The Great Bottle Hunt of 2010

I am on a mission to get Penny to take a bottle. I have decided that as much as I enjoy breastfeeding, it might be nice to get out of the house for more than an hour without the baby in tow in the next year. Not that Sean and I really go anywhere, or have regular babysitters, but just in case.

When Samantha refused the bottle at ten weeks old, despite Sean giving her a bottle every day, I went on a mini bottle hunt. I had the Advent already and I tried a couple of different nipples, but we didn't try that hard. I figured when I went back to work when she was six months old, she would get over it and take milk from a sippy cup instead of starving.

I was wrong. She starved when I worked two days a week, drinking two or less ounces of milk the whole day. I fretted at work, worrying she wasn't getting adequate nutrition and was at home hungry and crying with Daddy, or worse, with a grandparent. I left as soon as I could. When I got home, she went on an eating binge all night long.

When Ella came around we really didn't try very hard when she refused the bottle. That's just what our babies do, I figured, and I was home mostly, so it wasn't that big of a deal. I had been-there-done-that with Samantha. She also went on milk fast when I worked, refusing even a drop of milk. She wouldn't even take it mixed into her rice cereal or other food like Samantha had. When it came time to wean her onto cow's milk she, unlike Samantha, refused that too. She also refused soy milk, goat's milk, and rice milk, even a no go on the chocolate varieties. She still won't take any form of milk, although she does love cheese and yogurt, so she gets a calcium supplement.

Well, now Penny won't take a bottle. I was going to ignore it, but I think I'll give it a try. I would really like her to drink cow's milk at one. I bought a bottle warmer today. I always thought part of Ella's problem was I couldn't get the milk the right temperature. I also bought a bottle that has a harder nipple within a softer nipple that's supposed to mimic breastfeeding better than other kinds of nipples.

A trial run today was a no-go, but the milk was at least the right temperature and she played with the nipple for ten minutes before giving up, so I'm encouraged. Maybe if Sean gives her the bottle she'll go for it. If not, I'm going to try a bunch of different bottles and see if she takes one.

Who knows, maybe we'll actually be able to go out on a date sometime, maybe even at night.

Photo via Flickr: The soft landing's photostream