Kicking the bottle habit
pamelamyers | June 24, 2011
Sam has officially done it! She has kicked the bottle habit. It’s been more than a week and there is no looking back. She really hasn’t seemed to miss it at all. In fact, sometimes now she doesn’t even want her sippy cup of milk at naptime or bedtime, she is content to just get cuddled and sang to and then into her crib. She doesn’t seem to need that crutch anymore. I am sure the pediatrician and all the child experts would say this means that her continued use of the bottle all this time was more my fault than hers if she could give it up so easily, but I really don’t think so. We tried so many times before and it was a disaster. I think Sam was just ready this time. It took me a long time to learn that with anything in Sam’s development, she will do it in her own time, when she is ready. I thought she would never eat baby food, and of course, she did. I thought she’d never eat table food, and of course, she did. I thought she would never walk, and of course, she did. And all of those things were done in the perfectly acceptable range of time for her development. I don’t know why parents want to rush along every milestone like we all seem to do. I guess it is because every new thing is so exciting, and seeing your child grow up and do more and more is reassuring – it tells you that your child is “normal” (whatever that means). But then those milestones are passed, and we all think it went by so fast and then we are sad because we can’t get that time back again. I do miss so many things about when Sam was a baby, but not for long. Because all I have to do is look at her now, when she says or does something exceedingly cute, or see her smile at me with her adorable grin, and I am so glad I have my big girl. Someone I can share a laugh with, play games with, and just enjoy being with. I wouldn’t trade that for anything.