OUR BATTLE OVER WEANING NICO FROM THE BOTTLE
Everyone’s been pressuring us (most especially my Mom) to already wean Nico from the bottle. Since Nico is already three-year old, they commented that it’s about time to train him to drink milk from a cup. Jun and I know for a fact that ideally, kids of Nico’s age should already be drinking for a cup and no more from a bottle (although somewhere across a forum in Baby/Parents Center, there was a debate over WHEN and HOW to wean a child from the bottle). However, we are quite guilty for being not that really eager to wean our preschooler.
We attempted training Nico as early as one year old by buying him a sippy/trainer cup. But I guess our parenting powers weren’t that enough to convince him at that time that we gave up so easily. And so, we continue to put off our weaning task on a later date as we thought all of us in the family will be having the worst of both worlds. That is, Jun and I getting angry and frustrated (over not being successful in weaning) and making Nico’s life miserable without his beloved bottle. In fact, we almost forgot about the weaning thing for months that we even planned to buy Avent’s Magnum 330ml (11-oz) bottle since Nico is most often bitin with Avent’s regular 260ml (9-oz).
Until last Saturday, as I was doing a “good wash” of Nico’s bottles before putting them in the electric sterilizer, I noticed that all of the bottles’ screw caps were cracked and that milk would spill over when shaken or positioned upside down as Nico does it when nursing.
So I told Jun about it and easily, he said, since we are grocerying later in the afternoon, we will drop by the baby’s section in the Mall’s Department Store to purchase replacements for the cracked screw caps. Unfortunately, when we’re in the baby’s section to buy the screw caps, the sales lady informed us that the screw caps cannot be bought as a separate bottle accessory as it is packaged with the dome cap which we do not totally need. Jun suggested that we just buy new sets of feeding bottles since its price is almost equivalent to that of the screw and dome cap bottle accessory package.
I made a bit of a rising eyebrow when he told me about his suggestion as I viewed it quite silly. I thought it was really silly buying new sets of feeding bottles for a growing preschooler. It’s just not really appropriate anymore because Nico is definitely baby no-more. I can take buying silicone teats/nipples periodically (even if they are as pricey compared to the ordinary teats/nipples) as it goes to observe proper hygiene and sanitation. But buying new bottles was a different story. Gosh, we debated so long over those petty buying of screw and dome caps package vs. new feeding bottles that it led me to suggest not buying anything at all and once for all, pursue of long overdue task of weaning Nico from the bottle!
But as always, the ever-tolerating and spoiling father of Nico won, so we ended up buying six sets of screw and dome caps accessory package. He even commented I should be thankful enough because he didn’t pursue buying new sets of feeding bottles (because a new set of feeding has the 2 Hole Teat which is slow flow, fitted for 1 Month-old babies hence, we still need to buy the 4 Hole Teat which is fast flow, fitted for 6 Month-old+ babies). Ha, ha, very funny for him, but not for me. But seriously, before retiring the night of Saturday, I insisted that we talked about pursuing weaning Nico from the bottle most especially now that our son is growing so fast and is about to go to preschool this coming June. And equally, I reminded Jun that very reasons why we decided to have Nico attend preschool early was because, aside from the other significant benefits, we are confident that he’s already equally independent. I meant equally independent in a sense that he’s potty-trained and feeding all by himself, in a manner as most adults do.
And that would mean barely two months from now so I thought its best to start the training before it’s too late. And besides, it’s too awkward to imagine Nico (who looks quite big for his age) still nursing in a class during recess or at times that he needs to. Jun and I surely don’t want a scenario of that when the school begins so thankfully, we agreed to start the gradual-drastic combined weaning process the following day.
We realized: It’s better to start sooner to refuse with his requests and stick to our decision to wean no matter how much he screams, than to willingly give him the bottle up to now and put off weaning until later—later that we can no longer bear buying sets and sets of teats/nipples, screw caps, and worse, new sets of feeding bottles.
So begins our battle over weaning Nico from the bottle. Hay, goodluck to us!
