The Battle of the Bottle

In middle school, it was Battle of the Books. In high school, it was Battle of the Bands. Now, in mommy-land, it is the Battle of the Bottle.

"What does that mean?" you may ask, thinking I am simply blogging dreary-eyed and delirious. "Why would there be a battle over a bottle? Baby hungry - baby eat."

Not so simple with Gabriel, my (not so) little breastfed baby. Every single evening when he gets his single bottle feeding (of pumped breast milk), he is a fussy, crying mess. He whimpers as he sucks, milk drips FLOODS all over his chin and neck, and he seems to be losing more milk than he eats.

I hate it. It breaks my heart to hear or see his feeding time as a battle of burps, air bubbles, spit up, and tears. It makes me feel like I'm evil for scampering off to another room for a shower or even *gasp* out into the world at Target while he is having a hissy fit during a meal.

I suppose it is the curse of the breastfed baby. Well-nourished, well-protected, well-almost-everything, but not well-adjusted to bottle feeding. Part of me wants to skip it altogether (Who would not like to avoid pumping one's breast as if it were a cow's utter on a dairy farm?), but it seems to be a necessary evil for the following reasons:
A. If I get sick, etc.
B. If, in some crazy world, I actually leave Gabe for longer than 4 hours, like on a date with my husband
C. If I get a job
(I am currently interviewing for a make-your-own-hours part-time position with a nonprofit-- I would love this sort of job situation, and the money would be excellent to have) i

I do think part of the issue is the nipple/bottle itself. I've tried Avent, and we regularly use Medela, but the nipples are just too easy for Gabe.I have read great things about MAM bottles, and in tandem with the fact that Gabe exclusively uses MAM pacifiers, it makes sense to purchase some of them to try. I am probably going to get them tomorrow. (will update how they work for him.)

And I hope my concerns over the battle of the bottle do not give you an all too rosy idea of nursing. Gabe and I have had many battles at the breast, too, but they do not happen often, especially these days. Some days I have to battle myself to keep breastfeeding because it is simply exhausting, and on growth spurt days, it can be beyond demanding.

Still, we're going strong- I pump in the morning after his 6-7ish feeding and get 4-5 oz. for a daily bottle, and I pump circa the time he eats his bottle to get 3-5 oz. for freezing.



I will leave you with this:

We're still staying at my parents' right now, and my sisters and Dad had thought my Mom bought a new type of lemon water ice when I started putting my stash in the garage freezer. Teehee.