Baby Stuff We Actually Use: Feeding the Babe

When it came to feeding the babe I was sort of clueless in the beginning. My whole pregnancy I said I was going to attempt to breastfeed, but at the same time, I wasn't gung-ho on it. If it worked, it worked, if not, I wasn't going to be devastated at all. I tried to breastfeed in the hospital, and though I begged for a lactation consultant to come (which I was told at my birthing class they would come to your room to work one-on-one with you), the nurses kept forcing me into a breastfeeding class. In a hallway. With my one day old baby. No thank you. I had my mom help me as much as she could, and eventually a lactation consultant did come around, and the extent of the conversation with her was: "Am I doing this right?! He doesn't seem to be getting anything!" "Uh, yeah. Just keep at it." And she walked away. Helpful. By the time we got home, and Eric, being the saint that he is, seemed to understand the whole process more than I did, the kid hadn't eaten anything in almost 20 hours. By the time we got to the doctor, he told us that Weston was tongue tied and the only way to get him to be able to breastfeed was to clip his frenum immediately. In the meantime, he gave us Enfamil Infant Formula and told us to go home and feed him. Luckily I had bottles at home I had registered for! We got home, googled everything, and tried to make an appointment to see some specialists to clip his tongue. We also cleaned, sterilized, and started him on the bottle. The poor little thing was so excited to eat and took to the bottle right away! Because he was born the week of the Jewish holidays, all the doctors were out of the office the day we would needed to get his tongue clipped. The next appointment was two weeks later! We made the executive decision to bottle feed there and then. Did I feel bad? A little. I know breastfeeding has its amazing benefits. Was I tired of watching everything I ate since having diabetes? Absolutely. Was I over the moon about breastfeeding in the first place? Not even close. I had one night of immense guilt about it ("Maybe I'm the WORST MOTHER EVER for choosing to not breastfeed!"), but as soon as I saw how happy he was eating, the guilt went away and I was content with my decision.

The formula we ended up using is Enfamil Gentlease. After two months of a crying baby every time he ate, we switched over to the Gentlease and he's been loving it ever since. We also throw in these amazing beyond amazing gas drops to most bottles (seriously, I need to buy stock in them), and he's been eating like a champ ever since we made this switch!

We use the Dr. Brown's Glass Bottles. I liked the idea of glass because it's healthier than plastic, but there's a plastic venting system in it, so...eh. Not perfect. These bottles also tend to leak more than they should, and the nipples are way, way too fast! We still have him on preemie size nipples otherwise the fast milk flow chokes him! I like these bottles, don't love love them, though. Wish there were a better glass bottle option!

We use the Dr. Brown's bottle brush and the Cuisinart Sterilizer. I like both of these! The sterilizer is large, but easy to use and gets the job done. When the bottles are cleaned, I put them in this drying rack (also Dr. Brown's) to lay in wait to be used.

I threw the pacifiers we use in this topic, even though they aren't food related. We use the Avent Soothies, because they're silicone and hospital grade. He's not a huge paci-baby, but now that he's teething he likes them more and more. (PS. I don't use the scented ones, they sort of creep me out!)