Monday, May 25, 2009

HELP!

I am looking for suggestions, all you moms (and dads) out there. We cannot get Selah to take a bottle. Never have been able to. (We waited to offer it too long- like 3 months.) We had this trouble with Noah, as well. But we were able to get him to drink out of a sippy cup -at 2 months old it was pretty funny looking. I was in school, though, so we didn't have a choice & it was only 2 or 3 feedings a week. It worked okay. Sometimes he would miss a feeding, but he was big and healthy so it was fine.
Well, tried that trick with Selah. Didn't work. She just chews on the cup like she does the bottle. And like she does a straw cup-although she does take an occasional sip from the straw. Today I even tried letting her sip it from a cup. That has had the best result, yet. But still resulted in less than a half ounce of consumption for 10 minutes of "sipping."
Now they say they won't starve, but I don't think that they have met Selah, yet. This child STILL cries herself to sleep at every nap and at night. It has been about SEVEN MONTHS of this. It took use 2 months of offering her cereal to get her to eat it. TWO MONTHS! And for the last 2 or 3 weeks it was 2-3 tries a day!
If you are wondering why this is such a big deal, well there are a couple of reasons. The first is that the doctor feels that it is imperative that I stop nursing because I am pregnant. And when I went in to my last appt, and admitted that I had not weaned her yet, I was told, I HAD to, immediately. The reason I hadn't weaned her? (Besides that she won't take a bottle?). Because my researched showed there to be ABSOLUTELY NO RISK to a healthy pregnancy. Certain conditions make it riskier, none of which ail me. So when she told me that I HAD to, I said, "really?" Not trying to be smart, just surprised because of my research. Her words were, "REALLY. Unless of course you don't care if you miscarry.". Okay, then. Way to make me feel like a bad mom! Of course I care! An unplanned pregnancy does not equal an unwanted child!
So I left her office upset and resigned to weaning. But by the time I got home and relayed this info to Bryan, I was determined to find SOMETHING that made this risky. There is nothing. Ther is no research that has been able to link nursing while pregnant with a higher rate of miscarriage. There is a slightly higher rate of premature delivery, and therefore the 3rd trimester is the riskiest. But I do not plan to still be nursing in the 3rd trimester. And even if I did, I HAVE NEVER GONE INTO LABOR! No matter how long we waited or what we tried, I have had to be induced with all 3 kids! I just do not feel that this is risky.
BUT... (There is always a but!) Turns out I'm not producing enough now. Often a problem during pregnancy. So I would like to supplement. Selah did not have a wet diaper AT ALL between 11 am and 10 pm, yesterday. Now we did go to Bryan's aunt's for dinner, but she hadn't had one before we left either. Obviously she is very dehydrated. So I have to do something, & don't know what. If you have any "tricks" that worked with yours, please share! I feel like we have tried all of the things they recomend- besides starving her. But even after 5 hours she isn't interested. We have multiple types of bottles and sippy cups. I am just out of ideas. And trying to move, so this is stressful and time-consuming. Neither of which I can spare! Thanks for at least having read this big long thing that is going to annoy Bryan!

2 comments:

Strawser 6 said...

I have a few ideas...but I will have to write them in an email later. :( sorry. I have a meeting to go to in -5 minutes! ha ha...Im late again! And here I am on the blog isntead of working. Shh...dont tell the Govt!

Beth said...

I don't have any suggestions as I bottle fed all my kids. Breastfeeding was not successful for me! There's always the old rule of thumb that if they are hungry/thirsty enough they will evenutally take it. But, it could be one fierce battle and you may not have any hair left from pulling it out. It's really, really hard to listen to them cry/scream. One of the Mom's I met here is the wife of one of the pediatrician's in our group and they are having the same problem. I figure if a doctor can't get his baby to take a bottle than no one can! (That probably isn't helpful info - sorry!)