Bottle baby boogie

By Anne-Marie

Before most people have kids, they can name several things they'd never allow once they become parents. Mine were:

1) No Barney. However, Lucie loves Barney. How can I deny her an enjoyable musical activity? Plus she's so damn cute when she sings and dances along with the TV.

2) No excessive candy eating. Nathan is so skinny, I'm just happy that he's consuming some extra calories. Even so, we insist that he eat something healthy first.

3) No snotty noses or messy mouths. Well, a messy face is a lot quieter than the screaming I get when I'm wiping away all the assorted goo.

4) No children running around with a bottle in their mouths. If you can walk, you can use a sippy cup.

Compromise and parenthood go hand in hand. Yet, it's number 4 I'm having the most problems with. Nathan didn't give up the bottle until he was well past two. Due to his prematurity, reflux and low muscle tone, he gagged on most food. Unless it was slimy, he wouldn't eat it.

Since toddlers cannot thrive eating only canned peaches, pudding, yogurt and spaghetti (though they'd like to) Nathan drank toddler formula for most of his nutritional needs. Even so, with the help of his occupational therapist, and a very snuffed up nose, I weaned him off his bottle without much fuss.

It's Lucie I'm worried about. At almost 20 months, she can drink from a sippy cup, a regular cup and anything with a straw. If you don't watch out, she'll take a swig from your beer bottle. Yet she loves her bottle or "baa-baa" as she calls it. It's a must have when she wakes up, is tired, cranky, bored or not feeling well. This means she's drinking from a bottle most of the day.

I avoid bring up her baa-baa addiction with the pediatrician, scared of a bad mommy lecture. I try justifying it to myself thinking, "Well, she doesn't use a pacifier. She doesn't suck her thumb. She isn't dependent on a favorite blanket or doll. She can have the damn baa-baa for now." Yet I hoard articles on weaning children from bottles, knowing it's inevitable.

Slowly I see her being less dependent on it. The day's first bottle, which used to be drained in 15 minutes, now takes all morning to be consumed. Between playing, rocking out with Barney, and eating breakfast, it's not her biggest priority. Even in the car, where she loves to drink and be driven, she needs it less.

Lucie and her baa-baa have had a long love affair. However, it's time to get a baa-baa divorce. I'm giving her until she's two, then it's cold turkey baby.

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Since your daughter seems to be moving away from the bottle anyway, you could help things along by limiting it to home only and setting a timer for how long she gets it. Those two moves might make it easier to wait for her to lose interest on her own

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[Jenny]

my son is a month and a half old, and he is already fighting me with the bottle. he doesnt want it. and he wont breastfeed. i think its cause my husband covers his binky with adult food. he likes that stuff instead, so he'll prolly start early with solids (jarred food) and such. no problems getting him OFF the bottle. its a problem getting him ON it.

[Jennifer]

My theory is that life is hard enough when you understand what's going on. It's gotta be really rough for a toddler. If it takes a blanket or a bottle to help make it through the day, I'm all for it. My 25 month old daughter wears a green bucket hat 24/7. Even sleeps in it. We live in MN so I'm starting to get some looks, but it does have its advantages: she always wears a hat outdoors, she never leaves it anywhere, and she's easy to spot. :-)

Since your daughter seems to be moving away from the bottle anyway, you could help things along by limiting it to home only and setting a timer for how long she gets it. Those two moves might make it easier to wait for her to lose interest on her own. Or, when you can't take it anymore, keep cutting down when and for how long she can have it until she's done.

Best of luck either way!

[Lunasea]

No Barney. I'm holding fast to this one. There are some things that are necessary for my sanity, and not seeing the Stepford Kids and the purple dinosaur are a couple of them. And the pacifier (but only in bed) for my 2-year-old. That seems to be necessary for my sanity, too. And I also avoid bringing it up with the doc.

[daddydaycare]

We had this problem. We waited WAY too long with our twins. Past 2! Further, they were always asking why they couldn't have bottles when the baby had one...I cured it by giving them one bottle a day, usually after nap time. All the other feedings, they were getting sippy cups. We went with one bottle for probably two months, probably unnecessarily too long. However, when I took all away, they were OK with it. About two weeks after that, they were eating us out of house and home again...Good luck!