Another First

A couple weeks ago, we decided we should probably give Charlotte her first bottle. "They" tell you not to give a breastfed baby a bottle until breastfeeding is well established. I felt like we were doing pretty good, and I was really kind of curious how she'd do with a bottle. Even though I have a Medela breast pump, I didn't have any nipples or rings or anything yet. So, we used what a good bloggie/twitter friend had given me - Tommy Tippee.

Source: toysrus.com via Sarah on Pinterest

Since this brand is supposed to be breastfeeding friendly, I had high hopes. I had Joe feed her the bottle because I read somewhere that babies who are breastfed take a bottle better from someone other than mom. It made sense to me because, well, she expects to get something else from me. ;-)

It started out sort of okay, but went quickly downhill as you can see by the flailing of arms. I think the main problem is just that the nipple was too big. I mean, geez, the thing covers her whole face! I also think that the milk came out pretty quick from it. She doesn't get it that fast from me, so I think it sorta freaked her out. She ate the whole thing, but it was definitely a struggle.

I had two doctor's appointments this week, {both for very different things} so I was hoping we could get her to take a bottle. You know, just in case.

Source: diapers.com via Sarah on Pinterest

The Medela nipples and rings I ordered {thanks again, Amazon!} finally came in and I was eager to see if these worked any better. They actually just revamped their nipples and made them more BF friendly. Anyway, I had Joe give her the bottle again and...

Don't you just love the shirtless Daddy and baby? =)

It was completely successful!! She didn't fuss a bit and seemed very happy with what she was getting. It still comes out way easier for her, but it doesn't just pour out like it seemed to with the Tommy Tippee bottle. Plus, look at the size difference! In case you didn't know, I have an itty bitty baby. I think she needs itty bitty bottles to match, don't you? ;-)

I actually left her for the very first time on Friday. I left her with Joe, who is really the only person I'd trust to leave her alone with right now. {Well, maybe other family members too, but they're not here.} I had an appointment at Tripler and we also had a farewell dinner to attend that evening. I didn't want to leave her, but I knew that two outings in one day would be a little bit much for her. So she stayed home with Daddy. According to him, she gobbled down lunch. This is the picture I got on my way home:

I'm thinking she had a good time with her daddy while I was gone. What do you think?