How did this happen? Having a baby breaks all sense of linear views of time and existence. I feel like I've loved her forever, but at the same time, it seems like just a few weeks ago that I met her. Now, we have been through a lot in her short lifetime: numerous roadtrips, multiple international flights, and multiple moves. Unbelievably, she really hasn't made any of this much harder. She nursed and slept and smiled through most of it.
Breastfeeding has been so effortless this time. I'm not bragging, believe me, with Ian it was rough for the first 3 months. With Eva, it was very natural, the way every woman thinks it should be. It was so easy and great, that I didn't bother giving her a bottle more than twice. I really just couldn't manage it on top of everything else going on. But, I am trying to prepare her for my yoga class, so I have to do something by August 30.
With Ian, I followed the conventional advice of introducing the bottle at 6 weeks. I gave him one bottle a day for about 6 weeks and then only when needed after that. He never had a problem. Another friend has a newborn and was asking about introducing the bottle. I did a quick kellymom search and found lots of links. I decided to check them out myself and found another plan of attack. Between 4-6 months, a baby can usually handle a sippy cup and it is often easier for a baby this age to accept it than a bottle. I really wanted to try out those Adiri bottles, but perhaps the cup method would work better. Today, I pumped 2.75 oz (in 25 minutes). I went out and bought some Platex First Sipster cups. They are cheap, BPA-free and the Playtex sippy cup lines is highly rated on Z Recommends.
I can also start thinking about solids for her. She loves to watch me eat so I think she will take them earlier than Ian did, but we'll see. Last night, I realized I need to get Ian out of the highchair. I still have him in it because the tray confines the mess, but he doesn't use a highchair when we are out and didn't at my parents' house, so he doesn't need it. He does, however, need to be transitioned out of it. So, last night, I told him that he needed to pick a new place at the table.
When Curt gets home we will be experimenting with my 2.75 oz. I'll report back later...
7 comments:
Thomas started with his sippy cup around 5 months. We also purchased the Playtex First Sipster. I never thought of it until now, but he also started refusing his bottles of pumped breast milk at that time! He loved his sippy cup, we were really surprised with how quickly and easily he took to it. However we lost it in Bali when he was around 9-10 months old and he began drinking with a straw as a result. Now he is great with a straw, but I bought a 4pack of silicone tubes used in the nasal suction devices. They are long and flexible, and can be sterilized and cleaned easily with the long brush that comes with them. So we always try to take one with us when we go out.He is starting to drink from a cup a bit more, but prefers the straw.
Hope things go well with Eva! Cheers!
That is encouraging to know! She drank from the Playex Sipster tonight, but probably spit more out than she got in. We also tried a bottle and she chewed on it. She got a bit and spilled less. I think I just need to divide my precious milk into smaller amounts to prevent waste as she learns.
I love that photo of K and Eva! I think if we were going to stay here longer, she would be his little girlfriend! Hahahha. Her dress was cue!!!!
Wow, Eva looks so grown up in these pictures. Very cute. Time sure flies.... wish I could have gotten in on the cuteness. When I return....
Eva and Kareem are so cute together. Just gives us another excuse for an Australian holiday!
Yes, Grace needs to join us. It is not fair to let Eva have all these handsome boys by herself.
I started Graham on a sippy cup at 3.5 months. I had people telling me I would mess up his mouth and that I would cause him to have speech problems and ironically enough some of these same people never breastfed and still have their 17 month olds on bottles. Whatever. We bought a soft spout cup at EMart (don't know the name brand but it was the only one there so it would be easy to find). We later transitioned to the Sipster one at the PX and now we use the straw sippies. Graham only had a bottle a couple of times as an infant.
Honor was trickier to breastfeed than her big brother, but easier to transition to real food. She wanted solid foods - and would mimic our eating movements(!) - by the time she was 4mos. Brian could have done without for several months for the 6mo point in which I tried to introduce solids. Both rejected baby foods very early and went right to real food as soon as they could. They each had their own agendas and there was not much learning from one to the next... they kept changing things!
btw... I had to take Honor to get a couple of cavities filled. The dentist immediately launched into a (well-intentioned) lecture about long term breast-feeding, drinking breastmilk, bottles etc. as contributing to dental problems. I didn't argue, just pointed out that the benefits outweighed the 'risks'. (which I've read to be unfounded, btw). Dentist didn't have anything to lecture about with big brother's perfect teeth - and he nursed, used bottles, used sippy cups just as much as Honor. It's genetic - don't worry about it if you start hearing about bottle, breast and cup controversy from your Drs! :D
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