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View Full Version : reverse cycling? teething? what do I do now?



sntm
03-17-2004, 06:07 PM
so, jack has been taking less BM at daycare for the last several weeks, not always finishing his bottles, sometimes only taking a couple of ounces, when he used to take 3 6 oz bottles.

he still nurses frequently at night.

today, they called me because he only took 1 1/2 ounces from his first bottle and 1 ounce from his second. they didn't give him his usual solids for breakfast (fruit or veggies + cereal) that he usually has after his 1st bottle. i took him to the ped to make sure nothing was seriously wrong with him. he does have two new teeth, but they look like they are through the gum.

i don;t know what i should do now. it bugs me to keep pumping 3x a day to send 15-18 oz of milk when he doesn't eat half of that. but i also would prefer if he would eat that during the day so we will sleep more and nightnurse less (I don't mind it enough to deny him if he wants it but I would prefer it was less). should i keep plugging along and see if he changes back later on (it has been 3-4 weeks that he eats less)?

this has been a crappy day for other reasons and this just feels like one more straw.

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shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

ak_becky_book
03-17-2004, 06:39 PM
My daughter did not take bottles at daycare at all (until she was about 9 or 10 mo). What I did was made smaller bottles (2 or 3 oz) each and then they used it in her cereal. I was lucky and able to go to the daycare to nurse thoughout the day.

The main reason I responded was to suggest you try smaller quantities in the bottles. So you end up bringing (and taking home more bottles), but wasting alot less. I had to bring bottles (even though I nursed throughout the day), and I did not do formula so I made small bottles. They can always give him a second 2 oz bottle if he finishes the first.

Another thing to watch out for is the expressed milk going bad. When it got warmer here, I was still taking the bottles in the normal diaper bag setup (no freezer pack or anything). The daycare would heat up the bottles in a potpouri electric crock with water (sometimes they get the bottles hot enough that they had to cool them down before the kids could drink them). Samantha threw up a couple of times and I finally figured out it was from the expressed milk that had gone a little bit bad that the daycare put in her cereal. With my milk when it was good there was not much of a smell to it, but when it started to go bad it smelled a bit like formula. After I figured that out I transported it to and from the daycare in an insulated bag with several ice packs. I also had them add it to her cereal cold.

As a word of hope. If he was eating from the bottle pretty good before the teeth he will probably do it again. Good luck and hang in there.


Rebecca
Mom to Samantha
12/1/02

bluej
03-17-2004, 07:09 PM
Hmmm, my MIL nursed frequently throughout the night so that her daughters wouldn't eat as much during the day at daycare. I didn't know babies would decide on their own that this is the schedule they would want! I guess I would try to cut back the night nursing, maybe just by shortening the time he nurses, to see if he then increases how much he eats during the day. Sorry, I haven't experienced this so I really don't know what to suggest. I imagine it's exhausting though.

ohiomom
03-18-2004, 12:31 AM
Shannon,

No advice here, just reassurance that you aren't the only one. For weeks now DD only takes 5 oz total at the nanny's. Two 2-1/2 oz servings is it. She seems to want it at the "right" temp with the "right" nipple. She eats a good lunch there and cluster feeds in the evening -- 2-3 feeds between 5pm and 7:30 pm and I can tell she is drinking a lot then (plus dinner!). If I feed her around 11 or 12, she'll usually only wake up once in the middle of the night to feed. I'm with her 3 days out of 7 and have come to the conclusion that she'll only be taking bottles a few more months anyways. Shouldn't be hard at all for her to give them up when it's time!

I've cut down to pumping 1-2 times a day based on if she nurses enough in the morning so that I'm comfortable until 11 or 12 to pump. She often nurses in the morning just enough to get my milk to let down, then 2 or 3 swallows and then that's it! Drives me wild! I'm now only sending 10 oz total to nanny's and she NEVER needs that 2nd bottle. It's nice to pump a little less... and I almost never pump on weekends now... much less pressure on me which is nice.

I have to admit that I dream of the day I can get 8 hours of sleep...

Nicole's Mom
7/30/03

sntm
03-18-2004, 10:26 PM
He took 7 oz today at daycare but didn't want to nurse when I dropped him off or much when he got home either. He would suck for a very short time and then be off doing things. He nursed several times last night but not for long (not like usual.) However, at dinner, he devoured lots of tofu, broccoli, mango+yogurt and some chicken+sweet potato dinner.

Don't know if i should be going with it and letting him have more solids or what... The right tooth is all the way through the gum, the left is peeking through now. Maybe this will all resolve.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
shannon
not-even-pregnant-yet-overachiever
trying-to-conceive :)
PREGNANT! EDD 6/9/03
mama to Jack 6/6/03

megsmom
03-19-2004, 10:43 PM
Teething definitely affects their feeding and sucking can even be somewhat painful for some babies during this time. I would just see how this whole thing shakes out once Jack's teeth come all the way in. He also could be up more nursing at night because of tooth pain too. Finally, your guy is really starting to get curious about the world and may be more distracted while nursing. This may be part of what is going on at daycare too.

From my own experience, when Brian is up nursing a lot at night, he does tend to be less hungry in the morning. We haven't started solids yet, but from what I remember with Meg, it does affect their appetites some. They are very excited about the new stuff to try and during this time may take less of the bottle/breast. This is supposed to happen. As he gets older, he will drink less bm and eat more food. To be sure he gets enough bm, I would always make sure that the milk is given first at daycare.

Two things that seemed to help Brian when he wasn't drinking much at daycare a couple of weeks ago were increasing the nipple flow speed of his bottle and sending smaller bottles. I send two little 3 oz bottles of EBM to his sitters and she simply adds more from the already thawed milk or defrosts some of the frozen if he is still eagerly eating when the milk runs out.

My gut here is that it is the teeth.

Jen
mom to Meghan 7/13/01
and Brain 11/11/03