It's hard to believe that this time has already come. It's hard to believe my little girl is going to be 13 months in just over a week (I have a toddler! Eek!) It's hard to believe that she is even the same girl who started bottles way back when she was just a month old (when they use to hold breast milk even!).
We didn't make the immediate change when she turned a year. Two reasons really. One) We still had formula I wanted to use up. That stuff is expensive and I wasn't about to waste any of it. Two) I had no idea how to go about making the change. We were already barely using bottles during the day, but we were still using them with a decent amount of formula first thing in the morning and at bedtime. I figured the change in the morning wasn't going to be that bad. But I had many concerns about the bedtime bottle. Would she still sleep through the night? Would she wake up hungry in the middle of the night and what in the world would we give her? The bedtime bottle also became a comfort for her and calmed her down before bed. If we took it away then would she even calm down enough to relax and actually get to sleep in the first place?
But like it or not, ready or not, we were running out of formula so the change was upon us. Rob and I spent some time discussing and I spent some time looking online for ideas of how to even wean her from formula and bottles. And let me say that there is not a lot of sources out there that are actually helpful. There are a lot of sources about weaning from breastfeeding but not a lot about weaning from bottles and formula. So we were pretty much on our own.
We bought whole milk first and started giving her that during the day. The few things I had seen had talked about giving her the milk in her bottles but I wasn't thrilled about that idea, so we put the milk in the sippy cup. She took it like a champ. She knew how to use a sippy cup because for the few months previous we had been giving her some water in her sippy cup between meals as the doctor recommended. A smart move on our part because she could use the sippy cup, which meant we could also be done with bottles and not have to wean her from formula then from bottles (which should be done by 15 months apparently). The transition of the sippy cup was natural and seamless.
I had also read that whole milk is not as sweet as formula, so some kids don't take to whole milk the same. As a result you might need to mix the milk with the formula as they adjust until they are just getting the milk. Since we were pretty much out of formula out at this point, that just wasn't going to happen. And luckily it didn't have to happen. She took to the whole milk like it was nothing. She happily drank her first cup of whole milk easily. She always seems to adapt easier than I think she will. She must be much more like Rob than me because she goes with the flow a heck of a lot easier than I do.
The day went by wonderfully with no problems with our transition. But as bedtime approach I started to get a little worried. We had a plan and we were going to go with our plan and whatever happened happened. Instead of subbing milk for formula, we decided to give her some yogurt and water before bed (and before brushing her teeth). And once again she took the change like a champ. We didn't hear from her at all that night. My worst fears were unnecessary. She wasn't even upset by the time we put on her pajamas, making the need for a calming bottle completely unnecessary. She was relaxed and ready for bed. We put her down and she slept through the night like she's been doing for months. Isn't it great when the plan comes together and happens exactly like you want?!
As happy as I am to be done with bottles, I am also a little sad. My little girl is growing up. She isn't a baby anymore. She's a toddler. She's talking more. She's got her own strong personality. She's cruising around furniture. She's drinking whole milk out of a sippy cup. It's hard to believe how quickly we got here. She barely seems like the same little girl who got her first bottle about 12 months ago.
Her first bottle
Her last bottle
I wasn't kidding when I said she barely seems like the same little girl. Isn't it just crazy how fast time has gone and how much she has changed?!
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