Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Ode to the bottles

So for the last few weeks I have been thinking to myself, I really need to get Gage off of his bottles. He LOVES his bottle...there is almost nothing that cannot be fixed by handing him one of his favorite bottles! He is 17 months old and getting more and more attached. I have made a few wussy attempts at getting him to take a sippy cup but as soon as he rejects it, out comes the bottle! I think I have about 4 different types of sippy cups sitting in the cupboard...all which have been rejected by Gage. So yesterday at the pediatricians office, Dr. B brought up the very sensitive subject and informed me that it wasn't Gage's problem anymore, it's my problem! Yikes! So on the drive home Matt and I decided we were going full throttle this time! So thus begins the dramatic tale of the boy who loves his bottles!
This morning I pulled out all of Gage's bottles and set them on the counter. I let Gage look at them and told him that we had to throw them away because he was too big to use them anymore. It was so sad, because his eyes were huge, trying to decide which of the ten bottles he wanted most! I set him on the floor, brought the trash over and dropped them in one by one....I had NO idea it would be so hard for the boy! The first one he just looked at me then looked in the trash, waiting for me to pull it out for him. By the third one he was in tears and pulling at the trash can saying "no no". I don't think he even saw the last two go in because at that point he was on the floor kicking and screaming, literally! I picked him up, gave him a sippy cup and he began frantically trying to push it away. The tantrum lasted for about ten minutes until he realized that mom wasn't giving in. I have tried a few times to offer him the sippy cup but everytime he just starts into another tantrum. So I just set it on an end table where he can see it and reach it if he changes his mind. So far he just cries everytime he walks by it...I think it's insult to injury right now!
I had no idea how hard this would really be. Hopefully he will give in and try the sippy cup, but we'll see! Parents whose kids freely give up the bottle, I hope you realize how lucky you are! Well that is it for now. I'll keep an update on any progress!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey Ashley, Congratulations on the baby, that is REALLY exciting! Two is so much fun! About the bottles, I have two different points of view on it. With mine I took his away right at one, I figure it would be better sooner than later, still a little tough though! The other is I have read alot of others blogs about this and a lot said they let theirs take the bottle until almost three and then they just weren't interested (how many kindergardners do you see walking around with a bottle). All in all, it really only takes them a few days (usually) to get over it, GOOD LUCK, it's not easy!

Anonymous said...

oh my gosh ashley!! this is like a total rerun with addie! addie was the SAME way! and i finally said no more! it took about 3 days of her crying about it and everytime she would ask for milk i gave her a sippy cup. finally she just quit asking! she was ADDICTED!!! and i seriously have every kind of sippy too!!! how funny! it will probably take a few days, but hang in there! i know what you are going through. i felt so mean, but it is worth it and he will forget about it! now i just have to work on the dang passy! ya she is 2 and still treasures this thing! i only give it to her at night, but ugggg!!!! :D sorry about the novel

Anonymous said...

Stick to your guns! It is so hard cause you just want to make him happy, but it will be best for him in the long run! GOOD LUCK! Babies and kids are A LOT smarter than I ever thought they would be!