Medela bottles for EBM, and grandma

Does anyone here use the Medela bottles (the ones with the yellow lids that
come with the pumps) and the Medela nipples that go with them (that come in
the breastmilk feeding and storage kit you can get extra for about $15)?

The reason I ask, I tried them out last night and was VERY surprised at how
fast the nipple flows. It almost seems like Medela would make a slower flow
nipple since the kit is specifically for someone who's breastfeeding and
just giving an occasional bottle feeding, to make it more like feeding from
the breast.

I don't feel good about people giving Rachel one of those bottles because
they let her suck it down as fast as you please, and she slurps down several
ounces in just a few minutes. Of COURSE this causes her to spit up, the dr
and I have decided that one big cause of her spit ups is that she eats more
than her stomach can handle and needs smaller feedings, more frequently.
This helps a lot, but I can't get those who have tried bottlefeeding her to
help me out (cough cough, grandma, cough...) to get this through their head.
They say "Look how fast she's eating she's starving!" , and then she spits
up, and then they say "Breastmilk must not agree with her".
SIGH.........Pumping is almost counterproductive to feeding her.

I am this-close to deciding that grandmas are going to be banned forever
from feeding her and that only my husband will be allowed to give her
bottles of expressed milk. He's been the biggest supporter of my
breastfeeding, and also he has a brain. He reads up on it, or at least
listen to what I or the doctors tell him, unlike the grandmas, who keep
insisting on wrong things and are stubborn as living hell. A pediatrician
can tell them something, and they just refuse to believe it, or change their
behavior.

The breastfeeding at the breast is going very well, I if you wonder, I only
want her given a bottle here or there of EBM to make sure if I ever had to
leave her she would TAKE a bottle....it makes me feel better to see that she
will take a bottle with no problems, very occasionally, otherwise, not
knowing, I'd be afraid to leave her. It also will come in handy during car
travels so I can sit beside her in her car seat and feed and we don't have
to stop etc. 97% of the time she's to be fed on the breast.

But I'm telling you, the grandmas are even starting to get on my husband's
nerves, they just refuse to listen to anything you tell them. They are
PAINS. Both of them. Neither breastfed, and both harp on the same things-
the baby not getting enough to eat....you need to make sure you always feed
her through the fast nipples because she eats more......(yeah, more in 2
minutes!), etc. My mom tells me to brush my 5 week old's gums because there
is "milk" left in there! The other grandma thinks the vaccinations are
dangerous. And that antibiotics should be used every time there is a
sniffle. My mom also insists that you MUST use baby oil on a q-tip and rub
up inside around the baby's vagina to clean her or she doesn't get clean
enough. I don't use baby oil. And I don't irritate delicate skin, and I can
plainly see she IS clean after I bathe her! My mom also claims there is
somethng ("sleep")in the baby's eye that needs to be wiped out. I am NOT
wiping at my baby's eyeball!!! I'd kick her if I saw her do it, too.

The grandmas are starting to get on my bad side. They are NO help. NONE.
Just pains!! It's bad for my husband to say something about HIS mom being a
pain.......he told me she keeps on asking if the baby is really getting
enough to eat with breastmilk. Repeatedly.

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...
I don't feel good about people giving Rachel one of those bottles because
they let her suck it down as fast as you please, and she slurps down
several
ounces in just a few minutes. Of COURSE this causes her to spit up, the dr
and I have decided that one big cause of her spit ups is that she eats
more
than her stomach can handle and needs smaller feedings, more frequently.

Her stomach has the size of her fist - go figure why she spits up (and tell
grandma). If breastfeeding one should feed at least 8-10 times a day.

Tine, Denmark

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...

snip
SIGH.........Pumping is almost counterproductive to feeding her.

That's what I've been trying to tell you, Jill!

I am this-close to deciding that grandmas are going to be banned forever
from feeding her and that only my husband will be allowed to give her
bottles of expressed milk.

I was going to suggest this. If they feel they need to do *something*, tell
them to change her diaper.
--
JennP.

mom to Matthew 10/11/00
EDD #2 10/24/04
remove "no........spam" to reply

In misc.kids.breastfeeding Jill wrote:

: The grandmas are starting to get on my bad side. They are NO help. NONE.
: Just pains!! It's bad for my husband to say something about HIS mom being a
: pain.......he told me she keeps on asking if the baby is really getting
: enough to eat with breastmilk. Repeatedly.

It certainly sounds like you know what your are doing, but you have your
hands full with grandmas. I will offer one word of caution. When you
get to the point where you have to tell them to back down and shut up,
you need to tell YOUR mother and your DH needs to tell HIS mother.
Helps with peace in the family.


:-)
Larry

Hi Jill;

these bottles are sold as storage bottles. I don't think that they cared
much about the feeding function when they designed them. (at least
that's if we are talking about the same bottles).

