In regards to Oliver's napping, I've decided to first focus on condensing his naps and then move on to teaching him to nap outside of my arms. Currently, he's used to napping for multiple, short intervals. After reading The No-Cry Sleep Solution, I think it'll be better for him to sleep for longer stints. After a couple of weeks of mastering the art of longer naps, I'm going to start setting him down in his crib when he starts sleeping. We'll see how that works!
In other news, Oliver has forgotten how to drink from a bottle! When we were in the hospital, our lactation specialist told me to introduce the bottle after two weeks. She explained that, if we waited longer than that, he might reject it. We introduced the bottle right at two weeks, and he had no problem with it whatsoever.
Andrew and I started to go out on a date one night each weekend and left Oliver with the grandparents. No issues.
For Christmas weekend, we didn't leave him. There was no need since we were out and about visiting family. The weekend after, my parents were out of town, and we decided to enjoy a long weekend at home. Again, no sitter.
The following week, I left Oliver with his grandma when I went to an appointment. I came back a couple of hours later, and she told me he hadn't wanted to eat. I figured he just hadn't been hungry and didn't think anything about it.
This past weekend, on January 9, I dropped Oliver off with my mom and dad so Andrew and I could go play Bingo. We came back to learn that Oliver refused his bottle and didn't eat for three hours. Crazy! That's when Andrew told me Oliver didn't drink from his bottle when I'd gone to the gym and left the two of them alone.
My initial reaction? Panic! It feels a little claustrophobic to think you can't leave your baby for more than two hours at a time. I immediately went online in search of a solution. I learned there really isn't any. Many mothers blogged that they spent hundreds of dollars on nipples and bottles trying to find one their baby would take. Some finally found one; others didn't.
A few mothers swore by the Playtex latex nipples. I went out today and purchased some. Oliver latched on for a second or two, but then dismissed it. His grandma tried a few hours later, but Oliver refused it.
I don't want to drop hundreds of dollars on different nipples, so I'm determined to make it work with what we have. Don't worry; we're not going to torment the poor baby boy. Our plan is simply to offer him a bottle once a night, every night. We won't wait for him to be super hungry to avoid making him mad. Andrew will offer him the bottle when he's happy and willing to eat. Hopefully, at some point, he'll latch onto it instead of gnawing at it.
Keep your fingers crossed!
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