"The Great Bottle Strike of 2012"

"The Great Bottle Strike of 2012" started Tuesday morning and lasted for 48 hours....the LONGEST 48 hours of our parenting days so far. With just a week and a half left before I return to work, Austin decided he didn't want to take a bottle anymore. He has been breast feeding with ease since birth and I started pumping when he was a few weeks old so Tayt could give him a bottle every now and then. He took a bottle the first time with no problem. We have been on two dates and he ate from a bottle both times. But, this week he was not having it, AT ALL. He would scream at the top of his lungs and push it out every time. I'm sure our neighbors were questioning what in the h*ll was going on in our house. Tayt and I were determined to get him to take the bottle as we both were freaking out with the date of me returning to work quickly approaching. The first day we gave in quickly and I fed him but not before many tears. I even went to Babies R Us to buy a couple new types of bottles and nipples after getting some suggestions from friends on Facebook. Everyone said that Tayt had to be the one to feed him because babies can smell their mother which makes them want to breast feed. Tayt and I both tried over and over and over again with no luck. Dr. N told us early Wednesday morning not to worry because babies would eat when they were hungry. Of course we thought he would starve himself or get dehydrated but Dr. N said that would not happen. There was a lot of frustration, everyone in the house was emotional and there were meltdowns from baby and mommy a few times throughout the day. Both nights he slept for 7 1/2 hours at night and we chalked that up to pure exhaustion. But then things changed....After sleeping for that long stretch on Wednesday night he woke up at 4:30am and took a bottle from Tayt with NO problem....really?? We were shocked, excited, proud and a little skeptical...Was the strike really over? Of course after sleeping so long he was ready to party after eating!! We all stayed up talking, smiling and playing until 5:45 and then baby was back asleep and so were we! He woke up again at 8:15am and we crossed our fingers and held our breath as he took another bottle from Daddy. I stayed out of the room and waited on Tayt to call out "success" each time before sighing a big sigh of relief. This continued throughout the day!!! I breast feed in the afternoon, evening and before bed. He is now sound asleep in his bed and we will see what tomorrow brings. But for now it looks like "The Great Bottle Strike of 2012" may be coming to an end! We are all smiles over here, until the next "change" throws these new parents for a loop! Live and learn!!

*Oh, and if you are wondering we got several suggestions for bottles to try and we went with the Tommee Tippee brand. In the words of a friend, and mommy of 4, "TT bottles are super booby like", which makes them best for switching back and forth from bottle to breast, which is what we wanted to do!