De-feed-ted

"YOU'RE not my mother", she says to the bottle.

We've coaxed, pleaded, begged, sung till we turned blue in the face, let her watch TV as a distraction, tried to force it upon her, bounced her, used deceit and trickery... all to no avail.

So we are throwing in the bib.

For now, at least.

Zoe just gets too upset whenever we try to bottlefeed her.

She just doesn't want it and that's that.

So now, if I am away from her, we'll spoon or cup feed her. She should drink enough milk to take the edge off her hunger and then when I'm back, she can tank up.


Procedure for Cup Feeding
* Use a small cup (shot-glass size) that holds 1 or 2 ounces of milk.
* Use a bib to absorb dripsand you might want to swaddle baby to keep her hands out of the way.
* Hold baby on you lap in an upright supported position.
* Hold the cup to baby's lips and tilt it until the milk just reaches his lips.
* Be patient. Allow baby to lap up the milk and swallow at his own pace. Don't pour the milk into baby's mouth; he may sputter and choke. Let baby set the pace, and let him decide when he's finished.

Spoon Feeding
* Support her upright on your lap as you would for cup-feeding and offer small spoonfuls of milk, placing the tip of the spoon on her lower lip. Allow her to take the milk and swallow at her own pace.