Hi! i'm new to this website, and i have a problem that i'd like to fix. My 5.5 mo old baby boy has only taken the breast for all of his life. I was absolutely determined to breastfeed -- which was good, because we had a lot of problems in the first couple of weeks. Well, we got over those issues, and now he's a champion breastfeeder. However, we've never been successful at getting him to take a bottle. So, now that he's nearly 6 mos old, i'm getting really tired of having to always be the one to feed him.
In his defense, we had a big move when he was just a couple of months old (job change and everything), so we stopped trying to bottle feed for a while, because it was just easier to give him my breast. However, now things have settled into a routine, and i'm ready to leave him with a sitter, but can't for more than a couple of hours until he learns to take the bottle.
Hubby can't help out, because he's working from 6:30am-8:30pm every day (yes, 7 days a week--he's a university football coach, and it's that season). My mom's not alive anymore, so she can't come help out, and we're not near any other family members. Also, being in a new city, i haven't made any close friends yet.
So, all that said, how can i get him to take a bottle? I've read the baby whisperer book and didn't find anything helpful. I don't really understand the idea of trying to find a nipple that looks like mine -- how can i know what my nipple looks like when he's got it in his mouth?
thanks for your help. I've also got questions about getting him to sleep without soothing (right now i've got to rock him in a recliner for anywhere from 2 mins to 30 mins, depending on the nap -- but bedtime is usually 20-30 mins). If i try to put him down before he's really asleep on my chest, he wakes fully up, and wants to play -- he doesn't cry, but wants to play, and won't nap.
Last question is: he sleeps fairly well at night -- goes down around 8:30-9pm, i'll go in and dreamfeed him at around 10-10:30, and then i dont' feed him again until at least 6am. However, he usually wakes up at 5am, and plays in his crib. I'll only go in if it's after 6am, or if he starts to cry, however i'd like to figure out a way to get him to sleep longer. Everything i ready says that a 5-6 month old should be able to sleep 10 hours at night. With his waking up at 5am, that means that i'm listening to him through the baby monitor for an hour, thus not really sleeping. Hence, i'm getting 6 hours of sleep every night (which isn't bad, but it's not great, especially every night). I know i'd be a lot better off if i could get 7-8 hours of sleep in one stretch.
thanks again! I'll post these last questions under sleep as well.
amy
