Trashing the Bottle!

Time to find better methods.

Today March 14th 2012 is the official day my kids and I leave the "bottle" behind. We tried many things before this in order to help my wife, my kids and I stop using the bottle. It was only being used for milk anyhow, but the bottle as we have been told by the powers that be (before us) would soon become the contributor to cavities, bad teeth and very bad habits that I was aware of. Mainly those that were already formed and starting to solidify like always wanting the bottle or "leche" prior to every nap and sleep time as well as filling up on the dairy produce instead of other nutritional foods. Also it just looks plain ugly in my opinion when a grown child just won't let go of something like that. Like the child being pushed in a stroller while literally dragging their feet, which they use as their own brakes.
Now I add my wife and myself into the group of folks releasing the use of the bottle because it quickly became an easy way to just give the kids what they wanted and ultimately quiet them down. Our sons' favorite word had become that request for "leche". Interestingly though that our daughter took up the English word "milk" instead of its Spanish translation "leche". Even when we thought we were just too busy to take the time to think through something to make them to eat we knew if we offered milk they would appreciate it, drink it and usually just fall asleep. Mostly they would deny the foods that were offered knowing or simply waiting for the milky substance. It was automatic every night and the easiest way to get the kids to bed, but too easy come to find out.
What we didn't notice until now was the real reason behind the attachment to what they called leche and milk. It was and is simply the sucking aspect of it. Not what was IN the bottle. It was comforting to them. Just like the famous nipple pacifiers and I thought they were actually hungry for milk. Our kids hardly used the pacifiers and stopped totally using them at around 8 months, but they simply transferred their sucking comforting actions onto the bottle nipple. This is how I found out.
First we started using just one bottle and making the kids share. I figured this would give me some time to analyze their reactions while the other drank from the bottle. Also I could see if maybe they would just get bored waiting for it and just fall asleep. I was right. This helped us slow down their milk drinking habits since often they would ask for a second serving but instead I would then offer my other child the bottle making the first wait for their second serving often resulting in snores. We also attempted to give the kids milk in their favorite cup when they asked for leche, but as soon as they tasted their sippy cup of milk it was quickly put down with a face of disgust. Interesting I thought. We tried the more rubber tipped sippy cup, which the kids could easily lean back and suck down like they do the bottle, but for some reason they were never comfortable with it either. Then after learning more about rBST and the overall treatment and non-grass fed diets of cows I switched my children to Almond milk. Yummy! I love it and the kids didn't even notice. They gulped it down in their bottle without care. Then recently when our son was on his 4th day of 100+ fever and not eating much I resorted to adding oats to the milk, ultimately I had to cut a slit in the bottle nipple opening to allow the oats through and something hit me. Man that hole was small! The kids had been sucking their milk down through that tiny whole, which really acted more like a pacifier since they had to pull so hard. Ahaa! Well, the big Ahaa moment didn't come until later when neither child would drink their milk out of this bottle. First I thought it was that somehow they figured out it was almond milk. As if they had some sort of board meeting and came to the conclusion all on their own, but that wasn't it...here it comes Big Ahaa! They no longer had the comfort of sucking on the nipple since the fluid was now pouring out after I had cut a slit in it. The best part was that my son two nights in a row tried this new adapted bottle of milk, quickly handed it right back to me as if saying, "this is not going to work," and then covered himself and went to sleep. Here we were thinking they were hungry and allowing ourselves to believe that they would go hungry through the night and so abiding by the nightly routine.
Well I'm glad we're over it. Conquered. Finito! No mas! Now I just have to come up with a few more favorite recipes in order to make sure their little tummies actually are full before bed as to not worry Mom and Dad. I detest going to sleep hungry and wouldn't wish it upon them either. Onto the next battle and learn some new stuff. I love being around to raise my kids! I Love these little chickadees so much that I make sure I instill what's good for them even though at the moment they can make it seem like its torture, but we as parents know best. We just have to make sure we're effectively putting our teachings into effect.