Bottle Strike

As I mentioned in the last post, Oliver started to refuse a bottle last week. Since I’ve gone back to work, I’ve been pumping like crazy and have built up quite a stash of frozen and fresh breast milk for Brian (or my mom) to give to Oliver while I’m away. Since the fourth week of this life, he’s taken breast milk from a bottle with no complaints (he has even taken a bottle from me in the past, which most breastfed babies won’t do). He spent 18 hours with my parents a few weeks ago and took a bottle the whole time without a whimper. But, since that night, every time he has been offered a bottle he freaks out. He starts to scream and refuses to latch on to the nipple. If you do get him calmed down, he chews on the nipple but still refuses to suck. He has had no problems nursing in this time, however. He takes to the breast like it’s going out of style (probably because he’s so hungry by the time I get home from work). People ask if it’s nipple confusion... nope, it’s nipple preference. He’s not confused, he knows what he likes.

We’ve tried two new types of bottles/nipples (and have a third type waiting for our next attempt) but have had no success. Brian did discover that if you put Oliver under his mobile (“dinner and a show”) and then offer him the bottle that he will start to suck for awhile but he won’t take a full feeding of milk and he ends up wearing a lot of his meal in the process. And my mom discovered that he will take a bottle in the middle of the night. So, we’ve had some luck if he’s really distracted or completely asleep when the bottle is offered. But when I’m at work and Oliver wakes up from a middle of the day nap (the times I most need him to take a bottle so that I can stay at the store and get more work done), the bottles have been a no-go.

The whole process of trying to get him back on the bottle has been so frustrating for me. With each bottle he refuses I see my freedom and ability to do my job slipping away and I shed a few tears for all the ounces of precious breast milk we have thrown down the drain in the past week and a half (it’s got to be close to 20 ounces at this point and those of you who pump know how painful it is to say good-bye to that much milk). It’s also frustrating for Brian and for my mother who want so much to be able to help me out by taking care of Oliver during the day so that I can get some work done. 

Plus, this strike has come at the most inopportune time. I’ve got our storewide inventory on Sunday night and will need to be away from Oliver for a very very long time (not to mention the fact that after working overnight it might be nice for someone else to be able to feed him while I get some sleep to recover). So, here’s what we’re going to attempt. I’m going down to San Antonio tomorrow to stay at my parent’s house Saturday night (Brian is taking his EXCET this weekend so will be gone all day Saturday and I don’t want to spend the whole day by myself. Plus, my mom’s friend, Janet, will be in town from Dallas and I want to see her and introduce her to Oliver). On Sunday afternoon I will drive back to Austin, leaving Oliver with his grandparents for what could be an almost 24 hour period whether he’s figured out this bottle thing or not. Hopefully he will eventually become so hungry that he will acquiesce and take the bottle or Mom will be able to distract him enough for him to be able to take just enough milk not to go completely crazy from hunger (or drive my parents crazy from his hunger). We’ll see. If worse comes to worse, my parents will throw him in the car and head up to the bookstore so that I can feed him. Wish my brave parents luck and pray for a miracle! I would love love love to see Oliver back on the bottle by the end of this weekend.