There have been some great emails about the original post on weaning …….thank you! Someone suggested the sippy cups that have straws in them – thanks Elizabeth! (I bought one at Heights Kids today based on your advice). Kerrie’s suggestion about weaning TO milk is a creative solution for a  baby not interested in milk. Her solution is in the "comment" of the original post . Mom, thanks for your comment too, but I don’t know if any more "grandma" information would be interest to the rest of the world! (But in case you all are, "grandma" is still living at 104 and so is her little brother Elvin- successfully weaned, of course.)
Lastly, I completely neglected to mention that since I have taken Birch’s bottle away I have let him have another comfort object to help make the
transition easier. This was important to me and I am sorry I omitted
writing about it.  We used to let Birch only have his pacifiers once he
got into his crib. Now, I let him get a "paci" when we have book/milk time before bed.  Now he drinks
his milk from his sippy cup between sucking on his "paci" and he seems soothed. He drank 8 ounces from his sippy cup tonight before bed. Hooray!
I am hesitant to celebrate too much yet. I have learned in this
child-rearing adventure that often there are backward steps. I have read other peoples’ suggestions about weaning from a bottle and they suggest giving the child a "comfort object" too- a stuffed animal, blankie, pacifier. Today, I got Birch a baby doll. We talked about how she was a baby and needed a bottle and he didn’t
anymore.  Then we tucked her into bed after "her" bottle. And finally, a reader Mandy pointed out to me that I didn’t include Birch’s age- which, of course, is important to state. He is 19 months.

My absolute all-time favorite parenting group Berkeley Parents Network has a good discussion about weaning and at what age. Many of the parents there suggest that a "time-line" for weaning from a bottle is very individual. On the other hand, some pediatricians suggest weaning at 12 months. Hopefully these sources might help you decide what is right for you. 

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