letting go

Garrett is fourteen months old now, and I've decided that it's time to start weaning him off the bottle. My goal is to have him completely bottle-free by Christmas. To aid in the process, we purchased over the weekend some "big boy cups" to add to the beginning sippy cups he's been drinking water from since he was about seven months old. (Since first introducing him to the cup, we've been consistent at making sure that the only liquid offered to him in his bottle was formula/milk; water and juices were reserved for the cup.)

Two of the four cups we bought are regular sippy cups; the other two have straws. Because I prefer not to have milk splattered this way and that, I usually only serve milk in the regular sippies, saving the strawed cups for water. He knows, though, how to drink from both. But even so, this weaning process is proving to be a little more difficult than I was hoping it'd be.

First of all, in the last three or four months, Garrett has grown extremely attached to his bottles. When he picks up on the sounds of me preparing him a drink, he makes a mad dash for the kitchen. Where, during the first two-thirds of his life, he didn't seem to care one way or the other how he got his milk, he lately prefers that it comes from a familiar, comforting bottle.

Another challenge is the fact that Garrett is still a lazy eater. He has been from day one (which was a major reason why breastfeeding was unsuccessful). Though he is capable of doing it, he often refuses to hold his bottle or cup himself; but he adamantly (unless he's very, very thirsty) refuses to let us hold his new cups for him. Before I could express to my mom over the phone the other day my concerns of whether or not he's now getting enough milk, my mom commented that cup-drinking children often drink less than bottle-drinking children, which made me feel a little better, but I'd still like to know my son is drinking enough milk throughout the day.

Also, it doesn't help that Garrett often loses interest in cup drinking faster than bottle drinking, and demonstrates that loss by chucking his cup forcefully to the floor after only a few sips.

I'd love it if I could wean by the Cold Turkey method, but, given the circumstances, I'm not so sure that would work. So, taking these challenges into consideration, I think I've been able to come up with a bottle-weaning plan. As of a few days ago, Garrett gets a morning bottle and a bedtime bottle, but his milk during table meals and snacks is served in a cup. So far it seems to take him all three meals and the one or two snacks to drink about eight ounces of milk. Ideally, I'd like him to be drinking more during these sittings.

I'm hoping that my persistent offering of milk in a cup will help encourage Garrett to keep at it. Patience, too, is also something I know I'll need to have. Once I notice that he's taking to the cup better (i.e. not throwing it on the floor as quickly, and drinking more during meals and snacks), I will take away the morning bottle. After a little while longer, his bedtime bottle will be taken away as well.

I have no idea how long this will take, or whether my planned approach will work. If any of you have further suggestions for me, I'm all ears. Because I'd really like to only have to pack cups, and not bottles, too, for our Christmas trip to San Antonio.