My 4 month old does not suck well enough and take about 2 hours to finish a 4 oz. bottle. She was on the 3 hour EASY until she started teething and since then she refuses to take a nap without the bottle in her mouth.
Currently her schedule is...
7:00 Feed
7:30 Activity time
8:00 Feed finishes the rest of her bottle
8:00 - 9:00 Sleep (This is the longest nap she gets)
11:00 Eat
10:15 Activity time (outside, the weather is great in Hawaii, she loves the trees Exerisaucer)
10:45 finishes the rest of her bottle
11:00 Sleep (if outside, she will get a longer sleep in her playpen, if not 30 minutes)
1:00 Eat
12:30 Activity
2:30 Sleep (catnap)
3:00 Eat
3:15 Activity
5:00 Sleep (catnap)
6:00 Solid food
6:15 Bath
6:30 Reading books and singing songs
7:00 sleep
She sleeps throughout the night. It's just the day, she refuses to take a long nap. You see the signs that she is tired, but without the bottle in her mouth or anything in the bottle, she wakes up. Obviously she isn't sleeping very well. Some days she is able to sleep without the bottle, most of them with. I don't know what's worse the bottle in her mouth or a cranky baby.
How do I get her to take in more oz. per feeding? I have tried different bottles, nippes, and she seems to gag on the other ones. She has never been a great sucker and refused to breastfeed, so I pumped exclusively for almost four months. I have even tried giving her the pacifier to extend the time until the next feeding hoping it would make her suck better.
Help.
