Mumma's Girl

K and I have been enjoying quite the summer together.  It has been amazing to have all this time off with her.  She has been getting quite spoiled, especially as a second child.  I'm sure you've heard the saying, "Your first gets your attention, your second gets your experience."  Well, K has been getting both since T still goes to her awesome daycare M-F.  I'm no longer fearful that I won't love her as much as T, or that we won't be able to bond as well.  I'm now fearful that our bond is too strong.

Yep, too strong.  See, while my beautiful second daughter took to nursing so well and so easily right away, she shunned every other method of feeding and soothing.  She gags on binkies, spits out milk delivered in any way other than directly from me, and that little stinker won't sleep for more than 20 minutes unless nursed to sleep.  Yep, she's a mumma's girl. 

I have exhausted my contacts and resources trying to find ways to get this girl to take a bottle.  After all, I will be returning to work and I would like to have a date once in a while with her father.  When I tell people that she refuses a bottle, their reaction is usually "Psh, she just doesn't want it from you or when you're around."  Even the attending doctor at her pediatrician's office was impressed by her stubbornness when she demonstrated her milk delivery discernment, so much so that she advised that we might consider starting solids a little early. Seriously, though, here's the list of things we've tried:


- Alternate holding positions: lying down, sitting up facing us or facing away, sitting on a boppy pillow, in a high chair, or a car seat
- Alternate location: living room, bedroom, den, inside the house, outside the house
- Three different types of bottles: Medela, Dr. Brown's, and Nuk (Nuk was the only one that didn't make her gag so hard she threw up)
- Cold, warm, or room temp milk
- Hungry, starving, or not hungry at all
- Awake, sleepy, sleeping
- Morning, afternoon, evening
- Quiet locations, loud locations, distracted by toys

Well, on the recent advice of my favorite lactation consultant, I made her a breast milk slushy.  I have all this milk frozen away, I simply broke off a piece and mashed it with a spoon.  I sat that girl up in her Bumbo seat and spoon fed her chunks of frozen breast milk.  You know what?  We actually had some success!  More than we ever had with a bottle.  Why hadn't I ever heard of this before?  So, now daily, we will be spoon feeding breast milk to this girl.  Yes, it takes so much longer, but until she starts on a sippy cup (which will also be coming very soon), this is the only alternative to me.

 Yep, that's her ear print on my arm.  This girl settles in and gets comfy, I tell ya!

 Can't complain though!  Look at how well she's holding her head up!  Go K, go!

Once in a while, she gets her thumb in there, usually to soothe sore gums, never to satisfy her need to suck.