Wish Me Luck!

[Former Teacher]

The family that I work for FT has a friend that needs care tomorrow. They have 3 children. A 4 y.o., 2 y.o, and an 8 month old. I have met the family before when it was just the 4 y.o.

Anyway, the baby is a breastfed ONLY baby. He is on cereal (which is good!) but he will not take a bottle. I am going to be caring for this little one ALL day.

While I do dread it, like I said its a good thing he is on cereal. I plan on filling him up on that ::

[Michael]

Good luck

[Jenniferdawn]

Oh wow, good luck with that one. Hopefully over time the baby will take a bottle. Gotta have some liquid through out the day. Here's hoping there's not too much crying for you.

[nannyde]

Oh wow

That's not a good plan. The amount of cereal he can have MAX won't provide a fraction of he cals he needs in breast milk bottles. You could end up with a very gassy hungry and PAINED baby by mid afternoon.

Why in the sam heck would the Mom be willing to have the baby go away from her when she KNOWS he's unable to eat without her?

[daycare]

Oh wow

That's not a good plan. The amount of cereal he can have MAX won't provide a fraction of he cals he needs in breast milk bottles. You could end up with a very gassy hungry and PAINED baby by mid afternoon.

Why in the sam heck would the Mom be willing to have the baby go away from her when she KNOWS he's unable to eat without her?

This was my same thought.

If I were you I would demand they strt bottle feeding right now..
Sorry friend but by accepting baby with no way to properly feed is setting everyone up for failure.

No one wins in this situation as is and babys needs aren't met..

I hope you guys find a solution soon

[SilverSabre25]

I realize that this is a one-time thing, but ask her to leave you some pumped milk anyway--try cup-feeding him, spoon feeding him, etc. (Yes...you can spoon feed breast milk!). To cup fed such a tiny, just use an open top cup and sit him on your lap, and tip the cup up juuuussst enough to get some liquid to his lips. He should be trying to suck the liquid up.

[Michelle]

you can even use a medicine syringe...
I have done that before, but it's better if the mom gets him drinking from a sippy cup. 8 months is a good age to start. My dd never drank from a bottle, she went straight to a cup.

[Former Teacher]

Update: Today was.....

Great!

Mom did leave me some breastmilk and believe it or not, he did FINE with drinking from a bottle. Mom doesnt want him drinking from a bottle only from her but in times like this...there is no choice.

This morning I gave him some applesauce and some cereal. Plus he drank a little from the bottle. Then a little later, he drank more. That is until he realized what was going on! :: That was ok though, mom came soon afterwards

Thank you all so much!