Her lips are sealed

All of us had a great day, except Arabella is still having a difficult time with the bottle. After a minute or so, she refuses the nipple entirely. She seals her lips shut, she fusses and groans, and she puts her hands out signaling 'no more'.

"No means no!" says Bella-Boos 😠

We can tell that she's frustrated by the bottle. Eating has obviously turned into a stressful chore for this Tinkerbell, so we respect her boundaries and never force it. We definitely don't want to cause more damage, right?

It's a real problem on our hands right now, and it's more complex than we ever imagined.

There are so many layers to this bottle feeding dilemma. So many variables to consider. Kiera and I have done a lot of research over the last few weeks, and at this point we're just trying out different things. We have nothing to lose, so we're going through a process of elimination, of sorts.

For instance, "Could it be the formula?" we asked ourselves. "Let's put it to the test!". So we tried giving her fresh breast milk alone. But still no changes...

"Could it be the temperature of the milk?" we thought. So we put it to the test. Nope, still no changes...

Today we tried feeding her smaller amounts, but more frequently. So instead of giving her 70mL every 3 hours, we fed her 35mL every 1.5 hours. 

This kind of schedule is actually recommended for babies with severe reflux. Obviously, half-feeds are less overwhelming than a full feed, so it's easier on a baby's stomach. Babies are able to digest the food quicker, and hopefully feel hungry for the next bottle sooner. 

But, of course, still no changes...

We're going to continue feeding her every 1.5 hours, at least, and maybe we'll curb her reflux at the same time, too. It's worth a shot. We already have her eating and sleeping on an incline to help her along. So there's no harm in trying out different methods and styles.

It could be a breathing and swallowing issue for all we know. It could be so many different things, or a combination of things as well.

We're interested to see how she'll handle eating solids in the future. Maybe she'll be better at taking mashed bananas or sweet potatoes from a spoon than she is at taking the bottle? Who knows, right?

This feeding dilemma is Arabella's current major hurdle. It's a big deal at the moment, but we know that she'll leap over it eventually. With time, all of these problems will fade away. 

So if you told me 6 months ago that we would get to have Arabella at home with us, safe, sound, and flourishing (but with a few issues like feeding, reflux, etc)...I would take it every single time. 

Every single time!

This is all minor stuff in the grand scheme of things. And let's never forget it!