Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Bottle Battle

David went out of town for the week for work. He left on Sunday, and this week my mission will be to get Elliott to drink from a bottle. When Elliott was small he had a few bottles here and there. David fed him when I went to yoga, sitters fed him when David and I went out, and so I considered the bottle thing "learned". And so, for the last three or four months, I have become a little lazy. He stays home with me during the day, and if I leave he comes with me too, so rather than pump and bring bottles, I just bring a blanket with us to cover up with and feed him. This, my friends, was a very stupid thing to do.

I am planning to go with some friends to Chicago the weekend after David gets back. I am terrified to leave. Not because David isn't perfectly capable of caring for his son, or because I am afraid something terrible will happen, but because I have no idea how easy or monstrous Elliott will be once I leave in someone else's car and drive five hours away for two days. Poor David could have the easiest baby on earth, or a little t-rex just waiting to happen.

I thought that we would start a routine a few nights ago, so I gave David a bottle and had him deal with Elliott at the 10 pm feeding. Elliott did fine for a few minutes, but then he started clamping down on the nipple and chewing on the bottle and his fingers. He forgot all about being hungry and instead decided to figure out the chemical composition of the silicone nipple using only his jaws. David came back up with a nearly full bottle and Elliott went back to sleep, and I have been practicing ever since.

On two occasions he drank the entire bottle in one shot. Every other time he does what he did to David that first time, gnawing on the end of the bottle. I'm sure he'd figure it out if he was hungry enough, except that sometimes he loses his mind when he's too hungry and screams until you give him what he wants. I have tried different bottle/nipple combinations and can't get consistent results. He knows how to drink from a bottle- I figured this out by giving him watered down juice, which he gobbled down in five seconds- but he just doesn't usually want to.

Any of you have any tips or advice on this?

1 comment:

Tiffany said...

I did the same thing. I had Bradley used to a bottle when he was really young and thought he would stay good with it even after taking a 4-5 month break from any sort of bottle. I never got him back on one when I weaned him, he refused it. He drinks his formula from a sippy cup only because he chews on the bottle too. I like the nuby veriflow sippy cups and the first years(?) disposible looking ones too. that kind doesnt require as much work but that is what daycare uses and he likes that kind too. I think on my facebook i have a picture of him drinking out of one if you want to check it out. it is worth a try...