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Thursday, May 13, 2010

Weaning....

Alright. We're weaning now.

And to be perfectly honest we've done pretty well. We cut three bottles in the span of a week (nearly two months ago) MUCH to my excitement aaaaaaand we're off of formula to whole milk with just a little push back but only for a day or so. But we're still on the morning bottle, a snack bottle that we could easily ditch and probably will, and then the bedtime bottle. That's it. So within the week we'll be a two a day family but it's those two that seem to be the hurdles.

See, we seem to have a child that will not drink milk from a sippy cup. I'm sure it will come and honestly, if we continually presented it in such a manner, she would likely give in but the test runs have been failures and resulted in a bottle to finish the deal.

So....how do we do this? Looking for suggestions here.

Kim and I chuckled tonight about the fact that Kim was so worn out that those "first moments of life" weren't spent all curled up in a nude ball of breasty, baby, mommy love. The books seem to make it out like if you don't bond then....skin to skin mind you and breastfeeding all the way....it won't happen and your little girl will become a stripper at Boomers. Quite the new parent physco-babble and dead wrong. Kim didn't really get to experience Reese's cuddle for about 12 hours or more because Kim was blitzed from all day labor and Reese was out too. Trust me folks, it worked out and Reese is attached to Mommy's hip. I don't know that Kim felt it but sometimes people completely put their two cents where it doesn't really belong and sort of lecture you with a look or with words about not breastfeeding. It just wasn't for Kim....no issues here. So we've been formula folks but it's interesting the advice you get at one year of age.

Some say, wean 'em on their birthday....others say 18 months is fine....still others are letting junior take a boob at 6 years old. Weird....very, very weird. So at 13.5 months, we're trying to wean and get little mama to eat some more solids. Oh, she's getting there with the chewables but it just has to be her idea. Reese will NOT open up for a strange food. She's simply not that accommodating but she will hold stuff and now she is investigating so we're making ground.

It's just an adventure trying to do the right thing and while it's not all consuming for us, it would be neat to hear what other folks have done. That's it for tonight.

We're almost through with these things!

3 comments:

Tara said...

Ok, so this was one of the biggest stuggles so far for us. Ramsey is SO stubborn. We ended up having to cold turkey and he did not drink ANYTHING for 4 day. It was heartbreaking and I ended up at the doctors and she said he'll do it and all be darn she was right. When he realized it was sippee cup or nothing and I wasn't giving in he picked it up and chugged away. He now loves milk. Also, giving the sippee cup in the car where they are forced to focus since they are strapped in helped some too. Please let me know if I can help in anyway as this mom knows it can be aweful hard. Were going to start potty training soon...I migh thave to check in to the crazy house?

Judith said...

Don't worry about the breast feeding woes.....whatever is natural and best for you....it wasn't for me either...I preferred pulling out the bottle in public rather than the alternative...as you can see, my kids have faired almost well...no strippers yet...give it time. Anyways,, Reesie will get the idea, just keep offering sippy and she'll catch on...don't sweat it...it will come...Love you all!!!

Lindsey Oliver said...

I would suggest trying a lot of different kinds of sippee cups, soft/hard/straw. We have at least one of each brand in our cabinet. And don't worry about wasting money on a sippee that they won't end up using because by Luke's age, they could care less what type of container it's in as long as it's wet!

We've had a lot of success with the Nuby cup. Both of mine transitioned to them first. Here's a link to the one they liked -- http://www.amazon.com/Nuby-Spill-Colors-Vary-Ounce/dp/B0019LLC9W

More on transitioning her to the sippee -- I've found it important to follow their cues. Which ever cup they particularly like, use it. If she seems more likely to drink in the car, always give her a cup of milk in the car. I agree with Tara on that one. Both of mine drank their first entire cup of milk in the car, strapped in. Maybe you could take her to the park hungry, then give her the milk cup on the way home. Just a thought.

Also, too, I think it's important to not give in when the going gets tough. Day 3 of whatever transition we're in is usually the hardest for us. I try to remind myself that it's temporary and the end justifies the means, so that might mean somebody has to cry for a little while.

I'm also a big fan of "cold turkey" cut-off. I psych myself up for it then just do it, in this case it would be complete weaning of the bottle. Again, in a few days they realize it's completely gone and use what's available, the sippee cup and you're so proud of them when they do!

Best of luck!!! You can do it!!!