Hamza and Bottle

At the moment, i am struggling to get him back to being bottle-fed during the day coz i'll have to attend a conference in Sabah next week and his father will have to babysit him while i'm away. On top of that, my mother will come back with my sister and her babies in two weeks time. So, like it or not, i still have to train Hamza again. But, see it'll be a bit difficult because by now, he can identify that i am his mother and the boobies are on me. So, everytime i try to feed him by bottle, he will stare at the boobies. And after a few gulps of milk, he'll play the teat with his tongue. Sometimes or most of the time he'll spit the milk out if i force the teat into his mouth. Haiyoo.. Susah..:(

I read alot of tips on the net. But well, i guess it will take sometime for Hamza to adjust to the bottle again. But believe it or not. It only took him 1 week plus to forget how to feed from the bottle. He hates the teat anyway. I felt so guilty because husband tries really hard to make him want the bottle again. But, he'll cry his lungs out and you know, at the end of the session, he'll be frustrated and totally frustrated. and the fact that sometimes Hamza cries in his arms makes it more depressing and frustrating.

Some tips to be shared when introducing (in my case re-introducing) bottle to breastfed babies are:

1. If you are a working mother, you should begin bottle feeding at least two weeks before you start working.
2. Bottle is best if given by carer or father instead of the mother.
3. Makesure the rubber teat is warm and not cold when introducing teat to baby. run the teat under warm water. Hamza prefers warm milk though.
4. Feed baby in a different position (not the position you breastfeed your baby)
5. Try to walk about when feeding your baby via bottle to distract his attention. 
6. Do not force-feed your baby. (i do that sometimes, hikhik. didn't work though)
7. Give the bottle to baby when he is not very hungry. If he's very hungry, he'll refuse the bottle completely.

Hurmm, these are basically just tips/ guidelines to follow. But if it does not work (like in my case), will just have to find other ways to do it. Maybe we'll do spoon feeding/cup feeding. But if it is so difficult to cup feed him/ spoon feed him, i think i'll have to consider to start him on solid a bit early. But, from the parenting books that i've read, they said solid can be introduced to a baby as early as 4 months and latest by 6 months. Hamza will be four months this coming 21st November. So, maybe we'll start him on solid by mid December. Those are just plans. If Allah willing he can tolerate the bottle, we will continue with milk exclusively until he is 6 months. So far, husband and i have not throw in the towel just yet. We'll keep on trying until we are very-very sure that he really does not want/need to be fed via bottle.

Sekian sahaja celoteh untuk kali ini ye.