I was at a breastfeeding support circle last week and felt a little strange because instead of having questions about breastfeeding, I needed information on bottles. I have given countless babies bottles at my job, but suddenly when it came to my own child I realized I had no idea what I was doing. Leda has been a pro breast feeder since the day she was born. I am yet to have an issue (knock on wood) and I plan on giving her breast milk until at least a year and probably well over that. I had no idea how much milk a child of her age would need in a bottle.
I think we always have it in our minds that we need to do things a certain way. Society lays out certain plans for us and we tend to follow. It feels like the right thing to do and then we don't have to deal with the questions about why we are choosing to do things differently, but sometimes those laid out plans simply don't feel right to everyone and you have to do what makes you feel comfortable.
I have been uncomfortable about giving Leda a bottle. I think I have been concerned that she would stop breastfeeding and I was going to loose that bond with her and it made me apprehensive. I love looking at my baby and knowing that she is growing and thriving because of the sustenance that I am providing for her, but unfortunately choosing to only breastfeed Leda also means I will never be able to go out for more then an hour. It was time to introduce another option.
Lindsay, the Doula in charge of the support group asked me an interesting question when I talked about my apprehension of bottles and that simply was "Why do you have to give her a bottle at all? Why not give her a cup?" I had never thought of it. I just figured Leda was too little to take one, but when I thought about it I knew better and suddenly everything made a lot more sense. Whenever a baby comes into the daycare, unless they are really small we always give them a sippy cup at meals, so why did I think my child was any different. As soon as I began to think of the sippy cup as an option I felt a lot more comfortable.
I bought Leda a 'Born Free' sippy cup. The spout is soft and shaped more like a nipple, but it is free flowing, so it is also like a cup. It seemed like a good choice.
This morning Andrew tried the cup with Leda for the first time and it went pretty well. Leda drank just over an ounce, was very interested in it and participated in grabbing it and pulling it towards her mouth. It was very messy and next time she will wear a bib, but she seemed to enjoy it. As soon as she started to complain we stopped because we don't want to force it on her and discourage her, but this makes me feel a lot better that I can leave her and she isn't going to starve.
It breaks my heart that she is growing up and I know that in 1- 2 months she is going to be starting solids. Of course I love watching all of her developments, but I wish I could just slow it down a little bit.
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