Friday, September 26, 2008

Bottle woes

When Aliza was first born--OK, not first born but a few weeks old--we gave her a bottle and celebrated the fact that she took it without a problem. Just one more example of how she is an easygoing little girl. Now that she is older she doesn't like to take the bottle anymore. During the day, on the few occasions I've left her, she'll fuss and cry but eventually, with much coaxing and probably out of pure hunger, she'll eat from the bottle. But nighttime, when I'm away at class and Russ is alone with her, is an entirely different story.

Last night, according to him, she cried for the better part of an hour. That might sound normal to some of you moms out there, but for my little love bug it is NOT normal. In the end, she fell asleep without eating anything. Now, I know she's not starving.....not by any stretch. I also know that part of the problem is that she just won't nap. Not for lack of effort on my part. I've been getting in the habit of putting her in her sleep sack, playing her quiet music and laying her down in the crib in the mid afternoon. Nothing doing. Yesterday she wailed so loud that you would have thought I was beating her over the head with a stick. And, yes, I did try to wait it out. I lasted quite awhile actually. So, by the time she got to bedtime last night, she had literally been awake since 7:30 in the morning with a ten minute cat nap all day long. Of course she was exhausted, and that might have had something to do with her not wanting the bottle.

This worries me though. My mother in law and I spent some time looking at the various nipples I have. We discovered that they are long. Really long. I don't have other bottles around to compare, but the ones I use definitely look rather long at the top. I don't know if that has anything to do with the current situation.....or maybe it's because we don't use bottles enough. She's used to her mommy and she's used to having her mommy right when she needs her. Maybe she just doesn't like the plastic in her mouth, she never did take to a pacifier either. My thought is that I have to get her used to a bottle because, eventually the day will come when I will return to work and she will have to take a bottle.

Here's the thing, there's no user manual on a baby. It's one of those situations where I really am not sure what to do. The only thing I am sure of is that it is probably not the first time I will be saying that! My thought was to have her practice taking a bottle during the day. When she is not quite so tired or hungry. I told Russ that we HAVE to do that this weekend. My other thought was that maybe it's time for her to get a bottle a little more frequently throughout the week. Maybe I need to let go a little bit and have Russ feed her when he comes home.

I just hope we resolve this situation. As it is, Russ gets himself all geared up when he has to take care of her, I don't want her screaming every time she's alone with her daddy. Not only for her sake, or for his sake, but also for mine.

5 comments:

vek said...

I heard her screaming yesterday - down a flight of stairs and through the phone. I understand knowing that bottles and naps need to happen. I think a plan is great and implementing these things as a duo will be better - one of you is not suffering the crying alone then.

Good luck!

~Nessa

Kelli said...

Oh Li, I imagine this to be one of the toughest things -- the whole no manual thing -- and am sending luck to you, Russ & Aliza for a successful weekend -- full of naps AND bottles!

(Also, my little love bug? Cutest nickname ever.)

Dianna said...

That is so hard! You seem to have a good plan of action! I have heard that some kids just need to go through a few different bottles/nipple styles before finding one they like...

I too have a kiddo who fights naps at times...sometimes I finally just have to give in to the swing or bouncer to help naps happen for all of us! :)

Good luck!!! Hope to see you in a few weeks!

Luv, Dianna and co.

Kim Tracy Prince said...

It is good for her to cry and scream when with Daddy. He will appreciate your work much more.

Wendy said...

We had the same problem with Ali, and I'd be happy to share how we made the transition from breastfeeding to that and bottle...