He Comes From a Long Line of Stubborn People

Two weeks ago I went back to work. I was stressed. I'd never left Ilan for more than a few hours. And when I did, he refused to take a bottle. Would he refuse to eat for 10 hours?

We'd spent the 3 weeks leading up to my back-to-work day trying to give Ilan a bottle, without much success. I finally decided that this was a problem for Team McClure, which is what we call my parents when they mobilize for some home improvement project. Like the time they flew out to New York and painted our walls. It's easy to think of them like this - Team McClure! - because they have matching hats and matching shirts and sweatshirts. They rarely wear them at the same time, but still. Picture them high-fiveing after a successful bathroom shelf installation, both in denim Mac's hats. They are unstoppable.

We were in California for my last week of maternity leave. My mom succeeded in giving Ilan a bottle after jumping up and down vigorously for 10 minutes. She was sweaty and sore. But it was a victory. Team McClure: 1. Ilan: 0.

By the end of the week my mom had given Ilan a few more bottles, and he took each one with less jumping than the last. I thought: "Team McClure has done it again!"

Back in Brooklyn, with 3 days left before my back-to-work Monday, Jay attempted to give Ilan a bottle. And failed. We called Katie, our babysitter, to come over. No luck. Ilan was clearly hungry, he nursed ravenously when I finally gave in and fed him. But he wasn't hungry enough to compromise his principles.

We tried so many things that weekend. Different bottles and nipples. Different milk temperatures. Holding him in various positions, rocking him in a bouncy chair. We got his favorite toy, Bee, involved. Roan modeled correct bottle feeding behavior. We even tried this technique where we soaked the nipple in my milk for 4 hours. Ilan was not impressed.

Monday came and I left Ilan with the babysitter and 12 ounces of expressed milk. He ate 2 or 3. Tuesday was a little better. I'm home with both boys Wednesday. On Thursday he came around, and ate almost all 12 ounces while I was away. At last, he was bottle trained!

There have been some regressions, but for the most part Ilan has decided that he likes to eat more than he likes to protest bottle feeding.

He is clearly a baby who stands his ground.