She weighed 20.4 pounds or 9.3 kilograms. Her height was 30 inches. Her weight put her in the 10Th percentile, and her height was in the 25Th percentile so at least she is on the charts. She gave her Doctor a big present while we were there so the stool sample was taken care of :) He said she looks great :) Her ears are full of wax tho so I have to put 2 drops of hydrogen peroxide in them each night for 2 weeks to soften it up. She was a little imp during her visit showing off by doing multiple headstands on the floor :) while we talked to the Doctor. (Meema went with us too).
Poor little one was just plain tuckered out and fell asleep in her car seat as soon as we pulled out of the parking lot. Luckily her Doctors office is just 5 or 10 min from my house. When I took her out of her car seat she stayed fast asleep (Usually she wakes when I move her). It was around 615 PM and tho I hated to do it I laid her in her crib to sleep a while. I woke her at 710 PM and she was a little clingy but seemed okay. I had premedicated her with Tylenol right before the shots. She ate a good dinner, then played a while and had a bath. Usual bedtime is 900 PM and she went down about 1000 PM so not to bad. I gave her Motrin so hopefully she will sleep all night.
Finally, Her Doctor told me to get rid of her bottle?? She will be 16 months on March 13Th. I don't want to yet, it is a bonding time and also really helps me to get her to sleep at night. She only gets 1 at night and sometimes 1 at nap time. Opinions??? The Doctors main concern was fear of tooth decay so I can understand where he is coming from.
20 comments:
My doctor advised to take both of my babies off of the bottle at the 18 month check. I didn't take them off until they were a bit over two for the same reasons you state...bonding. At 18 months, I gave sip cups and straw cups throughout the day, but the night feeding was reserved for bottle and snuggling. I always had a "chaser bottle" of plain water to rinse their teeth and if they were awake I brushed their teeth before laying them down. I agree with the whole tooth decay arguement, however for me personally, I felt the baby needed that contact of being fed and held during feeding and *I* wasn't ready to give it up either. I think that when you are dealing with a baby/child who had institutionalized care, you need to make some modifications of what professionals call "best practice." Do what you are most comfortable with. It won't be the first time you disagree with something someone tells you.
Abby is a beauty!!1
Michele, Mom to Emily (5-China) and Alyssa (almost 3-China)
www.ourjourneytoalyssa.blogspot.com
jen, it was never a real issue here. shane stopped wanting to take a bottle at about a year and loghan refued a bottle and formula all together at 8 months. she went to whole milk in a sippy cup 2times a day and very dialuted applejuice as well. i always gave her a sippy cup with water in the bed (now we have moved on to a sports bottle!)do what you feel is right... i wouldn't make it so much a teeth issue if you are brushing them. just keep loving her... it'll all work out.
My T absolutely loved her "Ba Ba" (bottle). I loved the bonding experience. I admit that against advice of the Dr., I secretly let it go til about 2.5 yrs albeit reduced down to only 1 at night in the end. For the longest time she'd only drink soy milk and only started drinking 2% milk at around 2. I also caught flack from my sister about letting it go so long.
Problem was, Every time I tried to stop, she'd get sick and the only way I could get antibiotics into her was with the bottle. That always seemed to foil my attempt to end it.
The dr's main argument in favor of stopping is that studies show that drinking from a bottle longer often leads to obesity. Um, well, like your little peanut, T was and remains in the 5 - 10 percentile for weight. Not an issue.
Anyway, as I said we stopped it around 2.5, and switched solely to sippy cup. She's quite adept with a regular cup, but the sippy (or some variation thereof) is safer for the furniture. Stopping the bottle also led to positive changes in the consistency of her diaper and has made potty training much easier.
Listen to the Dr advice, but do what you feel is best for your child.
I'd leave her on the bottle as long as she'll still take it! Just brush her teeth after the bottle. I actually just put Ava(2 3/4 years old) back on the bottle as we are having significant attachment issues! Would never have stopped the bottle if it wasn't required because of the cleft surgery(not an issue now that it is healed). I have already noticed a difference with the attachment since reintroducing the bottle. My main concern would be a fully attached child rather than tooth decay at this time.
Just my two cents!
Poor baby. She did great though!
As for the bottle, I'm not experienced but I've heard that they're most concerned if the baby takes the bottle into the crib with them and if you're using it for bonding then she's not doing that. If it were me I'd stick with the bottle. Bonding time is SO important and most doctors do not know or understand that because they are not experienced with international adoption. Enjoy your bonding time with your sweetie...that's what is so important!
Poor little Abby... But sounds like she did well..
I would do what Michele said... keep it until you feel comfortable.. but chase it with water to get the milk off of her teeth..
Have a Great Week..
