Help! 11.5 month DD won't take bottles at the sitter's

[MrsHin2002]

Here we are, at the 11.5 month mark, after having made a wonderful transition of me going back to work full-time on Oct 29th. She's doing so well - but went from a baby that took bm bottles on occasion from her Dad if I was out, to totally refusing at her sitter's. I've been pumping but these last few days if I'm not careful to rotate and add to the freezer, much is being wasted. Hard to stay motivated to pump when she won't drink it.

I'm ok with reverse cycling in theory - but if tonight is an example of how that would continue I'd say it just isn't sustainable. She took nothing all day, and I picked her and DS up at 5:30. We live only 3 mins away so I fed her immediately at home (sometimes feed her at sitter's first) and then was off for parent-teacher mtg for DS at 6. Came home at 6:45 and fed her four more times btw 6:45-8. And I ate my supper in there.

We cosleep most of the time (she'll sleep in playpen for first shift if I don't fall asleep with her) and I'm sure I've fed her another 3-4 times between 8-2am. I'm sick with a cold and have been for 3 weeks... Not getting enough sleep and if tonight's an example, no legitimate chance to keep up with the kitchen/ lunches etc if I spend all my time feeding her.

Help!! Any suggestions? Sitter had success giving her bottles for a while but only when she basically held her down... Don't love that idea but I'm not loving the alternative either. I want her to feel some control over things, especially with this big change for her but I don't think I can keep this up. We live about a half hour from my work, and sitter is near us, so I could come out at lunchtime but it would be about 1.5 hour return trip and then it would be hard to find time to pump. Do we experiment with another kind of bottle or sippy cup? Any ideas welcomed. Sorry for writing a novel!

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[Bokonon]

At that age, I would say definitely try a sippy cup.  It might be novel enough for her to take it.  If she doesn't, then just keep trying to nurse at home and have Dad make the lunches while DD adapts to the new routine.  Best wishes!

[skycheattraffic]

I would try a sippy and a straw cup. If neither work then try an open cup. If even that is out then see if maybe she will take it in the solids you send: EBM smoothie, scrambled eggs with lots of EBM, EBM popsicles ... Anything you can think of where you would use regular milk. holding her down to take it is a BAD idea, you don't want an unhealthy relationship with food for her. Give it a while, like pp said this is an adjustment period for her. Being sick is no fun but DD's life had a major change and she needs time and patience to feel secureand find a new groove. Hang in there!

[MrsHin2002]

Thanks for the replies. We have tried a couple styles of sippy cups with no luck. Haven't tried an open cup yet. Seems that when she realizes what's in the cup she has no interest and tosses it.

The sitter has managed to get a tiny bit of cereal into her mixed with bm, but DD's not much of a cereal fan as she's been feeing herself (baby led weaning) all along.

I did try a frozen banana/ bm smoothie at breakfast yesterday and she took a couple sips. Our sitter added some cold bm to it at her place and figures she might've taken 2 oz altogether. Not a bad start. And she was much less demanding this evening. I fed her when we got home and maybe one more time before bed - totally manageable.

Complicating factors right now are me being sick (and so tired) and DH on crutches from a hockey accident and only limited help at home. These will get better, and I agree that we should make the adjustments on our end so it goes more smoothly for DD, even if it's hard.

We're going to try plain bm cold in a sippy cup tomorrow to see how that goes - maybe the temperature change is enough to get her interested. Guess I'll keep pumping for a while yet

Thanks again.

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[erigeron]

How's it going now? We used a straw cup intermittently from about 6 months on and put the bottles away at 10 months and only used straw cups. Daughter did fine. We tried a couple sippies but didn't much like them. You could try giving her water in the cup, if you don't want to waste milk in the process of getting her used to the cup.