Im sure my DS wont starve himself but i am nervous to leave him

[QueenVictoria]

tomorrow night with DP for the big MN Xmas meet up because he wont take a bottle of EBM. He last did it at about 3 weeks old.

He puts it in his mouth, does a few sucks and spits it out in disgust. (which as it happens is what he has been doing with most solids too). He is 31 weeks/7 1/2 mths. Then has has a huge hissy fit.

I have to leave at about 5.30-6pm ish to get there so i could do his last feed of the day then (instead of 6.30pm 7ish). However, he does sometimes stir in the evening/early morning for a feed (probably due to the not taking solids).

Someone please reassure me or give me some good advice to DP or i cant go.

Perhaps huge crying episode that is difficult to comfort him from is better description than "hissy fit"........

check it whether he like it cold/ warm/ very warm

He definitely dont like it cold - its taken so long sometimes that its stone cold by the time we have finished trying.

When my DP has tried before to bottle feed him he just sits with the milk in his mouth and makes horrible chocking/gargling/screaming noises.

.

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tell dp that if he has any problems while you're out, there's a good web site he can go on for tips, think its called mumsnet or something!

sure there'll be people on there that can talk him through what to do

I had this problem with dd at about the same age. I bought a free flow cup and just poured the milk into her mouth. It was slow but worked. After doing that for about 10 days she suddenly 'got it' and started slurping away happily.

Saying that though, she was having 2 bf per day and was taking solids well so I wasn't worried about her starving herself.

have you tried a newborn slow flow teat - my dd2 found that acceptable

i don't bf but i have heard that at your ds's age, maybe skip the bottle altogether, try the ebm in a cup?

Ta essbee - lucykate

sorry - just on my way out essbee - he takes solids intermittently. One time he'll spit them out and then he wont. Mostly he spits it out.

He wont take a bottle, a cup a dummy or any such like. Gave him a baby biscuit thingy today out of desperation and he sucked it chewed it, then spat it out. HE doesnt want anything in his mouth except boob it seems. Maybe cold turkey is the way to go but my DP is panicking and he's not very patient/relaxed which doesnt help i think.

honestly the newborn teats help as they have to wrok harder to get anything out of it

Have tried slow flow, fast flow (i have huge let down reflex), nuk, avent, magicup,some italian bebe confit one, tommy tippee cup. Nothing.

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He seems to not like the feel of it in his mouth judging by the disgusted look on his face. Even the nuk one thats supposed to be just like a nipple. He does the same with solids. He looks like ive just fed him bitter allows or something.

Will try the slow flow again but he isnt interested in sucking in the first place he just doesnt want it in his mouth full stop. Have even tried spoon feeding him ebm.

is this a boy thing or something? i never had this with my DD.

x posts essbee!

I had to do semi cold turkey with dd. Before weaning she was bf an awful lot. I used to just feed her whenever she seemed to be hungry but when trying to introduce solids I rationed the milk a bit more, she didn't mind as she was really only comforting rather than taking on milk.

I started to stick to about 4 bf during the day and timed them so that she didn't take the edge off her appetite with milk.

Once she was eating solids well I cut back the bf to 2 per day, intending to replace the other 2 feeds with formula. I stuck to this for about 10 days just giving her 2 bf plus lots of yoghurt then, as I said before, she just seemed to accept it and drank her formula from a cup quite happily from then on.

Dd was the same btw, I had every cup, bottle, teat etc under the sun in the house. Had tried to get her to have ebm for months and months but had to get tough when i went back to work.

Make sure the teat is warm too, get your dp to be as relaxed as possible, wrap baby up in something snuggly and warm, pop the teat in and out of his mouth a little at first to get his hunger pangs working.

Chances are, if you feed him well before you go out, and tuck him in bed nice and warm, he shouldn't need any more. On your last feed you could try giving him a little from the bottle then, and your breast, alternating, so he associates it with you and breastfeeding.

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My ds is the same age and refuses to take a bottle or have anything to do with any teat or spout in any shape or form. He is fine taking liquids straight from an open cup however. The spoon feeding idea could also work.
If I were you I'd just give him his last feed a bit earlier as you planned and just go ..... the worst that will happen is that your dp has a bit of a rough ride with all the crying - the chances are he will settle eventually and may even take some milk.

How long will you be leaving him for, QV? Just the evening? When you usually feed him at 6.30pm, does he then go to sleep for the night? If so, could you do the feed then, then get to the meetup a bit later?

If you are only leaving him for the evening, he really won't starve - worst he will do is cry a lot, it won't do him any harm.

Get your dp a MN login so he can ask for help !! Seriously, your baby will be fine. feed him just before you leave, leave some ebm in fridge just in case and enjoy your night out !

Definitely agree re trying a cup. The Boots first cup is good (free-flowing, but not too fast and spluttery).

What I did (and it's probably really frowned upon) was unlatch him and slide the bottle into his mouth - he'd suck a bit, then get cross, so I'd relatch him and then do it again. Felt like evil mother, but it worked

ooh, hunkersneakermunker!!!