If you're not a parent yet, or haven't been a parent to a one-year old for awhile, you may not know that the big thing now is that all kids should be off of the bottle by the age of one. Doctors recommend breaking this habit when kids are around 12-months old because it's easier to break this habit when they're younger. Docs also don't want kids to sleep or walk around with a bottle all day because the constant juice/milk could cause tooth decay, and if kids are carrying around a bottle, they may not be playing and exploring as much because they only have one free hand. I completely get all of these reasons. They make sense.
So...I have to admit something. Joey is still on the bottle. Not much, maybe 2-3 a day. He gets a bottle with soy milk (finally off of formula!!) right before naps and bedtime. We don't let Joey carry a bottle around. He also does not go to sleep with the bottle nor is it left in the crib with him. He can take a sippy cup like a champ. He actually has sippy cups with milk and water all over the place, in the house and in the car!
After Joey's 12-month check-up, we actually tried to cut out bottle cold turkey. I actually put his milk in a sippy cup when he went down for bed. He drank the milk out of the sippy cup with no problems or complaints at all. But then I realized I was being stupid. How is drinking milk out of a sippy cup different than drinking out of a bottle at bedtime? After days and days of going back and forth about this, I finally realized that the bottle was not our problem. Our problem is that the bottle, or milk, is part of Joey's bedtime routine. He expects that milk to help him wind down for sleepy time. So why get rid of the bottle, if we're not ready to get rid of that part of his bedtime routine?
Michael and I have talked about this for a few weeks now. We don't mind Joey taking milk before bed. We know that it is a good way to wind Joey down from the day. As soon as he's done sucking, the bottle is taken away. He does not get to carry it around the house. He does not get to take the bottle to bed with him. He also does not fall asleep with the bottle. He is always still awake after the bottle and when he is placed into his crib.
Plus, one issue that bugs me about this whole "no bottles after 1" is what about moms that breastfeed their kids past the age of one? Aren't the bottle and the breast the same idea? A lot of moms nurse their babies before bed. Do doctors tell breastfeeding moms to stop nursing at one? I haven't heard many that do! What about pacifiers? Do doctors want the pacifier habit broken at 12-months, as well?
So, after all of these thoughts and opinions and discussions, we are going to keep Joey on the bottle for a little longer. Don't worry, not too much longer. We are going to try to start giving Joey his bottle a little earlier and earlier before bedtime so it won't be associated with bedtime anymore. Then, once, that bedtime routine is completely broken, the bottles will be taken away, period.
This has been a hard and exhausting decision in our household. Michael and I usually always follow the doctor's orders. We like modern medicine and advice. But this time, we're going to follow our gut and do what we think works best for OUR family. I guess if Joey is obsessed with bottles for the rest of his life, he can blame it on us! (If he's anything like us, he's gonna love the bottle, the beer type, anyways!)
