my baby is no longer a baby, friends.
she’s a big girl. apparently, everyone is aware of this fact but I.
yes, yes…i realize that she’s massive. 23.5 pounds of massive. and that she speaks in sentences. and can turn on the tv to put on her precious Dora. she can climb up AND down the stairs. and can run. and eats real food. and has tons of teeth. but, she’s still my baby.
and in some ways, i still baby her. like with the bottle. both my other two were done with the bottle at 13 months. isabella, on the other hand, is still super attached and she’s pushing 16 months. I don’t have the heart the take it away. the boy and the girl liked their bottles, but they weren’t attached. they were just as happy to drink out of a sippy cup. But Isabella loves her bottle. LOVES it.
yesterday she asked for milk and i gave it to her in a sippy. she refused to drink it and grouched around all morning. "I wah muck" "here’s your milk, Bella." "No!" "here’s your milk, Bella!" "I wah baba" it breaks your heart, really. i tried her rubbermaid straw cup in the hopes that she’d like that a little better. no, ma’am. it was a no-go as well.
now, i know that having a bottle is NOT the end of the world. but, i also know that the sooner i can detach her from this, the better my chances are of NOT having a 3-year-old with a bottle. (i already know i’m going to have enough trouble taking away the pacifier).
any thoughts? opinions? anyone? has anyone gone through this? is it best to just go full-on cold turkey? will i run the risk that she won’t drink milk again? should i take away one bottle at a time? should i bribe her with some diluted juice? or will that just make matters worse?
song of the day: Kick Him Out by Dustin’s Bar Mitzvah
come on over and check me out at my other site today and read about my fancy date!
thanks to everyone who voted for me in Canadian blog awards!i came in third in the Best Family Blog Category. I’m thrilled to pieces…since i really thought i was in last place. thanks, Catherine, for dropping out. you already know you’re the best…so thanks for allowing the little people a chance to shine. even if i’m going to look all Jessica Simpson-like in my BRONZE 😉
hi ali you know bella is YOUR baby and i wouldn’t even worry about her still using a bottle.we are so fixated on the age babies should be to stop and start things .aren’t we?i have been in foriegn countries where it was not unusual to see like 4-5 year olds with bottles and pacifiers and yes still being breast fed.so don’t worry when bellas had enough of it she’ll let you know.
I, like Kath, had one who LOVED the bottle and one who never took one. My son loved it and had one until just before his sister was born when he was 3. It was the only way he would calm down and relax. We are always in such a hurray for them to grow-up and be independent…I didn’t want to take away that soothing comforting he got from his bottle.
When I was pregnant I said that we were going to give the bottles to the new baby as a present. He wrapped them up, decorated the box and we hid them away. He asked for one the first night but when I reminded him he happily took the sippy cup…he was ready.
Once Isabella is ready it won’t be a struggle. My two cents!
No real advice here, Miranda is 22 1/2 months and still has her morning and nighttime bottle – we do give her milk in a sippy cup and also those Pottery Barn Kids mugs with the flexi straw as well. I am gradually going to do away with the morning bottle as she clearly does NOT need it (she weighs 25 lbs). Toby just gave his last bottle up when he night toilet trained earlier this year – he claimed that nappies were for babies and so were bottles, so he did it himself.
I am not in such a rush to give the bottles away – she is my last baby and I am still enjoying it – sigh, just wish she wouldn’t hang on the dummy so much (oops sorry pacifier):)))) She calls it her “bubby”.
Mine is 21 months and still loves her bottle. I’ve got it down to naptime and bedtime and other than that she takes cups and straws. I’ve tried only putting water in it but she just drinks all the water. At about 8 pm she starts to get very cranky and will only calm down for her bottle. I need to just suck it up for about 4 days and that may do the trick but everytime the crying/screeching etc. starts I just give in. I don’t really have any advice, just letting you know you are not the only one. If you find something that works let us know and If I figure something out I will share too.
Well, coming from a person whose six-year old still gets mad that I threw out her bottles, you might not want my advice 😉
I had one who loved bottles, and one who wouldn’t go near one with a 10-foot pole. With the first I tried several times to get rid of the bottle (all the tricks you mentioned and more) and it was always soooo painful and stressful. I eventually set the rule that she could have her bottle, but only in her bedroom. So, sometimes if she hurt herself or was having a rough time of it, she could say “I want a bottle and lie down” and that was a miracle-worker (incidentally, this one had ZERO sleep issues – she always went to bed pain-free with her bottle & water). Eventually, though, when she was about 4, I said “we are not buying any more nipples. When these ones wear out or get bitten, I will throw them out.” Then I would warn her “we only have 2 nipples left…” and then “this is our last nipple – when this one goes there are no more bottles ever.” So, that’s how it went. She’s now 6 and there are no more bottles in the house, but it was only last week that she said, “why did you throw out all my bottles!??! I want a bottle and lie down, now!”. And honestly, she’s been such a toughie lately that I wished she could have a bottle and lie-down, too!
All I can say is thank god we never had a pacifier ;o Seriously, though, each kid is different and you have to read them and decide what your limits are and where you can be relaxed. I just eventually decided that a 3 or 4 year-old with a bottle wasn’t a big deal, in our own house, under specific circumstances. Every now and then she’d say something about her bottle in front of someone else and I’d be a bit embarassed…start making excuses…but most of the time, the other people were so relieved to see that someone else wasn’t perfect either, that they would open up about their own skeletons, like sleep issues, bottles, pacifiers, toilet-training, extended bf-ing…whatever…
So, all I can say is follow your heart and do what you think is right 🙂
Jessica Simpson goes heavy on the bronzer. do you not notice that she’s ALWAYS uber-tan…she almost looks orange?
When did Jess wear bronze? Am I not getting the joke? I really wanna get it. enlighten me because I know it’s a good one. Keep in mind it’s monday and I’m tired and I just worked out — feeling a little dehydrated….
I don’t know what to say about the bottle because my monkey refused to drink from one when I started giving her milk…. I love how she says milk, though! “Muk”! Sooo cute. The monkey says “moh” or “miw”. 🙂
we went cold turkey with both boys. they had been using them on and off for about 1-2 months, and one day i just never looked back, and tossed all the bottles. thankfully, we never had any issues. i’d try over the next 1-2 weeks to do mostly sippys during the day, after a morning bottle and maybe a nighttime one (so at least shes drinking something) try all kinds- with handles, without, nuby, straw- something will work eventually. tru milk, soy milk, very dilute juice.
shes your baby- its fine to baby her like this though! dont stress too much about it.
Well .. my dh went thru this with my step-son (he’s 15 now!) and what they did was snip the tip of the nipple off, and then, gradually, they snipped the whole nipple off. I guess it’s that need to suck on the nipple that keeps them attached, so if it’s not there – voila! It worked for him, but I guess she could rebel about it. Maybe worth a try though?!