I would recommend that you use bottles that reduce the amount of air
that your child could inhale. Use the Medela bottles just to store the
expressed milk.

Mona
due 07-31-04

Jill wrote:
Does anyone here use the Medela bottles (the ones with the yellow lids that
come with the pumps) and the Medela nipples that go with them (that come in
the breastmilk feeding and storage kit you can get extra for about $15)?

The reason I ask, I tried them out last night and was VERY surprised at how
fast the nipple flows. It almost seems like Medela would make a slower flow
nipple since the kit is specifically for someone who's breastfeeding and
just giving an occasional bottle feeding, to make it more like feeding from
the breast.

: I don't feel good about people giving Rachel one of those bottles because
: they let her suck it down as fast as you please, and she slurps down
several
: ounces in just a few minutes. Of COURSE this causes her to spit up, the dr
: and I have decided that one big cause of her spit ups is that she eats
more
: than her stomach can handle and needs smaller feedings, more frequently.
: This helps a lot, but I can't get those who have tried bottlefeeding her
to
: help me out (cough cough, grandma, cough...) to get this through their
head.
: They say "Look how fast she's eating she's starving!" , and then she spits
: up, and then they say "Breastmilk must not agree with her".
: SIGH.........Pumping is almost counterproductive to feeding her.
:
: I am this-close to deciding that grandmas are going to be banned forever
: from feeding her and that only my husband will be allowed to give her
: bottles of expressed milk. He's been the biggest supporter of my
: breastfeeding, and also he has a brain. He reads up on it, or at least
: listen to what I or the doctors tell him, unlike the grandmas, who keep
: insisting on wrong things and are stubborn as living hell. A pediatrician
: can tell them something, and they just refuse to believe it, or change
their
: behavior.
:
snip

: But I'm telling you, the grandmas are even starting to get on my husband's
: nerves, they just refuse to listen to anything you tell them. They are
: PAINS. Both of them. Neither breastfed, and both harp on the same things-
: the baby not getting enough to eat....you need to make sure you always
feed
: her through the fast nipples because she eats more......(yeah, more in 2
: minutes!), etc. My mom tells me to brush my 5 week old's gums because
there
: is "milk" left in there! The other grandma thinks the vaccinations are
: dangerous. And that antibiotics should be used every time there is a
: sniffle. My mom also insists that you MUST use baby oil on a q-tip and rub
: up inside around the baby's vagina to clean her or she doesn't get clean
: enough. I don't use baby oil. And I don't irritate delicate skin, and I
can
: plainly see she IS clean after I bathe her! My mom also claims there is
: somethng ("sleep")in the baby's eye that needs to be wiped out. I am NOT
: wiping at my baby's eyeball!!! I'd kick her if I saw her do it, too.
:
: The grandmas are starting to get on my bad side. They are NO help. NONE.
: Just pains!! It's bad for my husband to say something about HIS mom being
a
: pain.......he told me she keeps on asking if the baby is really getting
: enough to eat with breastmilk. Repeatedly.


Good grief, Jill, can't you find anything about your mom and your mother in
law to be grateful for?

They are not even close to the worst in the world AND at least you have them
and can train them properly (though I'm not sure how).

~Carol Ann

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...
I am this-close to deciding that grandmas are going to be banned forever
from feeding her and that only my husband will be allowed to give her
bottles of expressed milk. He's been the biggest supporter of my
breastfeeding, and also he has a brain. He reads up on it, or at least
listen to what I or the doctors tell him, unlike the grandmas, who keep
insisting on wrong things and are stubborn as living hell. A pediatrician
can tell them something, and they just refuse to believe it, or change
their
behavior.

That is immensely frustrating. I wish I could offer you some concrete
suggestions. What my MIL seemed to enjoy, though, was that I let her give
Sophia her second solids feeding at 6 months (I wanted to do the first .
She was pleased as punch to be feeding Sophia, and with solids, I had in the
house only things I wanted her to eat. Of course, I can see that if you
told your mom/MIL that they could feed your baby solids, they'd want to
start tomorrow ;P

The mantra is generally: "You had your chance to raise your children. This
is our (you and your partner's) baby. What we say, goes. If you don't like
it, too bad. This is not your child. We know that you love her, but we are
her parents, not you." Pretty it up with as much verbage as you like, but
say it firmly, and make sure they know you mean it.

But I'm telling you, the grandmas are even starting to get on my husband's
nerves, they just refuse to listen to anything you tell them. They are
PAINS. Both of them. Neither breastfed, and both harp on the same things-
the baby not getting enough to eat....you need to make sure you always
feed
her through the fast nipples because she eats more......(yeah, more in 2
minutes!), etc. My mom tells me to brush my 5 week old's gums because
there
is "milk" left in there! The other grandma thinks the vaccinations are
dangerous. And that antibiotics should be used every time there is a
sniffle. My mom also insists that you MUST use baby oil on a q-tip and rub
up inside around the baby's vagina to clean her or she doesn't get clean
enough. I don't use baby oil. And I don't irritate delicate skin, and I
can
plainly see she IS clean after I bathe her! My mom also claims there is
somethng ("sleep")in the baby's eye that needs to be wiped out. I am NOT
wiping at my baby's eyeball!!! I'd kick her if I saw her do it, too.

