The Bottle

Our pediatrician warned me that by 15 months old there would be no more bottles.  Not even at bedtime.  I had the best intentions, really I did, but after one disastrous attempt (yes, just 1) in early March I fell off the wagon.  Besides, I'm the parent here, right?  I certainly appreciate everything our pediatrician has to offer; however, in the end it's up to Drew & I to do what we think is best.  And I happen to enjoy bottle time while I cuddle with my baby who's rapidly becoming a little boy. So the bottle stayed.

Being the rule follower that I am, I was a bit nervous for Jack's 15-month appointment last week.  I knew I was going to hear about the bottle.  As luck would have it, Drew & I had an opportunity to go to the Bon Jovi concert the day of Jack's scheduled appointment.  Which meant I had to reschedule.  Which meant he would be seeing a nurse practitioner, Heather, instead of our usual pediatrician.  Perfect!  Now I wouldn't have to defend my lack of enthusiasm for getting rid of the bottle.

Wrong.  Apparently everyone at Pediatric Partners is on the same anti-bottle after 15 months kick.

Okay, so I'm exaggerating just a tad.  Heather was actually quite nice and did not apply any guilt or pressure.  She merely asked if Jack was taking a bottle.  I explained our nighttime routine and then asked a couple of questions.  She answered by telling me that at Jack's age he doesn't need the extra milk to help him get through the night.  In fact, he really only needs 16-20 oz a day - which he gets during meal times with no problem.  Furthermore, it really isn't good for his teeth to have a mouthful of milk as he falls asleep.  If he acts like he wants a drink before bed, water will suffice.

So that very night we quit the bottle.

It was a disaster.  He screamed for 15 minutes straight.  He launched the sippy cup I offered as a replacement across the room.  He refused to read, sing or cuddle.  I finally caved and had Drew make a really small bottle - I think it was just 2 or 3 oz.  Jack drank it in about 3 swallows, looked at me like I was crazy, fussed for a bit and finally fell asleep. 

Score:  Jackson 1, Mommy 0

While it wasn't exactly a pleasant experience, it did prove to me that the bedtime bottle was less about drinking the milk (it was only a couple of ounces) and more about the routine.  All we needed to do was come up with a new routine.

The next night was surprisingly smooth.  He spent a lot of time outside that afternoon and was very tired, which helped.  This time, instead of the bottle we gave him a sippy cup of water, read books in the rocking chair and then sang a few songs until he dozed off.  It worked.

Score:  Jackson 1, Mommy 1

We are now on day 6 with no bottle and it's gotten even easier every night.  Our new routine is:

• Put on Jammies. 
• Daddy puts him in his sleep sack and gives goodnight kisses. 
• Mommy reads 3 books.  Currently, it has to be Baby Cakes.  I've tried countless others and he just closes the book and picks up Baby Cakes.  We read it 3 times. 
• Then we turn on the sound machine and sing a few songs.  Some favorites these days are the ABC's, Crimson & the Blue (a KU song), You Are My Sunshine, Brahms Lullaby (my Nana used to sing this one to me), Rockabye Baby and Smile.
• By the end of the singing he's fast asleep.  (Which means despite the elimination of the bottle, I still get some cuddle time.  Which makes Mommy very happy.)

Jackson has gotten so comfortable with this new routine; tonight he actually closed the book (before I was done reading it) and laid his head on my shoulder.  He was ready to go night-night.

I made it official this weekend and packed the last of the bottles into a rubbermaid container and put them in storage.

And just like that we are done with the bottle.