Today was a bottle-free day for Julia! We've only had 1 other bottle-free day, and that was three weeks ago. Perhaps I know that a toddler should be off the bottle at 18 months. And perhaps I scheduled her 18 month appointment on Christmas Eve to give us some more time so that I don't turn red when the doctor asks if she's off the bottle.
For about the past two months, Julia's been intaking more by cup than by bottle. Most days she has only taken 4-6 oz by bottle and the rest (8-10 oz) by cup. Believe me, I've felt like we all deserved a gold star in getting that type of progress.
It's not that Julia's attached to the bottle. But... 1) she's stubborn, 2) I'm always convinced that she's near dehydration due to her low intake combined with nurses telling me that her intake borders on dehydration. So, in essence, I turn to the bottle quickly if she hasn't drank from her cup in the past 4 hours.
Have I told you the part that she STILL doesn't hold her own bottle? Of course she'll operate the cup on her own, so I know she CAN hold her own bottle (you've seen the video of her lugging around a scale, right?).
Three weeks ago I did the happy dance that she was bottle-free for a day. I kind of thought the next instance would have happened sooner than today. I think a contributing factor is mood. For the most part, she was in a good mood today. If she's in a bad mood, she doesn't want much to do with the cup and melts down if we bring out the cup.
Today was the second bottle-free day. Wahoo! I think she drank about 14 oz of milk & 2 oz of juice out of the cup today.
The dilemma is whether to be courageous and just take 2 sippy cups to daycare on Monday or if we should bring a 4 oz bottle like always. If her regular teacher was going to be there, I think I'd definitely be brave enough to do it. However, tomorrow is her first official day back with the teacher she doesn't like. They did a test run on Friday, and she drank 4 oz all day.
Maybe I'll be brave anyway. I just feel for this toddler who has gotten back the teacher she doesn't like AND will be moving soon.
7 comments:
What kind of sippy cup are you using? Have you tried several different kinds? I started Waylon on those soft spout sippy cups with handles on the sides. I think they were made by Nuby. They were most similar to a nipple. Then when he discovered he could turn it upside down, press it down on the table and the milk would spill out, I moved on to the harder spout cups with no handles. Anyway, maybe try both kinds of cup??? (Like I'm sure you haven't already done that! lol) My MIL and one of my SILs think I am horrible because I snatched the bottles away at 12 mo. Some of Waylon's cousins were still asking for warmed bottles at 3 years old!! So, don't feel bad. She'll let go when she's ready. I totally understand wanting to get nutrition in her in whatever way you can! :)
Oh hey...what about cups with straws??? Waylon has always loved drinking out of a straw even very very young way before he got off bottles.
And don't feel bad, Waylon never held his own bottle. Little stinkers!!
Oh, LA! I could write a book on sippy cups. Hubby calls me obsessive and compulsive. I think we own 50 sippy cups - several hundred dollars worth.
We keep coming back to the ones she drinks the most out of. Gerber Graduates hard spout (she STILL can't do soft spout) with handles. I think they are cups for beginners. Once she's 100% cup for a few weeks, I think we can begin experimenting again.
As for the straw cups, it's weird but she aspirates with them. Her therapist said to hold off on the straws because she can't control the flow and chokes herself. However, a straw cup would be good for her because she needs to develop a better suck.
Ugh! Feeding issues layered on top of cup issues SUCKS (pun intended)! LOL
Yeah, I figured you had probably tried them all! But I had to try and help anyway. Well darn! Don't worry too much, she will come around on her own time/terms. Just keep doing what you're doing!!
Nuby fan here too! :)
Don't feel bad. Last night was the first night I rocked my little girl to sleep without b/f her and I was so proud of her, but a little sad too.
I think Miss J will actually progress faster on the sippy cup with the old teacher because she won't want to be anywhere near her to take the bottle.
Stay strong!
Melissa, bet you're sad about losing those b/f points soon.
Wendy, exactly my thinking! She only takes a bottle from a handful of people, and Jessica is NOT on that list. However, on Friday, she didn't even drink from a cup around her. Grrrrrrrrrr
Melissa...I was very sad when I stopped breast feeding. It's a very very mixed emotion, isn't it! It will get better though... :)
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