bottles

[Snapdragon]

My 8 and a 1/2 month old is breastfed.  He also eats some solid foods every day. In the past 10 days or so I have started giving him bottles of water mixed with s little apple juice. He usually has one or 2 6 oz bottles of this a day. Before I introduced this juice/water to him,he was having major constipation- going a whole week without pooping- and it went on for months! Once I introduced this juice water in a bottle, he has been pooping easily almost every day! yeah.

So I know the liquid is good for him. Before that I was feeding him water in a spoon and sometimes a cup, but he was never able to consume much that way.

I tried a sippy cup a little bit in the last couple of days and am not sure if that is a good option for us or not.

So here is my concern about the bottles: Please give any advice about this-

So he Loves to drink the juice water bottle. It totally mellows him out and I hold him in my lap and he usually sucks down the whole thing happily. ( I am mindful to make sure it is plenty of water and small amounts of juice)

But since we started this, he is biting again when he nurses! argh! so this is what I have observed- he also sometimes today and yesterday wants the bottle of juice over the breast if offerred. Partly this is because I have been very nervous and stressed when nursing him since he started biting.

But I think when he drinks the bottle he sometimes bites the bottle nipple- and I think also the juice comes out faster than my milk does.

anyway-

I am wondering if you guys think that him drinking from the bottle is causing him to bite at the breast more?

Also between the juice and the solids I am nursing less and my milk get backed up and it is sore.

I want to continue to give him the daily juice water as he is clearly thirsty for it and I want him well hydrated.  He loves the bottle. should I stop the bottle and find a different way for him to consume the juice water because of the biting thing? Or do you think it is unrelated?

Are there any good methods other than the bottle for an 8 and a 1/2 month old? I would try a small cup but what type of cup is best?

It just seems that he gets it injested so well in the bottle but I absolutely do not want to create a bad habit where the sucking of the bottle creates a problem with breastfeeding. this biting hting is a challenge right now.

[lrgs]

I'm wondering if maybe he's getting frustrated at the breast because the flow is not as fast as the bottle and that is causing the biting? I know when I'm having low supply issues my YDD tends to get frustrated and really clamp down on my nipple (thankfully she doesn't have any teeth yet but it's still not comfortable). I think at this stage he is getting all the liquids he needs from breastmilk and if constipation is an issue could you try some pureed prunes? Those used to get my ODD moving. You might also try a sippy cup to give him some extra water mixed with the juice.

[Buzzer Beater]

 I think 6-12 ounces a day of water/juice is a lot for a little guy and probably will upset your nursing relationship. He needs to get almost all of his nourishment from you at this point... yeah I think it's related and you should quit the water/juice entirely. If he is stopped up I'd find another way to help with that.

[lifeguard]

At 8.5 months ds was getting verrrrrry small amounts (the amount you mention would have taken him well over a week to consume) of water from a sippy cup. We very rarely did bottles & they were strictly for expressed milk when I wasn't available.

Personally I would stop the juice altogether in any form (at 2 ds still only gets juice very occasionally - usually from Grandma) & continue to offer the breast before any other liquid.

[Snapdragon]

the thing is that we were dealing with severe constipation issues for months. I tried all the remedies I could. And within a few days of this water juice he is pooping regularly- so from my perspective it seems that he really benifits from the water.

I am trying to add less juice and more water, but I am not sure if a little organic apple juice is all that bad for him. Up until we started this recently, he was only having little sips of water but I really think this added liquid is good for him. Usually it is a 6 oz bottle and sometimes he will have aother 1/2 a bottle.

I guess that and the solids are slowing down some of the nursing.

I guess my main question is- is a sippy cup a better choice if I want to continue to give him this water? Or a regular cup? every cup we tried so far I think is too big and mostly spills.

[Snapdragon]

hi

thinking this over more I am really glad I asked here and got these responses. The thing is, when I started the bottle 10 days ago- it was upon recommendation from my sister who has 3 little ones and is much more mainstream than I am. at any rate- she said due to his severe constipation, I shold first start getting more liquids into him asap and she recommended the bottle.

I actually felt odd about the bottle- I couldn't put my finger on it but I thought it might present some sort of problem-

I even posted here on MDC asking if people could think of any problem with the bottle!

But now I see how it can interfere with the breastfeeding.

I am going to try a sippy cup.

can someone please recommend a good sippy cup for a 8 and a 1/2 month old?

[lifeguard]

We have only ever used the kleen kanteen & have been pretty happy with it. Ds never held it on his own though for months (he could he just preferred us to hold it).

[GingerNinja]

I'm so glad that you posted this!

My DS is almost 8 months, and we struggle with the constipation deal also.. stewed prunes are a staple around here now, making an appearance once a week or so. Upping his water intake is definitely a challenge, we use the Kleen Kanteen as well and really love it, but he'll only take around an ounce of water a day from it. Occasional sips from our water glasses could add up to another ounce on a super-drinking day.  ;)  All that being said, I do notice a change in his bowels when he's kept well hydrated.. now that he's started taking some solids (only around an ounce or two of veggies/day still).. otherwise it's BF all the way. 

A note about the biting.... GRRRRR... we're dealing with this too.. thankfully there aren't any teeth yet, but it is when he's frustrated with something.. then there's no nursing for a minute to calm down.. 

[JudiAU]

I just thought I would add that we have two staples in our house that hep our kids. We don't start with grains bit after they are introduced we do steel cut oats mixed with flax. Freezes in. Ice cup trays and gets mixed with a little fruit. High in fiber and omega 3s.

Also, I make a purée of a stewed prunes, canned apricots, and canned peaches. The other fruit improves the mouthfeel compares to all prunes, the apricots cut down the sugar, and the peaches round out the flavor. Sometimes I add an apple too. Lots of fiber and fairly sweet and easy to get down. And actually nutritious, vs juice.

[JudiAU]

One final comment: did you happen to read the recent scientific review of lead in apple juice? Many of the organic brands are also contaminated.more than half of all apple juice us imported from China. And old pesticide no longer legal in the us contaminated many apple orchards. china is probably still using it. Either way, I choose a brand that isn't on the lead list, organic or not.

[MamaKickyPants]

I just wanted to say that a week between poops for a breastfed baby does not necessarily mean they are constipated - it's actually very normal. Prior to introducing solids, I wouldn't worry about it at ALL, and then after solids, I still wouldn't worry if the poop is normal once it happens (it's only constipation if the poop is hard pellets). If it's causing a lot of discomfort then the prunes are a good ideas as others have said. As LOs eat more and more solids into their second year most of them settle into pooping once ow twice a day. Good luck finding a sippy cup that works! We had to try several before we found out DS likes the cheapest ones where he doesn't really have to suck to get the liquid out.