Question For Those Who Have Had A Breastfed Baby In Daycare

[sahm2three]

How on earth do you feed them?! Apparently the dad has no problem with feeding dcg on Mondays when he has her. She will eat 4 to 6 oz for him. She won't eat more than 2 oz for me and even that is torture and takes 45 mins to an hour to get down her!!!!! I don't have that kind of time!!! I love her to pieces, but I just don't know what to do. I am using the same kind of bottle as they use at home. HELP ME!!! She screams and gags when I try to feed her!

[Unregistered]

Ask Mom or Dad

Ask the parents if there is a better position to place her in while you are feeding her. It may be more difficult if she is really crying before you start feeding. I know you will need to burp her more with the bottle. Hope this helps.

[gbcc]

Depending on how old the baby is, you could try to swaddle and hold him/her close to you the way her mother would when feeding. Sometimes just the warmth or comfort.

Are you preparing the bottle the same way? Is it the same tempurature?

Maybe it will just take some time him/her to get used to you, the smell and comfort.

[SilverSabre25]

you might need to warm the bottle a little more than you would ordinarily. You might need to try a bunch of different things like not actually holding her (lay her on the floor and sit beside her to giver her the bottle), or hold her facing out away from you rather than cuddled up in a cradle hold. You might need a blanket that mom has slept with so it smells like her...or you might need to smell as different from mom as possible.

Good luck! It can be tough.

[tulip1969]

I had the same exact thing happen a few months ago. The dad admitted to me that the baby did the same thing for him so I am wondering if the dad of your baby is really telling you the truth. Does your baby come to you on a consistant basis? Mine only came Mon, Wed, and Thursday. It was really tough but she got by on the 2 ounces a day while in my care and a few weeks later she eventually gave in and now loves her bottle time with me. She would scream and I would lightly spray the bottle into her mouth till she got 2 ounces in. Also as someone else said, make sure the bottle is warm like it would be coming from the breast. Good luck!

[MsMe]

try holding the bottle close you your chest as if it were the breast. Ask Dad for his advice! Ask him to tell you EXACTLY what he does when he feds her.

[youretooloud]

Just curious, what kind of bottle is it?

[Greenshadow]

I have a breastfed baby that I care for full time. Ive had him since he was 6 wks old. We had to go through a few bottles before we found one that he likes. Normally what I do is put some piping hot water in the sink. Just a small amount; enough to cover the milk in its bag. I leave it there for about 5-10 mins to warm up. Then I take it out and pour it in the bottle and its fine. You cant microwave milk because it loses its nutrients but warming it in the sink or using a pyrex cup or something works great for me. It sounds like the milk is too cold. The baby I watch, even now at 6 months, will do that when the milk isnt warm enough.

[sahm2three]

I warm the bottle to warm. I have tried swaddling, not, lying her in the boppy while I feed her, putting herup close to me like she would while breastfeeding. I have warmed the nipple in warm water and that didn't seem to help.

[SilverSabre25]

I usually warm bm until it feels definitely WARM to my skin; I've noticed (after three years of lactating) that bm tends to feel warm to my own skin so I *think* it might be slightly over body temperature, or the breasts keep it extra warm, or something. The usual advice to warm a bottle just to skin temp hasn't been enough for the babes i've watched.

And also, like someone else said, it might just take time (and she might never "warm" to bottles from you; she'll make up for it at home though)

[sahm2three]

She has been here over a month. It is rough. I love her a ton, but it has become a source of stress because I have a house FULL of rambunctious boys and have to sit for an hour to get her to eat 2 oz!!! I asked dad what he does and he says he just forces her to eat. Just keeps trying. I think it must take him half the day to get her to take 4 to 6 oz!!!

[MommyMuffin]

I have a breast fed infant. He will not eat if the other kids are playing. He just wants to watch them. I try to feed him, he pushes it away or wont eat so I put him down and in a little bit he gets fussy and I try again. If he is hungry he will eventually eat is my motto.

Now mom says he is having trouble eating because he likes playing with his toungue and pushes the bottle out of his mouth. I will not sit for 30 minutes fighting with him. When he gets hungry he will eat.

Not sure if that helps but it has worked for me. It is too time consuming and frustrating to try to fight with an infant about eating. If he likes the nipple and the temp of the bottle that way at home, then there is no reason he/she shouldnt like it at daycare.

[dEHmom]

what flow is the nipple? sometimes the nipples are just too fast. I've had this exactly problem, and the nipples were always too fast.


you need a slower flow nipple. Sometimes even the slow flow nipples are too fast. Which means trying a different bottle.


Also, are these the little itty bitty nipple? or are these the bottles with the large nipples? I hate the bottles with tiny nipples as babies don't get a good seal, and if mom is nursing, then they don't like the little nipples on the bottles.

[youretooloud]

Honestly, I'd try different bottles. I personally hate using the Dr Browns bottles, I kinda like the wide mouth bottles, and the platex are good.

But, there are others. Maybe Dad is saying to mom "it's going great!" and Mom really doesn't understand how hard it is.

I'm willing to bet Mom would go out and buy a few different bottles or nipples to see if there's one that's easier for her.

[SilverSabre25]

She has been here over a month. It is rough. I love her a ton, but it has become a source of stress because I have a house FULL of rambunctious boys and have to sit for an hour to get her to eat 2 oz!!! I asked dad what he does and he says he just forces her to eat. Just keeps trying. I think it must take him half the day to get her to take 4 to 6 oz!!!

There you go; that's the problem right there. Dad probably does sit with the bottle in her mouth half the day--it probably doesn't work much better for him than it is for you.

I've been thinking back to last year when I had my very first dcg. She was bf'd, and I'm thinking that she took quite awhile to adjust.

You might try not sweating it; offer her the bottle on a regular basis, and go on about your routine the rest of the time, and she will eat when she really gets hungry. OR she will make up for it with mom at night.