More practice nippling

Grandma has gone off to Lakewood, Colorado to purchase the Dr. Brown's bottles that should make it easier for Jac to suck from the bottle without getting air into his belly.

We are working very hard to make eating a pleasant experience for Jac - since this is all new and he needs to learn to associate eating with his tummy getting full and not being hungry. Since he has been fed by tube for quite a while he has not learned this association yet.

I read a scary article in the New York Times about what can happen in the long term if kids don't make pleasant associations with eating.

The NAP team has asked us to try nippling with him twice a day - once per shift (so once during a 12 hour period). We will try the nippling when he is already awake for his cares which happen every 3 hours.

The idea is that once per shift when he is woken up for his cares (sometimes he wakes up on his own in between cares - usually for a wet diaper or reflux) if he really wakes up and is alert and rooting we will try with the bottle and practice with it. Whatever he does not eat from the bottle will be put into his gavage feed and started as soon as we are done with bottle.

His schedule works like this.

Midnight:
Cares (diaper, pulse ox change, listen to belly, change position)
Start feeding through gavage

3 am
Same thing

6 am
Same thing

And so on and so on.


It is really fun to see him nippling and I can't wait to try him at the breast. They have said I can give him a dry breast and see what he thinks! I think I might lose him under there!

We will try with the bottle this afternoon once Grandma gets back with the bottles and Jac decides he would like to try!