Hello all, so since I've gone back to work part time my mother has been watching her. I pump, and store the milk in the freezer and when I work my mother feeds her from the bottle. I've been working for about a month now but she still hasn't seem to like the bottle any better then when she first started feeding her about a month ago. When she was little she would take the bottle but now she screams and cries, will go without food or hardly any, until I come to pick her up. Then I will nurse her. Finally we decided to also feed her on the weekends to keep her on a schedule. Today I tried to feed her and she seemed to spit the milk (pre-frozen) out of her mouth. Then I thought to try the fresh milk that I pumped yesterday in another type of bottle. She drank the whole thing! So now I'm wondering if it's the bottle or the frozen breast milk that she doesn't like. Does anybody have this problem? I did taste the milk. The frozen one is definitely stronger tasting than the fresh. Thanks!
Same thing happened to a friend of mine. The baby hated frozen milk, so my friend would pump enough to have fresh bottles in the fridge so her baby would eat.
Good luck!
Hi M.,
What a good mother you are - returning to work and continuing to provide the very best nutrition for your baby. It sounds like your baby is "holding out" for you to return from work. That is perfectly normal for some babies. Both of my two boys did that. Some babies take the bare minimum and don't want to be "bothered" by the bottle being offered to them - some babies even get mad at that. I would suggest your mother continue to try the new bottle and I would also like to suggest you provide your baby with fresh milk (fresh milk can stay in the fridge for at least 5 days). If you have any other questions please feel free to contact me via my website. I am a lactation consultant and a registered dietitian.
L.
www.virtualbreastfeedinghelp.com
I feel your frustration, and wish I had great advice for you. I guess, just keep trying, maybe you LO will give in. In the meantime, if you get any good advice, pass it my way?!?! Good luck to you!
Could you thaw the frozen and mix it half and half with the fresh?
Are you feeding the frozen milk at the same temperature as the fresh?
It could be the bottle. Try doing the same thing with the same bottle.
We had to try several different nipples before we found one that my granddaughter liked. We used the same nipple for a week or longer before trying a different one. In the end it was an inexpensive old style nipple that she preferred.
I didn't read thru your other answers so sorry if this is a repeat!! My daughter would also not drink any of the frozen breastmilk (we even tried 1/2 frozen breastmilk and 1/2 formula - and also tried putting the thawed breastmilk in her cereal in the morning but she refused it!!) I called my pediatrican and of course they said to just keep trying but I gave up after many, many attempts and thawed it all in the bathtub. I felt horrible wasting it though.
I was happy to read your post though because I thought it was just my little one since nobody else seemed to have a problem with their frozen supply.
Hello, It could very well be that your daughter needs a different type of nipple. My daughter had to try quite a few different nipples until she found the one that our grandaughter would use. It is the First Years Breastflow. Her situation was extreme because our grandaughter had had heart surgery and had to use a feeding tube after. She couldn't tolerate the breastmilk anymore either. When it was time to try and get her onto a bottle, she refused and actually went home on the feeding tube. My daughter, my other daughter (Auntie) and I learned how to remove and put back in the feeding tube. She kept trying different nipples and finally when she tried the Breastflow, it worked. I'm not saying that this particular nipple will work for your baby, but maybe another type will.
It sounds like she won't even drink the bottle for anyone else. My youngest wouldn't drink from the bottle for me (I breastfed), but he would for his daddy and other people.
Good luck with your precious baby.
K. K.
Hi there. Just wanted to give you my reply also. I had the same experience with this. I ended up trying several types of bottles - the NUK wide base nipple worked best. Also, like Nese below, I found I had to freeze the pumped milk right away. Luckily, my work has a freezer so I could put it directly in the freezer after pumping. Lots of the maternity books said that you could store the milik in the fridge for a few days and then freeze it but that just did not work for me. But eventually, my son decided he just did not want to drink from the bottle. I then had day care use the frozen milk to make up his rice cereal instead of water. That worked great! We also transitioned him to a sippy cup early and he was much happier to drink the pumped and frozen milk from a sippy than from a bottle. Go figure! Good luck and hang in there. I am sure with a little crativity you will find a way to save that "liquid gold" and get it into your little one. :)
Same issue with my little guy. I'm glad to hear that it's not just me who's having this issue.
You might try putting the milk you are going to freeze in whatever it is you freeze it in and then bagging with a freezer bag just to help keep and tastes/smells from the freezer out.
Also, it will help keep your milk up if you nurse her on demand on the weekends and the time you are with her rather than offering her a bottle then too.
Jane M has your answer!
I had the same problem with my son. He was not a good eater anyways but he was fine with fresh milk but did not like frozen milk at all. The frozen milk tasted stronger and had a smell sometimes (NOT like it is spoiled, just a stronger smell and taste).
It helps to make sure everything that touches the milk (bottles etc) are ultra clean, and you freeze the milk right away. Freezing in breast milk bags lying flat (so that it freezes and thaws quicker) also helps. I noticed that the freshly and quickly frozen ones were better.
We tried adding a drop or two of pure vanilla (no alcohol of course) into the milk to take the smell away but it did not help much. Well, it also depends on the baby. I gave some of my frozen milk to a friend and her little girl had no problems with it! Still I had to throw away bags and bags of milk...
Sounds like a lipase issue. Scald the milk before freezing it (bring it to 180°F) and it takes care of the enzyme that turns it sour. Heating the milk takes out some of the awesome breastmilk qualities hut its still a thousand times better than formula.
What to do with the extra frozen sour milk? Donate it to milkshare or a milk bank. Some babies don't mind the sour taste and its by no means bad milk, just not as tasty as your fresh milk that your little one loves so much.
Good luck!
Both of our sons REALLY hated the bottles. We had to just keep trying different bottles until we found the ones they'd use (ended up being the Dr. Brown bottles). In the meantime, we used the medicine droppers to make sure the milk got in them.
(By "WE" I mean my poor SAH Husband -- I just breastfed, he was the one stuck with a shrieking baby while I was at work.)
Also, I recommend the following books HIGHLY:
*"Nursing Mother, Working Mother" by Gale Pryor. It was AWESOME.
http://www.powells.com/s?header=Search+Form&kw=nursin...
**"Super Baby Food" by Ruth Yaron
http://www.powells.com/biblio/7-9780965260312-4
I also have a suggestion that worked for me, though most mom's think it's crazy and I'll understand if you do too: bring your baby to bed with you and feed it at night when you're home.
Both of my sons discovered that the Breastaurant was mostly open at night, so they switched their feeding schedules. I was able to know they got enough breast milk, and since we were in bed, I was getting enough sleep. (Get a bed rail for your bed and keep the baby between you and the rail.)
So much good luck to you.
