Myself Going Back to Work - Mankato, MN

That's great that he is willing to stay home, so you can work. Not to0 many men would do that. Don't panic...a lot can change in one week. Just keep trying the bottle and let him be the one to comfort her when she cries for this week so she can get use to him more.

Have you tried different bottles/nipples? Some babies are very particular on the nipple they will take. It may take quite a few tries before you find one she likes. The same goes with the pacifier. My son didn't like any pacifier, and my daughter only likes one kind. You might end up with a collection of bottles/nipples/pacifiers - but it may be worth it for your husbands sanity (and babies too!) Good luck!

first and foremost, dont panic, baby will sense that and will be a bit freaked out too.
baby might not take a bottle from dad if you are in the room, or even the house. try to leave for a while, even for a walk, or grocery shopping, whatever, and see how he does.

most of all, let him do it all by himself. the only way that your husband can find out how to calm your baby and figure out how to work things out is if you just go somewhere between now and the time you go to work, and let dad fend for himself. its HARD, and NO ONE could possible take care of her like you do, but thats not a bad thing, and its good for her to know her dad this way. they are going to become so close because of the time they will spend together, and the easiest way for your husband to get ready for it is to do it! :D

good luck. :D your husband sounds great!

Hi S.,

We had the very same issue. Our pediatrician (35 years in practice, rated #1 many times in Mpls-St. Paul best doctors issue) reassured us that it may not be the baby's preference at first, but every baby can take a bottle. The key is persistence. Our doctor advised us that a baby will take the bottle when hungry enough and told us to offer it to our daughter (at 10 wks) every couple of hours until she accepted it. Well she turned red and cried every time we did that for an entire day. She was so mad! But by dinner time she was pretty hungry, and sure enough she drank the entire thing -- and it was never again an issue. In fact, she ended up liking bottles a lot after that. So hang in there - you can do it!

Has he ever tried to calm her down when you weren't there? If not, it might be worth a try. My babies could tell if I might be somewhere available and would persist until they got me. But if I wasn't there, they did okay until I returned.

It's wonderful that your husband is staying home with her -- mine did that with our first child, and it made such a big difference for us. From the start, we shared parenting, rather than having the kids be my responsibility, with him "helping," like it is with so many couples. So hooray for both of you!

I think it will be fine, he's just going to have to work through it. If he's the only one at home, and he's really patient, she will come to trust him. He's going to have to be monumentally patient, but he needs to believe that he can do it, because he can.

Good luck!! Post again later to let us know how it goes.

I'm no help on the bottle transitioning, but I can offer something to try as far as calming goes. The book, the Happiest Baby on the Block, does something they call the cuddle cure. It is a series of things we all try for calming individually, and get touch and go results, but put together in the right order works wonders. Do them one right after the other without pausing. Swaddle, flip to a side lying or belly position on your forearm, rock/bounce, and shhhh until calm or sleeping. If your husband is stressed when she fusses, she senses that also, as well if you are stressed and hovering when he's trying to calm her. So take a deep breath and give it a whirl!