Breast & Bottle

Don't worry, this post is not going to compare the two ways of simply feeding your child. Quite frankly, I don't care how you feed your child, as long as they are fed and loved. I also have no judgement when it comes to people's preferences or beliefs about this topic. I do what I can with what I know from my own personal expierences and right now I am begging and asking for help :) The situation is this: I was pre-warned about this and thought I took all precautionary steps to prevent it but I have a stubborn, strong willed baby girl. Ya know, kinda like her Mom. Awesome. I introduced the bottle to her a few weeks after she was home from the hospital, she didn't mind it at all. Score. I never bought a bunch of bottles knowing that some babies prefer one nipple over another. She liked the Avent natural nipple best. So like most people, I went out and bought a few more of them. I quit pumping as often as I was (once a day) because I thought why do I need all of this milk in my freezer when I am mostly going to be with her? I also quit pumping as often because I despise pumping. Finding time, hooking it up, listening to my machine say "black car" as I am pumping ( I swear it does, just listen next time), and then cleaning everything when your all done. It is much easier to unhook your bra! God bless all of you dedicated souls out there pumping and bottling, or the breadtfeeders who go back to work, you all rock! I would have thrown in the towel a long time ago if my child didn't latch on. She would've been having a cocktail called formula :)

So recently, my husband and I went to dinner and I decided to pump so we could just have it handy. Bonefish bar didn't seem like the atmosphere to get my let down on if you know what I mean. My wonderful child slept right through dinner and what else do happening couples do on a Friday night?? Walk the mall of course and join all of the other happening parents out there. Just about the time I want to shop, she wakes up. No biggie, we have the bottle, my hubby can feed her. Problem is, now she is refusing to take it and is acting like she has no idea what we are shoving in her mouth and proceeds to push her tounge out, spitting milk everywhere all while screaming bloody murder. We know how to get attention. By the way, I love how random people look at you like, "Ummm your child is crying." Well duh people, I can hear and I am trying to make it stop. So if you hear a baby crying, please just smile at the Mom or simply look away. I would give mu baby a pacifier but that is a whole other story, and to sum that up, I wanted her to have a paci, binky, dummy, or whatever you want to call it and she wants no part of that either. We left the mall for home where I unlatched my bra and once again all is well with 3 ounces wasted.

We have an event this weekend so we decided to really work on this bottle taking thing. I regressed and re-tried the other bottles she originally wouldn't take such as; Medela, Similac, Playtex, Tommee Tippee, and the original Avent nipple. She was not having any of them until the Tommee Tippee. She would scream, spit, cry, and now we are wasting this milk that I hate pumping out. So again, like most people I went out and bought 2 more Tommee Tipee bottles because she was taking those. When the time came to feed again, I whipped out her bottle she loves and BAM! Back to hating it and acting like she has never done this before. A lightbulb came on, let's try glucose water. Nope, wouldn't take it. Husband tried formula ( her first time tasting it), wouldn't take it. I did a Target run today, bought 2 new bottles, Gerber and Nuk. Success after a few screams but the Nuk has won the day. 1 ounce down and in the books but this momma is not going to go buy any more bottles or we will go broke.

So help a Mother out! I have no idea how to get her to take a bottle better or just simply taking a bottle would be nice. I feel as if I have expired all options except letting her starve. Not sure I can do that one. I need some advice/suggestions. Until then, we will keep trying the Nuk and if history repeats itself, I will just unlatch the bra and all is well, until the sitter comes.