Bye Bye, Bottle!

On the morning of March 12th Carter had his last bottle. Yes, I know the date. It was THAT big of a deal. I can't really explain how I came to the realization that it was time to put my foot down and take it away (I know some of you are probably thinking FINALLY), but I guess you could say I had an Ah-ha moment. In the previous days I noticed how little he was actually drinking of it when he asked for some milk and I thought, "He's ready. He can do this!" I'd tried many times before, but I knew this time would be different.

While he was busy playing I hid all of the "bottle paraphernalia" (tell me that term doesn't make you chuckle a little) and anytime he asked for milk I told him that the bottles were all gone (and showed him that was true) and offered him something else. That happened about 20 times the first few days, but overall things went pretty easy. Bedtime on days 3 and 4 were the hardest. Carter and I were both crying out of frustration, but we made it through.

That night after Carter went to bed I cleaned the bottles for the last time and again I cried. I was surprised at how emotional it made me (I think part of it was also due to the TTC issues we're having). I washed those bottles many times over the past 3+ years and it was a bittersweet moment. He's definitely not my little baby anymore.

Don't get me wrong though - I'm glad that he's moved on from them. This was a huge milestone for us and while I feel good that we didn't force him before, there is a part of me that realizes how much the bottle held him back when it came to eating (it's a daily struggle to get him to eat what he likes, let alone try new foods or textures). I think this also has to do with him being a highly sensitive child. It's often very hard to break them of bottles and pacifiers and they are infamous "picky eaters."

Our latest "issue" (I put it in quotes, because I don't want to make it into something bigger then it is) is that he only wants to drink out of straws...more specifically juice box (tiny) straws. His go-to drinks are the Capri-Suns Roarin' Waters (nowhere near as good for him as plain water, but not as bad as other juices) and chocolate milk (believe me, I cringe just typing that). I searched down some almond milk drink boxes, but the straw is larger on them so he doesn't want it. Now that we are fully over the bottle, my next step is going to be getting him to drink out of one of the cute cups tumbler he has (preferably water) or buy one of these. One step at a time. In the meantime, I make sure he gets his vitamin everyday.

So there you have it folks! No more bottle for Mr. C!

(This is one of the last pictures I could find of him with his milk)