Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Bye-Bye ba-ba

Monday we started cutting back on the bottle usage. I deliberately did not fill one up before going to work. I took an empty one and hid it in my bag, but fortunately did not have to use it. Marsh sure did put up a fight though. When we got home, he wanted one so badly he was willing to go straight to bed. Of course, he woke up at 11 starving, so I had to fix a whole other meal, but that was okay because he fell right back to sleep after eating.



Tuesday he did pretty good too. He actually ate all of his dinner. Then he went to bed at bedtime without any fuss. He even sat in his crib for 5 minutes before the crying started. I only put a little milk in it, and he was fine. Oh, except that he needed to have his elephant in bed with him.


We don't have both sizes, just the big one that came with the train (which is "sleeping" in time out in the spare room because I cannot stand it: "Climb on board the animal train, come and sing along. Learning about animals is really lots of fun. Colors and sizes, what they say, if they're fast or slow. Learning about animals, there's so much to know! *choo choo*)

Anyway, he wanted the elephant. I let him have it. As I sit here typing this blog post, I can hear the ears, legs, and trunk being twisted, as they make a lovely loud clicking noise, and am dreading eagerly awaiting the cry for "MOMMY!" At least the clicking is a great warning device. It signals "Mom should get ready to jump up at a second's notice to fix whatever is wrong with baby."

Anyway, he is doing surprisingly well adjusting to no bottles during the day. I just hope he can keep it up! And that I have the patience to deal with:

"MOMMY! BA-BA!"

"MOMMY! MOMMY! BA-BA! BA-BA!"

"MO-MMY! MO-MMY! BAAAAAAA-BAAAAAAA! HEP YOU! BAAAAA-BAAAA! HEP! MOMMY! MOMMY!"

Any tips or suggestions? I am totally open! I've been doing the milk in the sippy cup thing, but he really hates most of his sippy cups. Is there a brand that anyone prefers over another one? Really, totally open for suggestions here! :) THANKS! :)


5 comments:

I am a mother! said...

I wish I had some advice. I have the opposite problem that my kids hate bottles and will never take them. We go straight from nursing to the sippy cup...although Joy doesn't like the sippy cup very much either...

Jana Nielson said...

Ear plugs

Melanie said...

I'm with the previous commenter. Ear plugs are a great investment. When we took the bottle away from Leah we just did it cold turkey. Our pediatrician is very fond of saying, "Kids are too stubborn. They WILL NOT starve or dehydrate themselves." If you take something away from them long enough eventually they will take whatever they can get. In this case a sippy cup. Worked for us... good luck on whatever you decide!

Kathi D said...

I have no wisdom, but ear plugs sounds like a good idea!

Rachael said...

I think I agree with everyone else-ear plugs.
With Corban I give him a choice- "You want milk?" He nods and I say, "You can have the sippy or nothing." For a long time the answer was nothing- he would even try to climb up and get the bottle himself. But I was consistent and put the bottles away. He knew that if he wanted milk it was going to be in a sippy. Now we are transitioning to a regular cup- but it is slow going, since sister still uses sippy cups.

Good luck. You can always turn up the TV. :)
Just like with Corban and sleep. The Doctor said to make sure his needs were provided for- fed, clean diaper, etc- and if I followed routine every night to just let him cry. But I was worried becuase he would cry for 2 hours straight or longer.

The Dr said, "and if you go get him after the two then he will cry for 4 hours the next time. He knows you will eventually give in." So don't give in once you have made a decision.
Never threaten anything you won't go through with.

Like today I told Corb if he slammed his door again I would take it away. So, I had to take his door off for the day. He was SOOO mad. But he knows that if I say something I mean it.

As for which brand- we just buy what is on sale. I have used Nuby, gerber, playtex, and the disposable ones, etc. The kids like the Nuby becuase it is soft like a bottle nipple, but I prefer the take and toss (for convenience- and I don't feel so bad to throw one away if I find it under a bed...ewww.) or the Gerber.

Good luck.

Sorry this is extremely LONG. Oops!