Ahhhh....the never ending saga of trying to feed my sweet Ellie! So you all know by now that Ellie has absolutely refused every kind of bottle imaginable for many months now. OK....that's a little bit of an exaggeration...I've tried several types of nipples and bottles with no luck whatsoever! She has been so, so, so stubborn! I've been offering a bottle (and a sippy cup) frequently; hoping against hope that she will just one day decide to take it. Over the last month or so, she graduated from screaming when anything other than me or a spoon full of cereal is placed in her mouth, to playing gingerly with the bottle nipple. She will bite and teethe on it (glad she doesn't do that to me!) but she had yet to actually suck on it. Today however, she took a tiny step in the right direction and actually took about 5 sucks and got some formula! Whoooohoo for a little victory!! In total this afternoon, she took about 1 full ounce (yes...you read that correctly...an OUNCE!) from the bottle. The kicker? It took a whopping 25 MINUTES for her to down that single ounce. :( At that rate, I'll be spending all day attempting to feed her. BUT....I will look at the bright side and say we are making progress!
As far as backsliding goes, she is struggling with breastfeeding now too. :( She is SOOOOO distractable (is that a word???) lately! Anything and everything takes her attention off nursing! Today it was so bad that even in the silence of my bedroom (Luke was napping) and despite the fact that she was pretty hungry, she kept pulling off to stare of the wrought iron art thingy on the wall behind my bed and then also to smile and flirt with me. She probably nursed for a grand total of 2 minutes. It's been like this for multiple feedings over several days now, and I know that its developmental, but c'mon! I'm not sure how much more my already dwindling milk supply can take! As it is, I struggle to keep my supply up when there is any lag in stimulation, and I've already placed myself on fenugreek as of two weeks ago. Not sure what else I can do at this point. I know my body well enough by now to know that if she keeps these little antics up much longer, breastfeeding will soon be over. :( I know that all the books say to nurse in a dark and quiet room, but with a three year old in the house, that just isn't always feasible. Ugh! I'm pretty sure that she isn't getting enough milk as it is, so I've been trying to make up for the extra calories through solids and cereal mixed with formula, but I'm sure she needs more. Will she just get so thirsty that some point that she will either nurse better or break down and take a bottle????? Anybody have any suggestions??? I'm starting to feel a little concerned.
On the upside, she is still gaining weight. I had her weighed this morning when we saw the nurse for her catch up immunizations and she was 15 lbs 4 ounces, which is up two pounds from mid-January. So that's good. Lets just hope she continues the upward trend. Pray for good feeding, my friends! I need all the help I can get here!!!
As far as backsliding goes, she is struggling with breastfeeding now too. :( She is SOOOOO distractable (is that a word???) lately! Anything and everything takes her attention off nursing! Today it was so bad that even in the silence of my bedroom (Luke was napping) and despite the fact that she was pretty hungry, she kept pulling off to stare of the wrought iron art thingy on the wall behind my bed and then also to smile and flirt with me. She probably nursed for a grand total of 2 minutes. It's been like this for multiple feedings over several days now, and I know that its developmental, but c'mon! I'm not sure how much more my already dwindling milk supply can take! As it is, I struggle to keep my supply up when there is any lag in stimulation, and I've already placed myself on fenugreek as of two weeks ago. Not sure what else I can do at this point. I know my body well enough by now to know that if she keeps these little antics up much longer, breastfeeding will soon be over. :( I know that all the books say to nurse in a dark and quiet room, but with a three year old in the house, that just isn't always feasible. Ugh! I'm pretty sure that she isn't getting enough milk as it is, so I've been trying to make up for the extra calories through solids and cereal mixed with formula, but I'm sure she needs more. Will she just get so thirsty that some point that she will either nurse better or break down and take a bottle????? Anybody have any suggestions??? I'm starting to feel a little concerned.
On the upside, she is still gaining weight. I had her weighed this morning when we saw the nurse for her catch up immunizations and she was 15 lbs 4 ounces, which is up two pounds from mid-January. So that's good. Lets just hope she continues the upward trend. Pray for good feeding, my friends! I need all the help I can get here!!!
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