Oy. That 50s/60s/even 70s parenting stuff is bonkers. Then again, I wonder
what we're doing now that our kids will look back on and say, "What were
they thinking?" Personally, I think it'll be less, because we're going by
what's essentially natural (breastfeeding, minimal interventions, etc.) but
who knows.

But, putting a q-tip in a baby's vagina? That's just messed up. Those
things clean themselves! "Sleep" works itself out -- no need to wipe it.
When it collects at the tear duct, I'll take a swipe at it, but only when
it's crusty.

The grandmas are starting to get on my bad side. They are NO help. NONE.
Just pains!! It's bad for my husband to say something about HIS mom being
a
pain.......he told me she keeps on asking if the baby is really getting
enough to eat with breastmilk. Repeatedly.

Ugh. Sorry to hear that. My mom and MIL both breastfed, at least for a
little while, and they're good about believing me when I give them new
research and such. When people just don't listen, though... sometimes you
just have to stop talking. Maybe it will hurt their feelings, but they need
to learn some boundaries. "Mom, I appreciate that you're concerned about the
baby, but we/her pediatrician are quite satisfied with her growth and
development. She is getting enough to eat. I expect you to respect our
family, and stop implying that we are bad parents because we do things
differently than you did. If you ask me this again, I will terminate the
conversation." It sounds harsh that way -- pretty it up as necessary, but
make sure they know that those lines of inquiry are not acceptable.

I had to do that with my MIL on a few points -- my weight, during my first
pregnancy, and our homebirth plans (she's a nurse in hospital, so she sees
some awful cases, and second-guessed me quite a bit). I made it clear,
gently but firmly, that those concerns were between me, DH, and my midwife,
and if we had a concern, we'd take it up with our midwife. We appreciated
that she questioned us only because she cares about us, but we are adults,
and capable of minding our own affairs. Sometimes that's a hard lesson for
grandparents to learn, but they need to.

Regards,
Jan

"Jill" wrote in message .com...

SIGH.........Pumping is almost counterproductive to feeding her.

I felt that way myself. Nursing is sooooo much easier.

The grandmas are starting to get on my bad side. They are NO help. NONE.
Just pains!! It's bad for my husband to say something about HIS mom being a
pain.......he told me she keeps on asking if the baby is really getting
enough to eat with breastmilk. Repeatedly.

My advice is to smile at them, ignore the comments, and change the
topic. After visits to the ped, tell them about all the glowing
comments and encouragement you got for breastfeeding. If necessary,
make some up. Boast about her height and her alertness and how they
said babies grown on mama's milk were so much cuter. IOW, ignore the
negatives and tell them about all the positives the authority figures
are mentioning!

That, or they could do dishes. Laundry. Shopping. Diaper changes.
Tell them the pediatrician has suggested you avoid the bottles as much
as possible because her stomach is still just the size of her fist and
he's sure she's eating too much at once. :-)

--
C, mama to nineteen month old nursling

"Jill" wrote in message
. com...
Does anyone here use the Medela bottles (the ones with the yellow lids
that
come with the pumps) and the Medela nipples that go with them (that come
in
the breastmilk feeding and storage kit you can get extra for about $15)?

I don't feel good about people giving Rachel one of those bottles because
they let her suck it down as fast as you please, and she slurps down
several
ounces in just a few minutes.

Why don't you try a different nipple? I have bought both playtex and gerber
bottles to pump into (as they were signficantly cheaper than Medela bottles)
and they fit just fine. That being the case, I'm sure their nipples would
fit fine on Medela bottles. A lot of my friends who pump use the Playtex
Nurser nipples. I use Avent and transfer to those bottles (which is a
pain).

The other grandma thinks the vaccinations are
dangerous. And that antibiotics should be used every time there is a
sniffle.

That is hilarious...on the one hand she doesn't trust modern medicine, and
on the other hand, she wants to overmedicate. Go figure.

Nancy

We had the same problem with nipples that came with bottles of a
different brand. (not Medela) so I started using Nuk brand nipples. They
come in slow/medium/fast flow which was quite helpful.

As far as grandmas go I don't know why it seems when a baby is born they
get crazy. LOL! My mom never breastfed and when she saw me doing it she
actually sighed and said: "You've got it so you're the ONLY one who can
take care of that baby" I could have killed her.
Hang in there, I still haven't gotten the unsolicited advice to stop.

Wendy
DS 7-11-03 and EDD 11-23-04