Weaning

My 18 month old never did wean off the breast totally. Yah, you heard me, I still latch her on still. I have reduced it down to just once a day, reason I will reveal a little later.

Why??????? Oh, because she didn't take to the bottle kindly. We tried all the brands we can get our hands on, no luck. Nothing works. We got her really hungry, I bottle fed her, other people fed her, I 'disappeared'. Nothing works. In short, she just wants to get straight to the milk source. Fresh mah.

Weaning her off the breasts was easier than I thought it would be. She is a toddler that comfort suckles a lot. She wants to latch on and then doze off to sleep. Very bad I know, but I didn't know how to undo that habit. She cried every time I refused her her latch on on the first 2 days, after that, she was surprisingly okay with not latching on anymore. So yes, the weaning was pretty painless. She didn't have epic bouts of crying her lungs out, more like angry, unreasonable toddler tantrums kind of crying.

Degressing.....

So anyway,

Good thing that I am a full time mum, so I didn't have to resort to drastic measures. But that meant that I can't be away for her too long. That was when I bought those doidy cups. I would express milk and leave it to whoever is baby sitting her and have her drink out of the cup. It is a little more troublesome in the beginning because she was drinking quite slowly compared to if she would have been drinking out of a bottle. Sometimes, she took just enough to starve off her hunger til I (more accurately, my boobs) return. But slowly, she was going pretty well. We used the cups when she started taking juices, water and other liquids too.

We did try to get her to use sippy cups, because it was less messy, but she wouldn't take to the sippy cup either. It was a relief when she finally figured out how to use the straw when she was about 10 months old! She hates formula milk, preferring whole fresh milk instead, and she wants them cold. We tried a few brands, nothing caught her fancy til she had a go at Pediasure Chocolate flavoured milk. I make it cold and gave it to her in a bottle with a straw. Think she is the only toddler who drinks her milk cold. I am using the doidy cup more for milk now since she is able to use the cup on her own a lot better. I will place the cup on the table next to her food. It could be milk, juice or water. It is very heartening to see her feed herself. She does it in the most orderly way too. When she wants to drink, she will push her plate of food to one side and pick up the cup. These days, she is more careful not to spill any liquids. When she is done drinking, she will put the cup down and push it away and then pull the plate closer to her and start eating again. All the months of messy eating and drinking have finally paid off!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As much as I would love her to take to the bottle like most babies and gradually to sippy cups, giving me a little freedom and less mess. Looking back now, it isn't entirely a bad thing either. I didn't have to wean her off bottles nor sippy cups!

Now is time to think about potty training!