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^^This conversation got going b/c the mom left the baby with the OP and the baby got hungry! The baby's mom is afraid to supplement with forumla b/c she thinks the baby will like it better. Some of us were trying to offer some reassurance that it is unlikely. Many of the articles I read, including some of the links I posted, said all is not lost if a baby is fed a bottle then has trouble latching on to the breast. This can be overcome. Several posters have posted about their own children going back and forth from breast to bottle with no difficulty.
Last edited by Katarina Witt; 01-08-2014 at 08:42 PM..
^^This conversation got going b/c the mom left the baby with the OP and the baby got hungry! The baby's mom is afraid to supplement with forumla b/c she thinks the baby will like it better. Some of us were trying to offer some reassurance that that is unlikely. Many of the articles I read, including some of the links I posted, said all is not lost if a baby is fed a bottle then has trouble latching on to the breast. This can be overcome. Several posters have posted about their own children going back and forth from breast to bottle with no difficulty.
Mom left the baby for one hour. One.
And as your own sources state, giving a bottle can have a negative effect for some babies.
There is no need to risk any possible negative effects for a one hour trip. Hunger not immediately satiated is not a long term problem for a baby who is gaining weight steadily and is healthy. But potentially losing the ability to breast feed is a real, albeit small, risk.
This is why some consider your advice "bad". You are right mostly likely the baby would continue to breast feed but since there is no need to offer a bottle, and none of your reasons have met the criteria if NEED, and risk for no reward is bad advice.
Each generation is a huge comparison in baby care, I guess.
If you live in a major metropolitan area you can see first hand how differently various cultures raise their infants. Amazingly, almost all of them survive in spite of what they're fed when, how warmly or not they're dressed, etc. My son is in his 20s now. I've already decided if I ever had grandchildren I'm butting WAY OUT when it comes to advice. Since my son was born - just 24 years ago - a lot of advice I was given by our doctors is already out of date; for example, we were told to have our babies sleep on their stomachs so they wouldn't aspirate any vomit if they spit up. Now I understand the advice is to have babies sleep on their backs because there's less chance of SIDS. At least, that's what I read a few years ago. Maybe it's changed again and they're supposed to sleep on their sides.
At any rate, I figure my son and future DIL (if I have one) will be smart enough to follow their pediatrician's advice, who will certainly be more up-to-date than I am on baby care! It's hard not to think you know best when you managed to raise a child successfully, but your own mother feeding you flour and water is just more proof that babies are pretty darned resilient.
If your daughter didn't ask for advice, why are you sharing all of this with her? I would have been livid if my mother did this and then shared it with me like I knew nothing.
I didn't mean "advice" as much as I meant "reaffirmation" that she's on the right track. And she really appreciates it! I don't think she'll have as much unwanted relative input now that the holidays are over. Too, I think a lot of his fussiness may be from the holidays...being overstimulated, handled by so many different people, and having his schedule disrupted. My daughter is pretty much a stickler with his routine.
Yesterday when I took care of him, we had lots of nice "social" interraction between feedings (he's smiling, making eye contact, and making sounds). He's still spent a lot of time nursing, but didn't seem to cry quite as much.
Last edited by Mrs. Skeffington; 01-09-2014 at 12:39 AM..
"Advice" wasn't what I really meant - more like "reaffirmation" that she's on the right track.
We really can't answer this. The baby should have an exam by a pediatrician, the doctor will have enough experience to provide appropriate guidance, in regards to the baby's weight gain.
I nursed all of my kids, they were smaller looking than my friend's babies who were bottle fed formula. My kids might have been a bit smaller, but hardly ever sick. I had plenty of milk, and let my kids have pacifiers.
I think the baby cried when you were babysitting, and you felt frustrated. No bottle, no food, no pacifier. That would be unsettling. And upsetting. Tell your daughter this, she needs to have a solution, or not put you in that situation again.
Same here. My daughter went through a period of nursing about every 45 minutes. I asked the doctor about it and he said to give her water in a bottle and make her wait 2 hours between feedings. I tried that once and lasted about 5 minutes.
That pattern didn't last very long and I survived it.
My grandson's pediatrician said "NO water". In the old days, some babies were given sugar water in a bottle between feedings (my grandmother tried to do it with my daughter).
He does recommend a supplement called "Gripe Water" for babies with colic, but fortunately my grandson has not had that problem and has no need for it.
My son-in-law (the baby's father) told me that HE tried giving the little guy a pacifier - tried a couple different ones actually - and he wouldn't take them. He spit them all out.
^^My link also talked about how to deal with nipple confusion. The OP has posted no evidence that her daughter is opposed to an occasional bottle. If the mom is going to work, it will become inevitable that the baby will need a bottle at some point in time.
I worked full-time, and my first daughter did not take a bottle, even at daycare. Of course, I still pumped and sent bottles with her daily "just in case" (and also because legally the daycare had to offer it whether she took it or not). But she never did take bottles - she had a strong preference for only mama. I nursed her on my lunch break, but she routinely went a 4-5 hour stretch in the morning before I came for lunch. She adjusted to this schedule just fine. Some babies will take a long stretch overnight while parents sleep, mine just took hers while I worked (called reverse cycling). Anyway, it is not "inevitable" that the baby will need a bottle at some time, even if mom is working. And it sounds like this mom brings her baby to work with her, so especially in that case.
I have only skimmed the thread, so I'm not entirely certain if this point has been made, but I recall periods of nonstop nursing during my years of breast feeding. Once things returned to normal -- as if there is such a thing with a baby in the house -- I almost always noticed that my babies had experienced a tremendous growth spurt. Granted, it's been many years, but something about two-month-old and nursing marathon rings a bell. My gut tells me everything is right on schedule, and it's time to start shopping for larger clothing.
Last edited by randomparent; 01-09-2014 at 08:29 AM..
He does recommend a supplement called "Gripe Water" for babies with colic, but fortunately my grandson has not had that problem and has no need for it.
The basic ingredient in gripe water is sodium bicarbonate, a mild antacid. Just be aware that some gripe waters have a bunch of other ingredients, as for any medications read the labels carefully.
She IS on the right track. Everything sounds perfectly normal.
Leave her be.
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