Tonight as I cleaned up the kitchen, it caught my eye. The bottle rack dryer thingy that has been sitting beside the sink since Matthew arrived. Suddenly the realization hit me - it doesn't need to be there anymore. It is still sitting there, with all of the clean and dry bottles on it, and has been for weeks...but it doesn't need to be. My baby doesn't drink from a bottle anymore.
Now, I know this happens to all babies :) It just seems like it came so fast! At about 13 months we switched him over to milk during the day, but we kept his night bottle because it is such a bonding time for us.
And then he got sick. He wasn't eating, was throwing up a lot, and we took a few days off from the bottle. Then we found out he was allergic to soy (or so we thought) so we assumed giving him soy formula wouldn't be good. Suddenly, without us even really noticing, our little boy doesn't get bottles anymore. And I didn't even get to say good-bye!
I will miss this snuggle time so much. Even though we read books and snuggle in the chair before bed, it isn't the same. When he took his bottle, he would stare up into my eyes and touch my face with his hands...these were some of the most precious memories I have from when he first came home. I will miss that. Everyone says they grow up too fast...now I know that is the truth!
{Matthew's first bottle here at home...
and a very flattering picture of me! HA!
I think I was feeling a little tired!}
6 comments:
I hear you about them growing up too fast! Well, so long bottles, and now onto bigger and better things. :-D
Feeding time is such a special time with babies! Maybe it was for the best that you didn't know the last bottle was the "last" bottle. I know with nursing Alexis I didn't know that the last feeding was the "last" feeding and I think that was good for me or else I would have been crying my eyes out!
Sigh. Losing bottle time is tough. But you'll find new ways to bond and snuggle. Growing up is so tough on us :(
When we were starting to "wean" Hayden....I ended up giving birth to our boys who were in the NICU for 2 1/2 weeks, so Hayden went to his aunt & uncle's house for that time--guess what we {seriously} forgot to pack?? Oh yeah, his bottle.
Never missed it for a second! I was shocked!
I read this post at 4am...at 4am I was up with my baby who would NOT NOT NOT sleep for the life of him. He was crying and fussy and I was a grump. And then...your post....and I don't want my baby to grow up so fast. Thanks Rachel. I needed that, even at 4am.
Our little guy took a few days off from the bottle too because of being so sick. As we go back he isn't crazy about them...mostly because I think he cannot breathe well enough yet w/ the bottle in his mouth...but I've been wondering if this is the time to ditch them. My concern is he doesn't drink nearly enough with the sippy cup...only a few sips here & there.
So...you put him down in the crib at night without a bottle...or milk in a cup...or anything? Wow. Sad to see it go...but good for you for making that transition so smoothly that you didn't notice at first...and best of all...he didn't either.
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