MommyBeta Podcast This Week: Hittin' The Bottle

This week we are Natali and Nathalee only. The other two Betas are out of commission so we chat it up for them! We discuss Alex's post on weaning from the bottle, Nathalee's post about having a rowdy toddler, and Natali's post about brushing baby's teeth. Natali also gives an update on Baby Mo's staph infection. 

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Prolonged Bottle Use Linked to Obesity

I was doing some research on weaning babies from a bottle (because I’m about to start to wean Reese) and I came across this post in BabyCenter authored by Dr. Lisa Dana who reports on findings published in the Journal of Pediatrics that links prolonged bottle use with obesity.

Some things to point out:

• Dr. Whitaker, a Temple University researcher, noted that “Children who were still using a bottle at 24 months were approximately 30% more likely to be obese at 5.5 years.”
• The researchers studied more than 6700 children who were born in 2001. Of the 6700 children, 22% were “prolonged bottle users.” 
• For this study, a prolonged bottle user was a child who still used a bottle and/or was put to bed with a bottle at age 2.

Interesting. I'm not sure I can buy into this without understanding other factors. I would want to know what else these kids were eating in addition to the milk and how much activity they were getting. None the less, Dr. Lisa Dana, like many others suggest that children be weaned from a bottle after their first birthday. She says that after one year of age, “Milk is just a beverage…it is no longer food,” and she is “convinced that it is the liquid calories that our children consume that is contributing to the obesity epidemic in our country.”

Reese enjoying her nighttime bottleI feel like weaning at 1 year of age is really young. Reese was definitely not ready to wean from a bottle at this age. I mean she just got used to it after switching to a bottle from breastmilk.  She is nearly 14 months and is a super great eater so I’ve decided it’s about time to start thinking about weaning her from a bottle. My goal is that she’ll be fully weaned by 16 months but we’ll see how that goes. 

Reese’s pediatrician said she needs at least 16 oz of dairy each day whether by milk, cheese, yogurt, etc. And Dr. Lisa Dana says here children between the ages of 1-3 need between 16-18 oz of milk per day.

How old was your child when you weaned them off of the bottle? 

Brushing His Teeth

After Thursday's podcast, Nathalee mentioned that she had bought an electric toothbrush for Nic because she was having a hard time getting him to brush his teeth. This was a tip from our friend Lisa, who always seems to have the best baby advice. 

Getting Baby Mo to brush his teeth after his bedtime bottle is always a bit of a struggle. He likes the idea for about 3.5 seconds and then he pulls his head away. I know better than to put him to bed with milk in his mouth so I decided to give this a try. 

Later that day at Target, I bought him this Thomas The Train Spinbrush for a little over $5. He loves trains, especially Thomas and this device intrigues him. He giggles when it starts spinning and when I put it in his mouth, he laughs and tolerates much more brushing that normal. 

Success! 

I don't think these are designed for small babies but I don't see any harm in using this on him while supervised. I wouldn't want him using it alone and sticking it in his eyes or, worse, the toilet. But with mommy, I think it's fine. 

This was a great tip! No more bedtime toothbrush wrestling match! Thanks Nath and Lisa! And Thomas! 

Last Call

For a few months I took Fenugreek, an herb that helps increase breast milk production and I stopped once my milk supply was where Taz needed it to be. However, the past few weeks my milk supply has been extremely low in the afternoons. After Taz’s afternoon feeding she is hungry an hour later and I can see she gets frustrated at the little milk that she gets. After giving this a lot of thought and consideration I’ve decided that now is the right time to start weaning Taz from breast milk to formula.

Part of me feels really selfish, like why don’t I just start pumping 15 minutes after each feeding and waking a couple of times a night (even though Taz sleeps through the night) and also get back on Fenugreek, to get my supply back up? I worked really hard to be able to breastfeed and I feel good knowing I’ve done it for as long as I have. I think this is most important.

I’ve been giving Taz a bottle at night for the past couple of months (mostly breast milk but most recently just formula). I started with formula because my milk supply plummeted for a few days when I started my menstrual cycle when Taz was about four months old. I was so worried that she was going to starve because I had no milk for a few days. I had to try a couple different formulas before finally, I found one Taz liked. Since that time I decided that it would be best to feed Taz at least one bottle of formula a day in case I ever saw a dramatic dip in my milk supply again.

I’ve decided that between eight and nine months is when I want to have Taz fully weaned off of my breast. This decision is bitter sweet for me. I told myself I would try to breastfeed for six month. Now that Taz is 7.5 months, I feel comfortable weaning. I admit that I’m going to miss the first feeding of the day when I get to cuddle with my darling baby girl after having not seen her for 12 hours (except via her monitor). I soak in her warmth and stare into her big brown eyes as they lock with mine, knowing that I’m filling her body with all kinds of goodness she needs to grow.

I’ve read that the best way to wean your baby off your breast is to eliminate one feeding a day every few days. I’ve already eliminated her night feeding (replaced with formula) and now I am working on replacing her afternoon feeding with a bottle. So far she seems okay with this transition.

If you have weaned your baby from breast to bottle, is there anything you did that made this process easier/more comfortable for you and your baby?

Where Does the Time Go?

I figured it was time to make my return to blogging after Beth’s birth. I can hardly believe she’ll be a month old tomorrow. When folks say time flies and they grow up fast, they aren’t kidding. I thought my days went by fast when I was working. Boy, they go by even quicker now. It’s almost terrifying!

In fact, today I gave Beth a bottle for the first time. I have to say before heading into having a baby, I never really considered breastfeeding. My mom had fed me formula and I really didn’t know too many people who breastfed. However, after looking at the options further, I decided to give it a try because it seemed to be the best source of nutrients for my baby. I’m really glad I did. It’s amazing how close it brings you to your little one. In fact, you don’t even realize it until you have to take it away from them. Like tonight for example. We had tried to give Beth a bottle a week ago but she just wouldn’t have it. Since I have to go to a preschool function (to learn about options in the area) tomorrow evening, my husband will have to feed her so there's no putting this off any longer. My husband was supposed to give her the bottle as we’ve read that babies don’t like taking bottles from the mommy initially because they want the breast not the bottle, but he was running late so it was up to me.

Poor baby, she took the bottle, but seemed almost traumatized. “Why is mommy forcing this plastic thing in my mouth when she can feed me herself?” I could just see the questions in her eyes. She seemed to cope though and we made it through. I don’t know why little things like that this really tug at my heart, but they do. I just wanted to put the bottle away and feed her, comfort her, but I knew this was for her own good.

Now, I truly understand what my parents meant when they said, “just you wait until you have children.” It’s an incredible, indescribable, never ending love that I’m so blessed to experience.