Bottle Woes
My philosophy for being a mom is to do what works for me. You can give me all the advise you want (in fact I greatly appreciate any and all advice... being a first time mom, I love it) but in the end I'm going to do what works for me and my family because every child is different and I know my kid best. In fact, if any new mom asks me for advice that's the best advice I can give. Listen to everyone, but do what you want and what works for you! Without any apologies!
So when it came to bottle weaning I just wasn't all that put out by it. I almost had Miles weaned, but then he got croup and he really needed his bottle to soothe. Then his daddy started traveling for work and he missed him and needed his bottle even more. (For a minute he even started using a paci.) Needless to say I decided then wasn't the best time to wean. I figured we'd get to it when it was right.
Well, months went by and Miles was showing no signs of giving his bottle up. In fact, he flat out refused to drink milk from anything but the bottle. So I didn't really bother with it. Some kids breastfeed for years and years... what harm could a few more months do?
And I can honestly say that I have no regrets for my decision. But, sadly, the time has come. And honestly I think I'm more sad than Miles.
For the last couple of weeks Miles was waking up in the morning, jumping straight out of bed, walking to the kitchen, pointing to the cabinet and saying "bit-two, bit-two, bit-two, bit-two" or SCREAMING at me until I got him a bottle of milk. We worked as hard as possible to get him to say ba-ba, and some times he would. But sometimes he would just scream until he was served. Babies!
And for the most part it wasn't a problem. Until it was.
A few times a week Miles would wake up in the middle of the night and if he was particularly restless we would give him a bottle and he would go right back to sleep. Lazy parenting at it's finest.
Well, Miles picked up pretty quick and decided that he was going to start waking up and demanding a bottle every night. Momma caught on even quicker and said - nope! Drastic times called for drastic measures. It was time for cold turkey.
I removed every bottle from the cabinet (where he knew they were) and at 2 in the morning we explained to Miles that his bottles were all gone. It took him till 3:30 am to go to sleep. The next day he went to demand his bottle, but I showed him again that they are ALL gone! He was sad, but quickly took a sippy of juice. Not milk though, only juice. We are on day 4 now and he really hasn't had a problem. No more waking up at night asking for a bottle. No more running out of bed to get a bottle, which means more cuddle time in the am.
All in all, I say it worked out pretty well. He still refuses to drink milk though. I've been supplementing with yogurt and cheese as much as possible, but may consider buying Silk Soy with Vanilla flavor to see if he'd try it.
We've also been trying the V8 Fusion drinks to add vitamins and veggie and fruit intake. And he has been loving those!
So when it came to bottle weaning I just wasn't all that put out by it. I almost had Miles weaned, but then he got croup and he really needed his bottle to soothe. Then his daddy started traveling for work and he missed him and needed his bottle even more. (For a minute he even started using a paci.) Needless to say I decided then wasn't the best time to wean. I figured we'd get to it when it was right.
Well, months went by and Miles was showing no signs of giving his bottle up. In fact, he flat out refused to drink milk from anything but the bottle. So I didn't really bother with it. Some kids breastfeed for years and years... what harm could a few more months do?
And I can honestly say that I have no regrets for my decision. But, sadly, the time has come. And honestly I think I'm more sad than Miles.
For the last couple of weeks Miles was waking up in the morning, jumping straight out of bed, walking to the kitchen, pointing to the cabinet and saying "bit-two, bit-two, bit-two, bit-two" or SCREAMING at me until I got him a bottle of milk. We worked as hard as possible to get him to say ba-ba, and some times he would. But sometimes he would just scream until he was served. Babies!
And for the most part it wasn't a problem. Until it was.
A few times a week Miles would wake up in the middle of the night and if he was particularly restless we would give him a bottle and he would go right back to sleep. Lazy parenting at it's finest.
Well, Miles picked up pretty quick and decided that he was going to start waking up and demanding a bottle every night. Momma caught on even quicker and said - nope! Drastic times called for drastic measures. It was time for cold turkey.
I removed every bottle from the cabinet (where he knew they were) and at 2 in the morning we explained to Miles that his bottles were all gone. It took him till 3:30 am to go to sleep. The next day he went to demand his bottle, but I showed him again that they are ALL gone! He was sad, but quickly took a sippy of juice. Not milk though, only juice. We are on day 4 now and he really hasn't had a problem. No more waking up at night asking for a bottle. No more running out of bed to get a bottle, which means more cuddle time in the am.
All in all, I say it worked out pretty well. He still refuses to drink milk though. I've been supplementing with yogurt and cheese as much as possible, but may consider buying Silk Soy with Vanilla flavor to see if he'd try it.
We've also been trying the V8 Fusion drinks to add vitamins and veggie and fruit intake. And he has been loving those!
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| This kid is too cool for a bottle! |
Love those pics! I remember the only way I could get Bradley to drink milk after we got rid of the bottle was if he drank it out of one of those little milk cartons with a straw and it had to be chocolate of course. =) Kids are funny!
ReplyDeleteThat is a great idea!! I'll go get some tomorrow. He loves juice from the box. So maybe they'll work. Thanks Lynds! :)
ReplyDelete