7 hour bottle feeding protest/ refusal

[boardingschoolbaby]

Ds 5 and a half months has been dbf, but I return to work at the start of dec, so have started giving him a few teaspoons of mashed veg each morning between breakfast and elevenses, and a bottle of expressed milk for his 6pm feed to start getting him used to everything so it is not all new at once in a different environment etc. This has been going really well and I was feeling good about going back to work.

However, yesterday we had a wedding to attend of a really great friend in London so decided that this was a great time to leave him for the first time with Granny who he knows really well, and we have all spent a lot of time at her house.

She collected him after his elevenses and we got back to hers just after 8pm. In that time he had refused every bottle, had about 1 teaspoon of veggies that she had made in desperation to try and get something into him, and refused the zippy cup that the bought to try and give him fluids (boiled water).

I am now really worried about going bcd to work as I know that he CAN use a bottle but if he is refusing then I can't in good conscience let him go from 8 to 5.30 with nothing to eat.

He didn't seem upset last night, and just had a big feed when i picked him up, and one before bed, slept through from 11 to 8.30am and then had his first feed as normal so it doesn't seem to be bothering him, but how do I get him to accept it from other people?

or what else should I try?

We have tried every type of bottle, and the only ones he accepts are Dr Browns. I have an avent sippy cup that he plays with in his high chair but he won't actually drink from it, my mum bought a tommy tippee one which he refused.

sorry does dbf mean exclusively breast fed? It could just be a one off, maybe he was teething or slightly poorly? Will he take bottles from your dp?

I would say the main thing is not to panic as he will pick up on the anxiety. Where will he be going when you are at work?

It's probably a very different scenario, since my dd never took a bottle after four months. Anyway, I was dead worried as well about going back to work when she was 6 months old, not taking bottles and not really drinking from cups. She was totally fine on solids (I wrote a thread a while ago about what to feed her) and now even has about 100 ml of milk from an open cup. I am sure you'll find something that works for you.

Sorry yes dbf should be ebf. I got myself all worked up into a bit of a state about it all this morning when I typed out the message.

He will be half an hour by car away from my work.

My ds only started eating solids with enthusiasm when he started nursery, the nursery nurse was very confident she would be able to get him to eat and she was right! Anyway thats kind of beside the point but if he is at a nursery or with an experienced childminder I imagine it will be fine and they will probably have strategies for this kind of thing, so long as he can normally take a bottle from you thats probably the main thing.

Btw nursery or childminder is very different to a family member who is a bit rusty at being in sole charge of a baby for a whole day. If it is family member looking after him they prob just need a little more time to build up more confidence together without you there.

I don't think it is practical for you to dash back from work to feed him that will just set up an idea in his head that you will always do that. slowly increasing the length of time you leave him with nursery or carer is a good idea though. If its practical you could start the settling in process a little earlier than planned so before you actually go back to work?

In a way it might not be worthwhile getting lots of different people feeding him over the next month unless its the person/ nursery who will be looking after him? Prob better just to concentrate on making him comfortable with feeding and trying new tastes. Try to make it as low stress as possible, maybe even fun if thats possible

5 and a half months is very different to 6 and half months when it comes to weaning, he might be a little more comfortable with cups and solids by December and the bottle will be less of an issue particularly if you let him bf freely when you are at home from work.

The other thing is sometimes breastmilk can taste funny if frozen, I found with mine that fresh ebm was more popular so tried to have fresh milk and defrosted back up milk behind that in the fridge when my dc were babies being looked after by my mum.

Thanks giraffe, I think you are right. I am my mums "baby" so it is a long time since she had done it. I think I will speak to the lady who runs the nursery that he will be going to and see what she suggests- as you say they will be far more knowledgeable.
The milk wasn't frozen, but had been in the fridge for the 2 and a half days that it took to stockpile it.

I guess I won't bother trying to freeze a large stash prior to my return then if he is even more likely to refuse that!

I couldn't find the info on frozen milk changing taste but these pages on kellymom might be worth a quick scan if you haven't already found this. They suggest refrigerated milk is best and have a small back up of frozen for emergencies.

storing expressed milk

taste of expressed milk

separation anxiety

bottle feeding a breastfed baby - this might not be that relevant because you have already managed to bottle feed him successfully

Thank you so much for all that info. Armed with lots of advice and a smudge more confidence we decided to "ride it out" over the weekend, only offering bottles of expressed milk at every normal feed time, and hourly after that as he refused them.

Eventually he gave in- it took six and a half hours, and for the last two days has happily had a breast feed when he wakes up and before bed, and expressed bottles for every other.

It was worth the one day of doom and guilt.