorrow.  Hopefully she will make some positive associations with the bottle and we will get past this resistance.  I'm praying so!

1 comment:

Mandy said...

so sorry! M refused when the flow was to slow and we had to switch to a faster nipple funny enough but either way it sure stinks! I have heard of people dipping the nipple in sugar to get the baby to take it :)