Here's Mom takes it in his arms, puts it to his chest, and a happy expression immediately appears on his face. But soon my mother will need to leave for a few hours a day, which means it's time to try to drink milk from a bottle - after all, the grandmother will remain with the baby. The kid indignantly rejects the first attempts to feed him from the nipple. What to do?
This is not a whim
It is useless to insist or be angry: refusing to drink from a bottle is not bad behavior and not the desire of the baby to attract attention. He just does not like this new way of feeding, and it can be understood. The nipple in shape may be like a nipple, but that's not enough. From birth, the baby gets used to being close to you during the feeding, and no bottle will replace the sensations that he feels from your chest. Of course, breastfeeding is of great importance to you and the baby, but the circumstances may be such that it will take you to go to bottle feeding, partially or completely, much earlier than you would like. If you can breastfeed - feed, and during this period of life your baby will receive all the benefits of breastfeeding - this is really important. Do not worry that with the transition to mixed or artificial feeding, you are depriving your child of some advantages, better try to organize life so that everyone is well. Perhaps you will continue to feed your expressed milk, or sleep with your child to maintain maximum physical contact, or to carry the baby in a sling. To help the child learn to eat from a bottle, I decided to separate these two processes - breast and nipple feeding. I usually breastfeed lying on the couch, and for feeding from the bottle I began to settle in the armchair. I take the child in his arms so that he can see me. During feeding, I hug him, talk, and the food from the bottle also gives us opportunities for emotional communication.
Better give way
Usually the transition from breastfeeding to a bottle takes from 24 to 48 hours, but some children may need several weeks. For the innovation to be successful, it is important that the baby is in a good mood. It is not necessary to offer a bottle for the first time when the child wakes up or before putting it to bed; it is better to do it in the afternoon, after changing the diaper. Do not wait for the baby to get hungry and, as you hope, will willingly start eating from the nipple. On the contrary, he will be more worried and may not appreciate the new way of feeding at all. The mixture or breast milk should be warm, so the baby will be more familiar. All these measures do not help? Do not insist, you run the risk of causing the child to have a persistent negative attitude towards the bottle. Distract him - take him in his arms, walk around the room, then try again. Nothing coming out? Wait a few more minutes and now give him a breast. Do not be discouraged: such a child's watchful behavior is quite normal, and during the next feeding you will make another attempt. By the way, the new method of feeding will be more successful if you trust a bottle of dad or grandmother - because you smell deliciously breast milk.
And if not a bottle?
If the baby is less than six months old and he eats exclusively milk, you can use a regular spoon instead of a bottle (but it will be difficult to give a large portion of milk), a cup, a syringe without a needle or a soft spoon. Although feeding from a cup may seem difficult, many babies can cope well with it from 4-6 weeks: milk is delivered in small portions, and the child swallows it efficiently - most importantly, do it carefully. After 6-7 months, when the baby's nutrition becomes more diverse, you can generally do without a bottle. Up to 2 years, milk remains the basis of baby food (a day a kid should drink 500 ml of milk), so you can divide the daily dose first by three, then into two doses and offer the baby to drink from a nonproliferating drinker or a bottle with a broad tube instead of a nipple.