Eff you, formula!

I did it. I finally — after, like, 10 months of refusing to budge off my stubborn high horse — gave Baby Boy formula.

And you know what sucks?
HE WON’T EVEN DRINK IT!
Arrrrrrrrrrgh!

Let me back up … Remember on Sunday night, when I posted about how I was thinking about when to wean off breastfeeding? Well, writing that post must have been cathartic and helped me organize my feelings, because just after I published it, I basically headed for the kitchen and began boiling water for the first attempt.

I dug a can of Enfamil A+ (exactly as pictured here) out of the cupboard — where I’d stashed it waaaay back when I was pregnant and they mailed it to me for free.

I read the directions. I boiled water. I cooled the water. I painstakingly measured the water and the little scoops of powdered nastiness formula into two sippy-cups (Baby Boy hasn’t used bottles in a month, so I’m not regressing just because of formula). It did not look like milk — breast, cow or otherwise. It looked like … white-ish water.

I tasted it to test the temperature and almost gagged. It was like sour pee! I double-checked the expiry date on the can, but it was good for almost another year. Still … why the hell did it taste so disgusting? I had kind of envisioning it tasting like a baby milkshake, or even one of those instant breakfast drinks — gross, but tolerable.

Within minutes of finishing the mixtures, Baby Boy woke up. Darling Husband had just walked through the door, so I sent him into the nursery with a sippy-cup of chalky-looking white water formula. I hovered in the doorway out of eyesight, feeling kind of sad that this was the beginning of the boobie ending, but also kind of proud of myself for … well … getting over myself and giving it a try.

He was back out a couple minutes later, Baby Boy all quiet and tucked back into his crib. “He didn’t want it,” Darling Husband reported, handing me the barely-touched sippy-cup. “He just wanted to be held. I think his teeth are bothering him.”

Are you KIDDING me?
He didn’t WANT it?
After ALL THAT?

Day 2 (Monday) and Day 3 (yesterday) were not any better. I continued breastfeeding as usual, but offered him some formula in a sippy-cup a few times each day. He drank maaaaybe four or five mouthfuls, once, and took only one sip every other time. Not that I blame him — that sh-t is NASTY!

Now I am kind of … puzzled. I got all riled up over the idea of giving him formula, and it (stupidly) never occurred to me that he WOULDN’T take it easily. I finally want to get this process going, and there is a roadblock I never expected.

Do I try a different brand? I have a different can sitting in my cupboard, too — Nestle Good Start (pictured here) — so maybe that one will taste better? Or is formula SUPPOSED to taste and look that gross?

Boobs are much less complicated.