Weaned at Last!
Greetings to everyone.
Yes, it's true. Xavier is officially off his bottle!
Actually, he has been officially off his bottle since early February. As this is a chronicle of Xavier Michael's childhood, it would be remiss to leave out the story of the weaning.
As mentioned in an August post we started the weaning in earnest then. Mama was serious about Xavier getting off the bottle. At that time, he had three workable nipples and Rebecca was determined when those had worn out, there would be no more. And, they were wearing out fast, especially when Xavier had teeth moving; he would chew on the nipples at this time.
By the time Rebecca went for her six weeks of training in Florida, Xavier had two nipples left, and one of those had a hole in the side from his chewing on it—it was not long for this world.
Also, by this time, Xavier was down to having a bottle only at night. He took his bottle just before bed. He would rarely finish the whole bottle, and he wanted it in bed with him (if he drained his bottle before going down, we had to fill it again). The bottle became something of a transitional object for him; he used it for comfort. He either cuddled the bottle or he set it in the corner of his crib.
About the second week in to Rebecca's trip it occurred to me why not use this six-week time to transition Xavier off his bottle completely? The idea was so simple and I upbraided myself for not thinking of it two weeks earlier!
I think the idea did not occur to me until I noted that the bottle had become a "teddy bottle." It was more of a comfort item than a food item. Upon understanding this, that's when I thought, "Eureka! Get him off the bottle!"
So, almost cold turkey, I swapped out his bottle with a sippy cup. Of course I kept a nippled bottle in reserve and hidden so I could adjust to any fussiness that would disrupt his sleep (and by implication, my sleep as well). He took to the sippy cup idea readily. He cuddled with it as easily as he cuddled with the nippled bottle.
We had a couple of setbacks during this time. Whenever he got a cup with a straw in it, it made him remember the nipple and he wanted it back. It took a few moments of tough love and some fortitude on Dad's part to get past these setbacks.
Soon, the milk in the sippy cup was replaced with water. Xavier did not seem to mind. So long as he had his cup and it had something in it, he was content. By the way, the filled cup was functional. When Xavier woke in the night, he would drink from his cup then go back to sleep. I learned this the hard way. I took the cup from him as he slept, then went to bed myself. Two hours later, I was up getting Xavier his cup of water.
Today, Xavier drinks from open-top cups and glasses, though we still make him do so in the dining area and kitchen—he is still building his not-spilling skills. Having a cup to go to bed is no longer a necessity, though he still likes one there when he wakes up and wants a drink.
His bottles and what remains of his two surviving nipples sit on top the refrigerator collecting dust. They are on top the fridge because of another lesson learned during the final weaning phase: don't let your child know there are still bottles in the house!