Embarrassing Milestone
Okay, I'm making a note of this for the record, instead of hiding it under a rock of shame: at the age of three, Daisy finally stopped using a bottle! Just to be clear--it's not like she drank from it all the time. She has been using a sippy cup and a regular cup for ages. But she was in the habit of drinking a bottle at night while we read her stories, then we'd brush her teeth, then bed (it was our nighttime ritual). She has been moving along well with the other major milestones--she is potty-trained and sleeps in a big girl bed, etc.--and I just didn't see any big reason to pry the bottle away. It's not like she kept it with her in bed (which I know is bad, as it can rot the teeth).
Anyway, a week or two ago, we pointed out to Daisy that she was biting on the nipple of her bottle and breaking it so the milk leaked everywhere. She immediately said, "I don't want it anymore." I'm not sure I know exactly why; maybe she was worried that we were criticizing her for biting, and wanted to eliminate the problem? Or maybe the biting was her way of letting us know she didn't want it anymore? But I seized the opportunity to suggest drinking out of a regular glass during nighttime stories, she said yes, and that was that. Easy!
It might seem ridiculous that it took this long for her to be entirely parted from the bottle. But... I kind of like it, because when it happened, it was so easy and natural, just like weaning her from breastfeeding, which took so dang long. I had planned on stopping breastfeeding when she was one year old, but it turned out she wasn't ready and it would have been a painful, agonizing process. So I let it go, and it ended up being another whole year of nursing, but when she finally gave it up at two (a few months past two, I think), she was ready and it was easy. I realize not all women have this option, and some women NEED to stop the nursing when they need to, for a variety of reasons. But I'm happy abou the way it worked out for me, and if I had the whole thing to do over, I wouldn't stress out so much about all this stuff (am I weaning on time, am I grabbing the bottle away on time...). So far, so good.
Anyway, a week or two ago, we pointed out to Daisy that she was biting on the nipple of her bottle and breaking it so the milk leaked everywhere. She immediately said, "I don't want it anymore." I'm not sure I know exactly why; maybe she was worried that we were criticizing her for biting, and wanted to eliminate the problem? Or maybe the biting was her way of letting us know she didn't want it anymore? But I seized the opportunity to suggest drinking out of a regular glass during nighttime stories, she said yes, and that was that. Easy!
It might seem ridiculous that it took this long for her to be entirely parted from the bottle. But... I kind of like it, because when it happened, it was so easy and natural, just like weaning her from breastfeeding, which took so dang long. I had planned on stopping breastfeeding when she was one year old, but it turned out she wasn't ready and it would have been a painful, agonizing process. So I let it go, and it ended up being another whole year of nursing, but when she finally gave it up at two (a few months past two, I think), she was ready and it was easy. I realize not all women have this option, and some women NEED to stop the nursing when they need to, for a variety of reasons. But I'm happy abou the way it worked out for me, and if I had the whole thing to do over, I wouldn't stress out so much about all this stuff (am I weaning on time, am I grabbing the bottle away on time...). So far, so good.
posted by Sarah Goss at 8:24 PM
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