How To Wean From A Bottle
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I have been wondering how to do this recently for 2 reasons: For one, I have a lot of those BPA (Dr. Brown) bottles lying around that I want to just throw out as the whole BPA issue terrifies me and secondly, Birch has been biting the nipples and I am afraid he might choke on one of the them if he finally succeeds in tearing one off.
I asked my mother what she did. She didn’t entirely remember, but she did remember this story. Apparently, my grandmother was responsible for a large part of the caregiving of her three younger brothers. Her youngest brother Elvin was still using a bottle. At that time, around 1915 or so they were glass bottles. She warned Elvin that if he threw his bottle it would break and that would be it. There wasn’t another one. Well, or course he did throw it and that was that. He had to learn to do without his bottle from then on.
So, inspired by that story last week I decided to take a drastic measure too. I took all of Birch’s bottles and the surviving (one!) nipple and shut them up in a ziploc bag. This weekend he got his two daily bottles of milk in a sippy cup. He threw it down in protest each time and then surreptitiously sipped a few ounces when I wasn’t looking. The same thing occurred for three days. I hope he won’t become Vitamin D deficient since he isn’t drinking much milk now. Perhaps his daily drinkable yogurts will make up for the lack of Vitamin D. At least until he realizes the bottle isn’t coming back, and after all, milk is milk! Now, for the pacifier……..
congrats! looks like you’ve got it all under control! i have weaned cc off the bottle, but i am with you on the pacifier…i think that will last a long time since she also only uses it to sleep…one battle at a time!
this comment is from Elizabeth who sent me an email:
You may also want to be open to sippy cups with straws. Our son never did figure out how to use a sippy cup (something about having to tip it upside down to get the liquid out), but loved one with a built-in straw and took to it right away actually preferring it to the bottle. I-play makes one that is BPA free and they sell it at Park Natural on Court St.
Loved your telling of the story, one of many my Mom used to tell. You might want to say that your Grandmother is still living at age of 104 and your Uncle, her little brother, is still playing golf and traveling from Indiana to Florida each winter at age 92-his birthday is in 2 weeks when he will be 93. Love you, Mom
Loved your telling of the story, one of many my Mom used to tell. You might want to say that your Grandmother is still living at age of 104 and your Uncle, her little brother, is still playing golf and traveling from Indiana to Florida each winter at age 92-his birthday is in 2 weeks when he will be 93. Love you, Mom
Good for you for putting your foot down! I’m sure he will forget all about the bottles in no time. Also, on the topics of drinkable yogurts and weaning, I just wanted to share a tip for those whose babies are old enough for cow’s or other milk but refuse to drink anything but breastmilk: start with drinkable yogurts, such as the Ronnybrook ones from the farmer’s market. My son LOVED them (especially the mango, which doesn’t have bits of fruit which can clog the sippy cup holes), and I was able to slowly increase the proportion of cow’s milk until he would happily drink the milk plain. It was a lot easier than pumping and attempting to work with breastmilk proportions, which my son found not nearly as enticing as the drinkable yogurts. Good luck to everyone and their weaning endeavors!