BOTTLE BATTLE

Vera vs bottles...a big battle.

I can't say I was surprised she didn't want the bottle since she HATED pacifiers. I had bought some Dr. Brown bottles (10 bottles for like $10) off craigslist and quickly these were SHOT DOWN! Vera 1. Bottles 0.

I decided to give Playtex natural-type nipples with drop-ins a try. Those nipples seem a little less plasticy. SHOT DOWN! Vera 2. Bottles 0.

Jam and I really struggled with what to do...he hates to hear her cry but I needed him to put in a good effort with her, not giving in to the freak outs right away. I tried to give one to her but that was DEFINITELY NOT HAPPENING...she knew momma has the goods. It got a little better with Jam, but Dad's intuition was right...these weren't going to work either, though there was a little progress with length of time before losing it. We also concluded we needed a bottle warmer since the breast milk cannot be microwaved...good move. :)

Back to Target in search for a winner...and a winner we found. A bottle with a shorter nipple...First Years...and at 8 weeks, Vera finally caved and took the bottle. YAH!!!!!

So, the brand new (aka ignorant idiots) parents we were figured taking the bottle was like riding a bike...NOT SO MUCH. So when we went to give her the bottle again...a week and a half later...the battle was back on. This was tough on me since Jam was so busy with school, and it was getting close to me having to go back to work, and I still had not spent any time away from Vera. We decided it was going to have to be me "training" her to take the bottle since Jam would only be able to try once a day and in the evening when she's already tempermental. Jam had read some things to try online so Mom and Vera had it out. Let the training begin.

My mom came over to try, as I retained the thought Vera wouldn't take a bottle from mom, and after 25 minutes of screaming/crying, we caved and I breastfed her. Trial 2 (later that day), I had it out with Vera for 45 minutes as I gave myself a pep talk- "you can do it! you can do it! hang in there! I will prevail!!" But, I just felt so terrible for her, having done this to her earlier in the day...mom caved. For the next couple days I tried different things and we had a couple more long sessions of crying (mostly just Vera...haha) but eventually she took it.

FINAL RESULTS: First Years bottle, sitting upright and facing out on my lap in a place where she doesn't normally breastfeed like the kitchen chairs or a different place on the couch or walking around while feeding. Stubborn shit.

Hope this excursion and stubborness is not a sign of things to come. :/