The joys of parenting. Kivrin is still rejecting the bottle and dependant on the silicone shield to nurse. On Monday, while I discussed “Heart of Darkness” with my library book group, Dan watched Kivrin at home for two hours. She wouldn’t take my milk from the bottle and then cried herself to sleep.
On Wednesday we tried again with the bottle before I went to the La Leche League meeting. She’s not taking any milk in either of these photos – for Dan she’s just screaming, and for me, she is smiling and pushing the bottle away. 
The women at La Leche League are so cool and supportive — it’s great to be able to talk with other moms about these challenges. Some suggestions we are going to try include trying different brands of bottles, and trying to feed her while she is sleepy, upright, or even while walking around with her. The nurses at the Breastfeeding Clinic said that she wasn’t going to starve and she would take the bottle if she needed it – they recommended that we offer a bottle every day, although it is hard to try it that often since it is so traumatic for all of us right now. At La Leche, one person shared that her daughter refused to take a bottle at day care and would just eat all night when reunited with mommy – the fasting equivalent of sleeping through the night, but just during the day instead. Another person’s baby wouldn’t take a bottle and went straight to a sippy cup when she was 4 months old. Everyone agrees that Kivrin is getting plenty of nourishment and gaining weight steadily and that we shouldn’t worry too much about it (but it is hard not to worry, of course!!)
Kivrin Anne 
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October 17, 2008 at 6:59 am
Uncle lee
yeah i am such a wimp… give a crying child ANYTHING to stop them from crying… i would last about 30 seconds and start crying too. … ask LeighAnne? She had to deal with that, i would imagine. Me? i stay away from babies, so they wont start crying. .. Same as Doctors.. stay away from them so they cant say you are sick 🙂 Had enough of my life solutions ? Uncle lee
October 18, 2008 at 2:34 pm
Kate
Addison did the same thing with bottles, although not at the same age as Kivrin. When I went back to work at Thanksgiving, Addison took a bottle well enough, but then, after having me full time for five days over Christmas, she refused a bottle altogether. She was three months old at the time and several days I was in a panic about whether or not she would eat while I was at work. I heard the same advice about how she will eat when she’s hungry and needless to say, Addison survived, but it always freaked me out. Giving Addison a bottle was always a battle, she had to be tricked into it half the time (held very close to the body like she was nursing and then the bottle slipped in) and three day weekends with no bottles were always risky (she would reject the bottle on the first day back to work). Just stick with it, Kivrin will get better with bottles or find a way to adapt.