Oh how I wish I were talking about breastfeeding...but alas my little one decided long before mama was ready to wean herself from that at one year, 4 days old. No, I am talking about the bottle. This has been a slight sore spot for me because I work with parents and babies and I encourage bottle weaning between 12 months and 15 months. So I feel a bit of a hypocrite. John and I tried to wean from the bottle at 15 months. We gave it exactly one attempt. We offered her one single time milk in a sippy cup and when she refused after one attempt, we immediately gave her bottle back. After all, mommies and daddies, isn't 15 months really still a baby? So we let her continue to have the bottle, rationalizing that she ever only got it 3x a day, filled with milk and nothing else. We don't let her carry it around the house sipping as she pleases, she doesn't fall asleep with it in her mouth, so honestly dental problems doesn't really seem to be an issue. But as her 2 year old birthday looms incredibly close on the horizon I find myself wondering if it is time to wean her? I go back and forth. Part of me says to let her keep having it. She really loves the bottle and cries for it when she is tired and fussy. And honestly, I doubt she is going to go to kindergarten or even preschool with a bottle, so what is the hurry? If I wait until she is ready, then she's older and might be able to understand the wisdom of weaning. (Or at least I can explain to her that she can have milk in a cup not a bottle and she might get it-albeit while whining and crying. I don't think at 24 months old she'll get that logic.) And yet another part of me thinks I should just go ahead and do it. Get rid of all bottles. Cut up the nipples so there is no turning back. Suffer 2 or 3 days of crying and whining and be done with it. If she decides not to drink milk at this point from a cup, we are really okay with that. With her obsession with cheese and yogurt, I know she's going to get enough calcium.
I can't quite decide what to do. There seems to be logic on both ends-self weaning and mama led weaning. It would be an easy decision if she would drink milk from a cup, but no, all milk most flow from an Avent nipple. At least I think I have 6 weeks until she's 2 and 6 weeks to decide what I'm going to do. What do you think mamas? Have you ever waited this long to wean from a bottle? Should I just let her do it on her own? Should I force it? I'm torn...
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Well, don't feel so bad. I just met with a mom who just finished weaning her 4 year old!!! Hmmmmm, and people wonder why children have speech problems......
I would just start now and get it over with, but mind you, I have no children. I'm just speaking from a speech/motor perspective. Good luck!
Do you think that her only having it 3x a day at very specific times helps w/ the speech motor thing? (ie, she's not drinking it non stop all day long and isn't using it as a comfort object.)
That is helpful, but I would try introducing a new kind of cup (i.e. a straw sippy cup) and have that be the new 'special' cup that she has milk out of, or only having milk out of the bottle at bedtime or dinner time, etc. She might do better than you think! :)
I like the sippy with a straw idea. she might really go for it. she does well w/ straws and in general does not use them. so it might be good as her "new special milk cup".
When we weaned Elanor, she would not take milk in a sippy. But she didn't miss the bottles either, so we just stopped milk altogether and supplemented with other yummy forms of calcium. I'm actually doing the same with Evan here, although he can sign for bottle and is still asking for it (which makes it a lot harder for me emotionally).
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