Trouble Switching to the Bottle

Since I am expecting again, I have had to get my 6 month old onto the bottle. You can imagine how pleased he was. I had a lot of trouble but I finally figured it out, let me tell you how.

I picked Similac Advance to start him on, since that is what the WIC program here supports and I will be using the WIC program. I made a nice warm bottle, 4 oz to start just to see if he would take it. I tried putting it to his lips. Now, usually, he will open up for anything. If you hold a sock up, he assumes its food and opens wide (Funny, yes!). But with the bottle, no go. His lips were sealed and when I tried to drip a bit in for him to taste, he started wailing. I began to suspect he knew what was going on.

So I laid down with him at nap time, and halfway through breastfeeding, when he was good and sleepy, I made the switcharoo and he didn't even notice. He drank a couple ounces before falling all the way asleep. So I thought, now he's used to it, he'll probably take to it easier next time. No such luck. Crying and tears all around no matter what I did. I even tried the switcharoo technique again and he was too smart for me that time.

I tried giving him a bottle with just water in it. Well, he opened right up for that one, even though he only chewed on the nipple because he wasn't thirsty. I let him play with the bottle of water and encouraged him to drink from it. The next day I tried again. He was very hungry when I tried, and he thought it was water at first, so he sucked a couple gulps right down before the wailing started. Argh! But this time, when I squeezed a little in his mouth, he swallowed it instead of spit it out, probably because he was hungry. After about an ounce, he stopped screaming and refused to open his mouth.

So now he has drank about three ounces total of formula and we are getting nowhere. Also, he has developed the runs. I decide he is probably sensitive to milk like I was as a baby, and I decide to hold off on bottle feeding til I can get an appropriate replacement formula to try.

Woo Hoo!

I got Similac Sensitive, which is supposed to help with fussiness and gas problems, and is also lactose free even though it is milk based. I made up a nice warm 4 oz bottle of it. I picked up my baby and got ready to fight. But lo and behold, as soon as I squeezed a bit of the new formula in his mouth, his expression relaxed and he sucked it all right down. What the heck?

He has also not had a problem with the runs since he has been on this formula. I suspect he knew what was good for him and didn't want the first formula because he couldn't digest it anyways. Unless Similac Sensitive is a whole lot yummier to babies, this is all I can think. Plus, his runs disappeared and he is feeling good again. So, if you have this much trouble getting your baby on the bottle, maybe all he or she needs is a new kind!