I have a high chair that reclines, and I used to pop DS in that, and lie it back and strap him in and feed there during the day if he was being uncooperative. Now, I just give him the bottle lid, and he bangs it against the bottle and kicks his feet. Also, he is much happier feeding himself now too, with me supporting the end of the heavy bottle ...
DD was the same - I used to be very glad it was not my nipple that she was ripping around in all directions to look at everything!
But we used to have a quiet environment when she was feeding, so people in the room stayed and no one went out. (she was a quick feeder thank goodness) At day care they taught her to hold her bottle very early on and that seemed to give her a challenge to keep it in her mouth. I also found eye contact helped - but only if she was in the mood.
Also if she got totally distracted after only half the feed I would put it up for half an hour and then give her the rest when she was hungry - it seemed to work but it did drag out feeding times. At night she just drank and then fell asleep again luckily.
I have to swaddle Bella and lay down on the bed cause she is a mega pain to feed. She tries real hard to get out of the blanket but as soon as the bottle is in her mouth she is right - it's the only way at all that I can get some milk into her these days and if she isn't still her whole feed gets thrown back up.
I'm getting DS to take more control with his bottle and will give him some finger food with his meal. But the distractions such as TV or ppl can still be an issue. I now turn the TV off at meal times or if I want to watch the news in an evening I will position the high chair with its back to the TV. I end up listenin more than watching though. As long as I interact with DS we get through the meal. If there are ppl around, I ask them not to move around or postion themseles wher DS can see them. Then there are times the lamp is more interesting than his bottle and sometimes you can't win.
I feel your pain. Peter is a mega squirmer when feeding and gets distracted by EVERYTHING. There are two things I find make it a little better. One is getting him to hold his bottle as much as possible (although he will drops this too). The second is actually the telly. As much as I hate it, he will generally lie much more quietly and drink if he can watch TV. He seems particularly fond of Backyard Blitz.....
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