My doctor wanted Chloe off of the bottle early, too...but I took my time with it. She actually transitioned to sippy cups and straw cups without a problem. The bedtime bottle was the last to go. (And I lied to the doctor and said she was 100% off of the bottle way before she was. That way, I didn't have to hear about it.) The stuff that I've read about institutionalized care and attachment says that you have to really back up your baby's age to account for the time they spent in the orphanage...so she's not really as old as she is.
Most adoption docs would tell you to leave her on the bottle for now - or at least don't get rid of it completely. Lilly just has one at bedtime and sometimes on weekends before her nap. When I took Lil to the dentist, he said it wasn't a huge issue if they were just drinking milk and not juice, as it is less corrosive to the mouth. You aren't propping the bottle up in the crib...you are snuggling and spending key bonding time. Don't ditch it 'til you feel Abby is ready for it. Trust your mommy instinct on this one...Carrie
I agree with the other comments, bonding is the most important thing right now. To me, that trumps all the other stuff.
She is such a sweetie!
get rid of the bottle :) you need it she doesn't. sorry. love ya
ok people don't throw stones
- I say take her off the bottle...asap - my uncle is a peds dds - I used to work in the office and have seen what it does to the teeth-decay/bite etc...
Now as far as bonding - in lieu of the bottle - I would give her a sippy cup (once she started school - she learned how to drink fm one-it took about a week) (this was after being home 1 week or so) Anyway she would have her milk at night (sippy) I would brush her teeth - then we would sit and I would hold her for 10 mins or so - looking in to each others eyes(just as if you were holding the bottle) - I spoke softly about our day and about the next day etc - we make eye contact and body contact - lights dim etc - that is bonding - not the food - assuming that you are still the one handing her most of her meals-and changing her diapers/giving her bath etc - she is learning that you are the care giver...
Now mind you K had no attachment issues at all - she knew I was the provider by the time we got home fm CHina - so there was no fear with this...so this worked for us - maybe for you too...
Abby is doing great - just remember take alot of pics - they change so fast that first year - !
Hugs fm
Carol & Kimberly
For the bottle thing do it slowly, the bonding is important.
Swap her to a sippy cup for her milky during the day in the next few weeks.
Then after that, swap over the first morning milky leaving the bedtime bottle till last.
I would say attachment trumps teeth in this case. It is good bonding time when you can just focus on each other in (hopefully) peaceful surroundings so she can relax. If her teeth look likely to be an issue (ie thru lack of early care making them more prone to decay) then, like others suggest, I would swap milk for a bottle of warmed water.
Awwww poor munchkin, I just wanna lean into that crib and give her a peck on the cheek.
trust your instincts Jen, With Katherine, not adopted, i had a difficult time weaning her from breat because i was pregnant for Daniel and wanted some breathing space. I weaned her to a bottle, because nights were fitful for her, I left one very watered down juice bottle by her bed , because of the chaos in our lives those couple of years, she needed it and needed to know I was ok with it. It is great you are holding her, going to bed with a bottle is not good for the teeth, but your friends have good ideas, we never brushed baby teeth back then, that makes a big difference. Attatchment is the number one priority, and you are doing fine, love, "OL" Daisy
I think the bonding time is more important than taking her off the bottle. Especially since she only gets a max of 2 per day. She is not going to get tooth decay from that. If she does, it is from past activities.
Go with your gut instinct. A doctor can give you advice but you alone are your child's parent. Bonding and attachment are so much more important. Think of it this way -- you have some 14 months of bottle sharing to catch up on so technically the "only until such and such an age" rule doesn't apply!
Do what's right for you.
Paula
The bottle thing is a toughy. Peds. have their reasons for wanting babies off bottles, mostly due to tooth decay and pushing teeth around (like pacifiers do), but adopted babies are different, I think. We kept Katie on a bottle until she was closer to 19 months old --even though the Ped. wanted her off at 15 months.
She still really wanted her bottle, and I wanted to have that special time with her (I never just gave her the bottle -- someone always held her for it). Plus, I never gave her a bottle as she was in her crib -- we always brushed her teeth after she drank her evening bottle, so I wasn't worried about tooth decay.
Keep her on the bottle for a little while longer -- she missed so much as a baby, this is her time to be "babied" a little bit.
Um, I don't know why that last post showed up as "anonymous" -- I'm happy to sign my name to it!
We took Mia off her bottle at a year old when we took her off formula. Mia and I always had bonding time at night after the bottle because she has to relax before bed and nap. Her relaxing consists of just watching tv and snuggling next to each other. Just before she goes up to bed I sing to her or recap what we did that day.
She is 3 years old and she still can't go to bed without relax time. I also can't let her go without it for myself. It is great bonding that will last as long as she lets it.
Susan
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