Yesterday was a day that I had both been looking forward to and dreading, we tried our first bottle. I was looking forward to the possibility of some freedom again. Yet I was dreading the thought of it not working or Nathan not wanting to nurse anymore afterwards.
Well, the deed was done. And Nathan was confused for about a minute. Then the little boy that has a high need to suck and will try to suck anything figured out that "hey food comes from this thing." Really he will suck anything, the back of his own hand is a favorite as is the hand or arm of anyone holding him. So there was very little drama at all. If anyone was unprepared it was me. I had no idea how much he ate because we've never used a bottle, so I figured 4 ounces would be plenty. But he downed the first 2 ounces, and drank the other 2. Any other expressed milk was frozen, so he came to me for dessert and ate some more. Daniel is quite proud of how adaptable Nathan was, he drank from two different bottles and then nursed again without flinching. And I was proud that I didn't cry when all I could think was "my baby doesn't need me anymore."
Then Nathan was all, "I'm four weeks old and I can feed my self. I don't need you mom, I'll even hold this bottle on my own."
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Well, the deed was done. And Nathan was confused for about a minute. Then the little boy that has a high need to suck and will try to suck anything figured out that "hey food comes from this thing." Really he will suck anything, the back of his own hand is a favorite as is the hand or arm of anyone holding him. So there was very little drama at all. If anyone was unprepared it was me. I had no idea how much he ate because we've never used a bottle, so I figured 4 ounces would be plenty. But he downed the first 2 ounces, and drank the other 2. Any other expressed milk was frozen, so he came to me for dessert and ate some more. Daniel is quite proud of how adaptable Nathan was, he drank from two different bottles and then nursed again without flinching. And I was proud that I didn't cry when all I could think was "my baby doesn't need me anymore."
Then Nathan was all, "I'm four weeks old and I can feed my self. I don't need you mom, I'll even hold this bottle on my own."
Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Hehe... Love it! I remember this period with Auggie, and despite reading about bottle feeding techniques with breastfed babies like letting them turn to the nipple, we just stuffed it in his mouth because that's the only thing that worked. And like Nathan, Auggie downed his bottles. Now you can leave the house without your baby!! Maybe some extra pumping equipment, but hey - freedom is freedom!
ReplyDeleteHe still needs you, Katie. He will always need you. :-) But you do get a little more freedom, and feeding him on the go won't mean always finding a spot to hide. Or nursing sitting on the toilet without a lid in a public restroom. Not the most fun...
ReplyDelete