[What happened to the purchased screw and dome caps? Well, we returned them to the baby section of the Mall’s Department store and exchange it for a hardbound educational book.]
17 responses so far
nalungkot ako for myself, ndi na tayo sabay 
when...
my niece, who was 3 yo then i guess, was forced to stop the bottle when she started pre-school (may boyfriend na daw kasi sya.. oh yeah, prepare yourself for that too!). she didn’t want to drink from the bottle at school but claimed it upon arriving at home.. there were times when she would sneek with the bottle of her younger cousin and i found that so cute..
louna, on the otherhand starts to drink from a cup now.. she eats like a grown up na..
ang hirap, ‘no? di bale, just stick to your guns. eventually nico will get used to the idea and will have to drink from the cup!
we consider ourselves lucky. dui was breastfed so we didnt have the problem of weaning her from bottle. we had a different battle, hahaha.
just be consistent and never give in. that’s the key. besides, Nico’s teeth will suffer in the long run: cavities, mis-aligned teeth…
Good luck with Nico, better yet how about making him yummy fresh fruit milkshakes to encourage him to give up his bottle. He can slurp up the refreshing treats with a straw.
For my daughter we did from bottle to cup with straw. She pretty much weaned her self from the bottle at 1 year old when she found out it’s faster to drink from straw. She had sippy cups for travelling but straw was the answer.
Tough battle you got there. Just be firm and consistent and you will get the message across. To Nico and Daddy Jun, hehehe.
good morning PNM mommies, thanks for dropping by here.
analyse, well, i guess there’s so many different ways on weaning children from bottles. your niece’ reason for weaning was kinda unique, ayaw nya ma-turn off ang boypren nya sa kanya.
but kidding aside, i think your niece subconciously realized big kids like her should be drinking milk as adults do. good to know Louna is drinking from a cup na at her age. proper guidance of Mommy analyse must have made the difference.
aloi, tama ka, ang hirap talaga lalo na with kids as Nico’s age, marunong ng mag manipulate at mang blackmail ng tao. pero knowing Nico won’t bear for long hours not having milk, ayun, yesterday, napilitan uminom sa glass kahit ayaw nya. lucky for Dui because she grew up breastfeeding from you (i remember you doing that when we were at your house doing a paper for one of our M.A. class). BF, aside from health benefits also enhances bonding btween Mom and child. sayang lang i was only able to BF Nico for two months lang, his health condition (remember the hole in his heart that made BF a struggle?) did not permit. and yup, weaning from BF is a different battle nga!
purplegirl, thanks for the advice. i do hope we won’t give in talaga. about Nico’s teeth, naku, sad to say the upper front teeth is deteriorating. it started nung napingas yung isang upper front tooth nya nung minsan nasubsob sya.
drinking milk before bedtime worsened the decay.
KK, milkshakes instead of plain milk would be a good technique to wean him eventually. we’ll do as you advice. clever Little K for discovering that it’s faster to drink from a straw than a bottle.
Nico does sip from a straw too, yun nga lang, for tetra pack juices lang.
julie, totally agree with you, tough battle talaga. as of yesterday naman (the day we started), looks like Nico’s Dada is doing well in being firm. i hope he won’t give in. *fingers-crossed*
i guess the trick with louna is that, she observes us as much as we observe her.. she wants to drink like maman and papa, she likes to eat like mama and papa.. etc.. and by the way, she started to wear her own shoes na din.. gaya gaya hehe..
ay naku, mommy feng, be careful with cavities! they can affect the heart and brain! a few weeks ago, a 12-year old boy here in the US died from brain complications brought about by cavities (the bacteria travels to the heart and brain). you said Nico had a hole in the heart — the more you should be extra careful.
here in the US, pag may cavities ang toddlers, they extract the tooth (they’re given general anesthesia so they’re asleep when they get the tooth out.) my good friend has a 6-year old son who developed cavities and the dentist put metal caps on the two teeth to prevent the bacteria from travelling to other parts of the body and infecting them. bottom line: cavities may cause heart infections and brain infections especially for those with weak immune systems.
