I am supposed to go back to work on Saturday this week, 21st of January but I asked my boss for mercy an extension. We are not ready since I still have a few days of leave credits, I decided to max it out. My leave has been extended until the end of this month.
The baby is still, yet to accept bottle feeding. *Insert a huge sigh that echoes from planet to planet here.*
I’ve been pumping my own milk, store it in little breastmilk storage bags to use to practice him. It’s frozen, thawed and mildly heated and put in bottle. The plastic silicon teat is shaped like a real nipple, the milk inside the bottle is familiar as it’s my own so what could go wrong? Apparently, our baby boy knows what fake boob is. I bet he will never marry someone with silicon implants when he grows up!
He screams bloody murder the moment the plastic nipple touches his mouth! So many bags of pumped breastmilk is wasted because it can’t be refrozen or reheated or stored again for future use.
PLAN B
On top of this all, we actually have Plan B – that I bring him and a nanny to my friend’s house near where I work and every time he needs to nurse, I’ll just disappear from my work desk. Sounds good? Actually no. I don’t prefer Plan B because that would mean bringing a small baby in the car while negotiating Dubai’s early morning rush, traffic and dangerous driving of some motorists. Then I have to drive him home again in the evening. Too risky.
So, we are only left with the option for him to take the bottle. I will be going home at lunch time and request for a shorter work time so I can go home earlier than usual. But then, he still needs to feed 2-3 times when I am not home. How will he cope? Will he not starve?
Just thinking about this while the days pass by so quickly makes my head spin. My poor baby.
Finding Backroads 
hi grace! the uae labour law states that working mothers are entitled to leave their job twice a day (maximum of 30 minutes each) for 18 months after delivery. for my case, i asked my boss if i could just come to work on time and leave 1 hour early. this helped us a lot!
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Thanks for that information! I will opt to go home early. I will also go home at lunch time. Hopefully this will ease baby’s transition – being motherless most hours! 😦
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he will soon learn to suck from the fake nipple, just give him some more time and be a little more pushy
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Actually we’re on a break because he is too stressed with it all. I hope to get back on the training today.
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Have you tried a different bottle/nipple? Some babies just like one over the other. You could even try a sippy cup with the valve removed to make it flow more easily (just keep him fairly upright and be very careful to keep the flow slow enough that he can handle it easily – never prop).
Also, for now freeze your milk in very small portions, even as small as 40 or 50 cc’s, so that if it does have to get thrown out it won’t waste as much as a full bag would. Also makes it easier to combine servings later to get him whatever size meals he’s taking.
And let me say it again – he will NOT starve himself. Even if he does refuse to feed at first he will NOT starve. He might be a bit unhappy during the day and protest, but it will not hurt him physically and he will make up those feeds overnight until he gets the whole bottle thing worked out. It’s called reverse cycling and is very common.
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We’ve tried the sippy cup but it seems too early for him. He either spits the milk of chokes on it!
I am trying to find a latex nipple to replace the silicone but no success so far! I am freezing my milk in very small portions, like 20ml so it won’t get wasted – it’s not easy to express! I use my own hands as I am not comfortable with a pump. Do you know a pump that’s good? All I tried is painful! I am good with expressing milk with my hands since I learned how to do it back in Japan.
Thanks for all the advice, Robin. I hope baby Ben has an easier transition soon.
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Don’t worry much Grace. He will eventually learn how to drink in the bottle lalo na if he’s hungry and you’re not around.
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I can imagine him screaming and crying on the first day I am not here and it breaks my heart just thinking about that!
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One thought. Have you really made the nipple of the bottle moist with the breast milk? So he can taste it and smell it instead of the silicone nipple?
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That’s actually a good idea! Thank you.
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Who is giving him the bottle? Try to leave the room and get your mom to give him the bottle. If he smells you, he will want you.
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All these are great suggestions that I was going to give.
Wetting the nipple with the breast milk first is a wonderful idea and have someone else give him the bottle while you are not around until he gets used to it.
And do not worry, while it may be distressing for YOU to hear him cry, he will not go hungry. He will eventually eat when he is hungry… he is being more stubborn than anything.
Praying for your success. HUGGLES!
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