What happens if your baby doesn't like a bottle?

The question in my head that always got me while I was breastfeeding was... what happens if my baby never takes to a bottle. Well with my son my nightmare came true. He loved to nurse and hated the bottle. We couldn't even have it in the same room with him without him screaming at first. He made a conscious effort that the way he preferred to feed was the old-school way! (breastfeeding)And boy did he stick to his plan. It was a good 12 week struggle to get him to take a bottle. The funny thing was the first time we gave him a bottle he took it with ease. After that try number 2 thru try number 122 he could not be convinced to drink his pumped breast milk from this foreign object! Man was it frustration. Not just for me but for the entire household. Mom needs a break, Dad cant help mom in this arena...but wants to. What do you do??? Not to mention that maternity leave only last so long! What happens when you return back to work and he's still not taking a bottle.... The baby's gotta eat right???

Nope not my son... he would hold off until I was there (hours, man was he a stubborn boy... I hope this characteristic serves him well later in life! Taking it one step at a time, one little win, we'd call it was how my family got thru this challenge. Even if he'd only take an ounce to start, "Hey it was a start right!" So little by little my stubborn little prince decided to eat during the day, slow to start. I would just love to listen to people try to coach me on how to handle this situation. Everyone has a different idea, different approach. But every kid is so different, what works for one may not work for the other. I was told to buy all different types of bottle.. (what a waste of money, the one that worked was the original one we had Dr. Browns!) We were told that he'll eat when he's hungry, (Yeah then he starves all day and keeps me up all night eating because he's starving, obviously that didn't work!) But no the less there is a light somewhere at the end of the tunnel, you'll get there eventually... just keep searching for it. And every step forward is a step forward, no matter how small....

Don't tense up while pumping

I've found that when your pumping the worst thing you can do is tense up or stress out. You need to be calm collected and focused on your little bundle of joy to be able to extract as much milk as possible. I know it seems very odd to think that our mood will dictate what we pump, but its true. This can be hard when your pumping at work, because of the environment your in. Different moms use different tricks while they are pumping. Some moms, bring a picture of there child, others bring there phone with videos and picture of there loves. I do a combination of things. I find relaxing for me includes finding a way to think of my son (who i am pumping for) by either running through in my head things we did the night before, watching videos of him on my phone and just enjoying thinking of him. other times i flip through a magazine or play games on my phone. Anything that gets me to relax in a high pressure work environment. Also try not to stress on the time, it'll work against you. I find that when I'm really pressed for time, and trying to fit my pumping time in between my appointments, I pump less and I end up needed to use a emergency frozen pack for the next day. That's the most frustrating part when I work so hard to get a stash of frozen breast milk and then need to use it because I cant relax. Its suppose to be for emergency not for non relaxing pumping sessions... So I guess my point is RELAX, easier said than done right!