hello feng!
it’s good that you are already weaning Nico off the battle. with Boz I did it after he turned two. I always tell him that if he continues to drink milk on a feeding bottle before sleep, his teeth will all fall out from cavities. Worked for me! LOL
but you have to be prepared for some weight loss or perhaps a slow down in your child’s weight gain during the adjustment phase from the bottle to the cup. with Boz, he’s been lean ever since.
if you are so worried about baby teeth and cavities, try talking with a dentist who deals with kids, they can give you some useful advice on special care of milk teeth. i heard about the flouride thing from my dentist, said it will help protect children’s teeth. i think we’ll have it before Boz starts school in June.
good luck to us!
hi Momsies!
analyse, feeling adult na talaga si Louna at gaya-gaya pa kay Maman and Papa, nakakatuwa! at nagsusuot na ng shoes on her own, mukhang maagang magiging independent si Louna ah. naku, wish ko lang ganyan din si Nico, kaso pa-baby pa rin until now.
mommy purple, thanks for that handful information. actually, that was my continuing concern nga until now kasi Nico’s upper front tooth is decaying na. nung minsan namaga talaga yung gums nya (because of the decaying tooth), tapos sobrang painful talaga for Nico. we went to a Pedia Dentist for a checkup, ang suggestion nya bunutin yung tooth kasi patay na daw yung nerves nun. so we secured clearance from his Pedia Cardio kung pwede, unfortunately, hindi pumayag yung doctor, ang reason nya delikado for Nico, baka maging traumatic yung experience nya, hintayin na lang daw namin yung time na mag fall off yung tooth by itself, anyway milk teeth pa naman. pero just the same bothered pa rin ako.
roxie, good to know you’ve succeeded in weaning Boz as early as 2years old. at mag-school na din pala si Boz like Nico sa June. naku, good luck sa ating mga working Moms. sana, we can manage our time. about the weight loss, actually, concern ko din yun kasi the same thing happened to my niece when she was weaned, medyo pumayat sya. siguro it would really help to encourage our children to eat more healthy food to augment nutrition lost out of weaning. thanks for you tips on consulting with a dentist re: Nico’s teeth. actually, guilty nga rin kami coz we always postpone his visit to the dentist on a regular basis.
Eeep! My son’s also 3 and I feed him milk even when he’s asleep. I better rethink and start my weaning strategy.
Thanks for the reminder!
now that you moms are talking about weaning, i realize that during the time i was raising babies one after the other, i must not really have noticed. i really did not have trouble weaning them–my feeling at that time was well, they will outgrow the bottle anyway. now, when i hear those teeth and heart related complications, i just shudder at the idea. good luck to you…and i hope Nico will not be shocked!
hi, feng!
My kids stopped bottle feeding when they started around 3 y/o. They’re shy cause their classmates can see.
I can remember Lance abruptly stopped it but after 3 days, he came home from school looking for his bottle… My hubby told him if you drink from your bottle again, “I’ll go to your classroom tomorrow and give this bottle in front of your classmates.” Afraid that his Papa will really do it, he never asked for it again.
Good luck!
you’re very much welcome Linnor. should i say, “let the battle over weaning from the battle begin!” good luck sa ating mga mothers.
sexy mom, that was what i also thought before, na Nico will outgrew drinking milk from the bottle. thanks to that cracked screw caps, we were alarmed.
sassy mom, Ok sa pamba-blackmail si Hubby mo ah. at si Lance naman, tamang nasindak talaga. sana ganyan din kadali i convince si Nico, kaso hindi.
Hi Feng. My son, also 3 yrs old still drinks milk from the bottle. He drinks naman other stuff from a glass pero yung milk sa bottle pa din. Di ko pa talaga na try na painumin sya ng milk sa glass. Natatakot kasi ako na mawalan sya ng gana sa milk but I guess it’s about time. I will try to gradually wean him. Thanks for sharing this. Very timely.
hi Rach, naku, pareho pala si Yohan at Nico na dumedede pa sa bote. it’s about time na i wean na sila before it’s too late!
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