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| bottle or no bottle? |
So, I've been having this internal battle. My son is 16 months and is still IN LOVE with his bottle...I mean IN LOVE. But to be completely honest, I am too. This wonderful object you see above will give me at least 20 minutes of snuggle time with him- where he is completely 100% mine. We wrap ourselves up in a soft blanket and snuggle. Sometimes we read books, or sometimes we just sit in silence while we exchange kisses, interlock our fingers, and I play with his toes or rub his legs (a trick our mama vero taught us). It is my favorite moment of the day. It's a moment where we block out the outside world and life is still ... just us two... in stillness... like it used to be... before he became a toddler. It is a moment where I can breathe him in (and I really do) and enjoy him as the baby he once was. Once that bottle runs out... so does that moment. We turn back into pumpkins... back to busy body toddler mode (which is awesome too- don't get me wrong) where moments of stillness disappear. I guess I don't understand why parents are so proud when their child graduates from bottles? Am I missing something- I love the magic that the bottle brings.
***Note: Let me also add before I go further- that for the most part he drinks plain water out of the bottle (just in case any of you dentist people were freaking out) and if he has milk we give his teeth a good scrub after.
So here is my dilemma... he really doesn't need a bottle to fall asleep anymore but he wants one usually mid morning or evening prior to nap and bedtime. The mommy side of me says- "Go for it- enjoy him now" and the counselor side of me says "It's time to move on- you may be creating a hard habit to break"- who do I listen to?
Thoughts?
xx-Cristi
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Mommy voice it is today.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great blog Cristi. I love the name of your blog and agree with you. As for the bottle thing. I always let my kids go until they were two. At 2 they want to do big kid things and we always stopped cold turkey. None of them had any trouble with it and if they wanted something I would give them a sippy cup at which time they were like "too much work" and never needed a bottle again. Good luck and keep enjoying the snuggles. They go away too fast.
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