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Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Infant feeding

Am I mad to be away from my 7mo bottle refusnik DS for 7 hours?

14 replies

TittyBojangles · 23/05/2011 19:59

DS will be 7mo when I am going to do a keeping in touch day at work. My Mum will be looking after him. He has never successfully taken a bottle, hardly drinks from his sippy cup and is BLW. I work too far away for my Mum to bring him in to me to feed during the day.

Ok, so I know he won't die of malnutition in this time, but does anyone have any tips on how I can make this less stressful for him and my Mum?

Any ideas/experiences gratefully received!

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harecare · 23/05/2011 20:05

How old is he now? If it's next week then your Mum and him may have a tough day. If it's still a while away then get him used to the sippy cup and make sure there is some food that he'll be happy with. It is possible to BLW and have spoon fed cereal for breakfast and yoghurt and it'll be a lot easier for him and your Mum if there is something you know he'll definitely eat.

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TittyBojangles · 23/05/2011 20:13

Its next week. He has his sippy cup with every meal, but doesn't get any great volume from it cos he insists on holding it himself and can't tip it back far enough. He'll have the odd sip with me holding it before he gets his hands on it, but no where near enough for a proper milk feed.

I will of course send food he'll definately eat and he manages yoghurt etc on a spoon pretty well himself. I have nothing against my Mum trying to spoon feed him - whatever makes it easier for her/him, but I think she'll struggle, he just takes whatever you have and feeds himself (unless I send him in a straight jacket??)

Appreciate your reply harecare.

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harecare · 23/05/2011 20:42

It sounds like he'll be fine. Give him a really good milk feed before you leave and then presumably he can have a snack, lunch and snack before you return to give him another big milk feed. You could always do a bit of a practise one day this week. Will he nap OK without a feed? If so then I'm sure he'll be fine - or your Mum can take him for a walk.

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Cosmosis · 23/05/2011 21:11

I think he'll probably accept spoon feeding from your mum. DS refused a spoon from us, but then when he started childcare, refused milk from her at first but accepted a spoon quite happily.

Would you be able to leave if it really did go tits up at home?

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TittyBojangles · 23/05/2011 21:20

I will try and squeeze 2 feeds in before I leave him. And leave plenty of food so my Mum can give him that whenever suits her/him. I am planning on trying this out on Saturday though not sure if it'll be an accurate prediction of his behaviour if I am still around... maybe I should go out and leave him with DH?? Though I think my Mum is likely to deal with any problems much better than my DH , she's great!

He never feeds to sleep so naps shouldnt be any problem and he does take a dummy so that may end up being used a bit more than usual (normally only has it for daytime naps out of the house and not in the buggy).

Cosmosis - interesting about accepting spoonfeeding from someone else... hadn't really thought of that. TBH I think he probably gets as much in as he's going to on his own but it might make things less worrisome for my Mum if she is able to get a bit of food/milk in him this way. And yes I could come home if things were going really badly, though it'd take about an hour, but I suspect my Mum would only resort to that if DS's leg was hanging off or something... like I said, she's great. But then again, she's never looked after my DS (other than babysitting twice while he was asleep)

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Cosmosis · 23/05/2011 21:28

I think best to give give her loads of different options to try, even if it's just for her peace of mind.

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TittyBojangles · 23/05/2011 21:44

I agree, will give her some ebm, 2 different bottles and sippy cup, and plenty of food. He'll probably go and take a bottle from her, cos she's not really someone to be messed with!

Has anyone else done something similar and had a baby who's been fine/not fine with it?

Like I said, I'm not REALLY worried about DS, I think he'll be fine (though would rather have bf I'm sure), it's more about how I can make my Mum's life easier really.

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harecare · 23/05/2011 21:51

At that age I had to work weekends. I would feed DD before I left - 9am, she'd be fine for lunch and then be brought to me for a 2:45 feed. She'd have probably been OK with a snack then as a one off, but it was possible to have her brought to me so that's what I did.

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TittyBojangles · 23/05/2011 21:54

Good to hear harecare, thanks. It is only a one off so I'm hoping DS/my Mum will cope.

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harecare · 23/05/2011 22:32

And DD never took a bottle, but would drink from a tippee cup, not as much as a milk feed though (although how would I knew how much she drank while BF??)

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runnyhabbit · 23/05/2011 22:40

We went through something similar with ds2. He wouldn't take a bottle/cup from either me or dh. However, my mum was a different story
I think the fact ds2 was at my mums home and I wasn't around (so couldn't smell me iyswim) meant that the only way he would get my milk, was from the bottle (found the tommee tippee ones very good)

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TittyBojangles · 24/05/2011 09:10

Good to hear runnyhabbit, thats what I'm hoping for. I have the TT bottles and breastflow. Can always send a syringe too so I know he won't starve. Just might be a bit... grumpy?

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Indith · 24/05/2011 09:21

I had a full day training when dd was 5 months so not even started on solids yet. Every single day for a while efore I gave her a bottle at a time I knew she was hungry and wasn't stressed out by anything. For me that was when she had just woken form a nap in the afternoon, if I got her while she was still sleepy she didn't complain as much!

I found that if I tried to get her to take one by sending her out with dh it just resulted in everyone getting stressed because he would think he had to give her it so might try when she wasn't hungry and she would scream. Tears all round.

I think the most she had taken by the day of the training was 3oz at once but at least I knew she would take it even if it was little and often or just enough to stave off hunger until I came home. As it was I fed her before I went then she had a big bottle mid day and then pretty much waited for me! She was fine though, chilled out and playing, no tears or drama.

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TittyBojangles · 01/06/2011 23:02

An update for anyone who's intersted/searching the archives...

We had a trial day on Saturday with DS being left with DH, he went from 9am til I woke him at 5.45pm with only 10ml of milk from a syringe (lots of solids tho) and was FINE.

Did my KIT day at work today and DS went from 7.30am to 4pm, although I was only away from him from 9am, with no milk (even more solids tho, he STUFFED his face) and was FINE.

So I guess the moral of the story is to not worry and they won't starve. Of course if he decides to wak 3 times tonight to make up for it I may change my mind.