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Sunday, June 12, 2011

Guest Post: Cup Feeding Ain't Hard to Do!

Today's Guest Post comes from Babymama Mi'Ann Oblea who runs the widely popular Babymama Facebook page.  Mi'Ann successfully cupfed her 2nd baby Tommy and shares her tips to moms who are interested in cupfeeding and would like to avoid introducing the bottle.

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It’s easy to convince moms to try to breastfeed their child. But it’s a different story when you ask them to cupfeed.

There are many reasons why moms choose bottlefeeding over cupfeeding. First, they’ve probably already received or invested in the top of the line bottle and nipple range so it would be a waste not to use them. Next, they might have never even heard of cupfeeding- at all. And third, even if they did hear about cupfeeding, it’s just too scary to try. Babies drinking from a cup? Naahhhh...


When I first heard of it, I thought cupfeeding was an alien and radical idea. I thought this was more suited for hippy, commune-style mothers who didn’t wear leather, use plastic or eat meat (no offense). Not for moi - the modern, working woman with the expensive, widely recommended bottle and nipple set.

But although I was fine with the bottle, my daughter - who was actually on the receiving end - hated it. She hated it so much that I had to change my whole bottle set to another type completely. She hated it so much that she wouldn’t take the bottle after a weekend or long period of directfeeding. And she hated it so much that she just refused to take it almost right after her first year. So even if I had an adequate supply of milk, it was also stressful that my daughter would rage and fight against the method she received it.

So I swore to myself, no more “bottle-battles” with my next one.

With my son, I introduced cup feeding at around 4 weeks. I read tips off the internet to my yaya, had her watch a few youtube videos and left the house. I left her with an ounce of milk, a plastic cup and a baby who was about to get hungry. When I got back, I asked if my son drank the milk and she said, yes. Easy.

The rules for cupfeeding are generally commonsense: 1) have the baby sit upright, 2) support the neck, hold the arms (not yours, baby’s) and 3) do not attempt when baby’s pissed off about something. However, here’s a new rule (and the most important one): do not pour down baby’s mouth. Just let the milk touch baby’s lips and baby will instinctively lap at the milk like a kitten (provided that baby is in a zenlike state - refer to rule #3).

Experts say that cupfeeding falls under the baby-led category (like breastfeeding) since baby will simply stop when full.
All you need is a small medicine cup (1 or 2 oz). No need for expensive, fancy-shmancy bottles and nipples!
Hold baby in semi-upright position.
Tilt the cup so that the milk touches baby's lips. Let baby lap up the milk with his mouth and tongue.
Oops, be sure to hold on to the cup in case baby grabs it. 
All done!
 Anyway, my son took to cupfeeding like a duck to water. By 8 months, he could drink from an adult glass with no backwash whatsoever. By 1 year, he can drink from anything, even a bottle of mineral water.

Cupfeeding has a special place in my advocacy because I’ve already met several moms whose babies rejected the breast somewhere between 3-8 months. These moms are model examples who don’t give supplements, pump regularly at work and breastfeed at home so it’s quite heartbreaking when their baby rejects the breast unexpectedly.

As a result these moms get exhausted from having to pump round the clock instead of experiencing the emotional comfort of having their babies latch on after a long day. They get too tired of pumping and eventally start lessening the pumping sessions. Then their supply dwindles and so on and so forth. You know how their story ends.

But other than the risk of eventual breast rejection, another reason to cupfeed is that it’s more sanitary. Since a cup does not have nooks and crannies where bacteria can hide, you don’t spend too much time cleaning it. It’s also more economical since all you need is one tiny cup - how much can one tiny cup cost? So with cupfeeding, you even get to save on 2 things: your precious time and your precious hard-earned money.

So there you have it, my personal appeal. Please cupfeed. Do not bottlefeed. Cupfeeding is the simplest and most natural progression after breastfeeding.

And it’s not radical, nor dangerous nor hard to do.

12 comments:

Mommy Glaiza Tominio said...

where can I find a cup like that?

Jenny said...

hi glaiza! mi'ann sells at her babymama store - http://babymama.ph/electric-manual-ameda-breast-pump-review-best-breastfeed.html  brand is ameda. some moms just use the cap of their bottles (e.g. avent bottles) or you can use shooter glasses if you prefer glass cups.   hope this helps!

maricel bangilan said...

So can a two-month old baby start to cupfeed?

Jenny said...

yes, even newborns. check this post out - http://fabnaima.blogspot.com/2010/01/cup-of-life.html

Diwa Joanne Paolo said...

wonderful post, mi'ann and jen! baby diwa cupfed when he was new born, only weeks old! no milk bottle ever, happy! https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=142764349105374&set=a.142762885772187.24460.100001154287536&type=1&theater

ceecee1300 said...

Wow, I never knew about cup-feeding! I thought it was more of a temporary thing to use in rare situations. Thanks for sharing this. =)

bella said...

my baby is purely breastfed up to now ( she's turning 2 this sept ) and was never bottlefed! It was amazing how she prefers a cup over a bottle! My friends are surprised to see a baby that doesn't have baby bottles at all!

Benz Co-Rana said...

Wow congratulations! You're the second mom I know who's successfully cupfed. I tried to convince my yaya, she even saw how the midwife do it but I guess we weren't determined enough :) Oh well at least Laya is drinking from cup and mineral water bottle now at 14 months. Sometimes still with the awful backflow hahaha

France said...

Such a wonderful tip from you, Ms. Mi.. I will truly consider this.. My baby is now on her 1st month + 4 days.. =)

Cris said...

I'm considering this because my son also don't want to bottlefeed. some questions: 

sa start ba talagang may mga tulo? 
gano katagal bago sila matuto mag cupfeed na walang tulo?
how many milk binigay niyo madalas sa 7 mos old baby per feeding?

Mi'Ann said...

hi cris! 

yup, expect spillage at the beginning but with practice, this will lessen. but milk doesn't flow fast so ask your yaya to use the cup to catch the spillage on baby's chin (by using touching cup to baby's chin and making a stroke upwards).

to get the hang of it, around 1-2 weeks of daily practice by yaya. she just has to be dedicated to it or just don't offer the bottle as an alternative kung nahihirapan siya.

rule of thumb: 1 - 1.5oz/hour. example, feeding is after 3 hours, then 3-4.5 oz. for a 7 mo old baby, most likely the upper range so 1.5 oz/hour.

thanks,
miann

Mi'Ann said...

benz, maybe what to do with yaya is to not offer any alternative the next time. no bottles available. so she'll have no choice but to learn it. : ) miann

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