No more Bottles

Well, Andrew is totally off the bottle. To clear up a question that I have received. Yes, we took Andrew off the bottle cold turkey. We didn't to any gradual separation from the bottle. Ever since he was about a year old he was only getting a bottle for a nap and to go to bed only. The other feedings were substituted with a sippy cup and food. So for the past month or so, Andrew really hasn't been into drinking from a bottle but enjoyed the bonding time of cuddling in his chair in his room. So we just had to find the right routine, so that he would go down for a nap and bed without too much argument. It did take us a couple days to find the right routine. So I tried a couple days ago, at his nap time, to read a story to him in his chair while he drank his sippy cup. It worked great and not too much crying. Only a five minute or so cry. Since it worked so well, I told David to try this approach for his bed time. We have been doing this routine ever since. I have packed the bottles away for good.
The only thing that I can figure that was the biggest upset with Andrew was that bonding time was taken away at first. Everyday since he was born we have sat in that chair to drink a bottle to go to sleep. Since we originally stopped having that time, Andrew was getting upset. Not that he wasn't getting a bottle. He was upset that we weren't having that time together anymore. So we have gone back to that time and it is working out nice. Some days he still puts up a fight when we try to put him down for a nap. But eventually he just ends up passing out. (He thinks that he is going to miss something.)

P.S. He will take milk in his sippy cup now.

Hummmm

Well, we still are having a hard time giving up the bottle. Today Andrew complained for an hour an a half in his crib today and didn't go to sleep. I even went in there and gave him a bottle after an hour and he still wouldn't pass out. He just ended up passing out on the way home from church. (We left after Sacrament because he screamed the whole time.) He was asleep even before we got to the freeway. I was however able to get him from the car to his bed with only a short complaint before going back to sleep. But the last two nights, Andrew has been so stubborn that he has been getting himself so upset that we aren't giving him a bottle that he forgets that he is tired. He will scream for an hour straight until David gives in and gives him a bottle. The bedtime bottle seems to be the hardest bottle to break Andrew from. Maybe I just picked the wrong time to break him from the bottle. I mean, right now all he wants is the comfort that we give him. Andrew is teething major at this moment and that comfort time that he gets to fall asleep is going away. But I just have to stay strong and this will pass. Then we will be free from bottles for good. I just have to think positive right.

Finally!!!!

Well, I have given in and put Andrew down for a nap and bed without a bottle. I have swapped him a sippy cup for his bottle. Yesterday, I started this process out totally wrong. At his normal first nap (10 am), I just tried to give him a sippy cup while holding him in his chair. He just started to throw a fit. I then tried to just lay him down and just maybe he would cry himself to sleep. Not going to happen. I went back in with a different sippy cup with milk in it and that work for a little bit but not enough to fall asleep to. I tried again to just lay him down but more screaming came. I felt bad at just letting him scream and yell that I got him up and calmed down. We went down stairs and turned on a movie. We played a little but he was still so tired. He ended up passing out while I was holding him, while watching a movie (2 pm). This nap only lasted an hour because his pain relief had worn off by then. I was now at work and David had the job of putting him down to bed without a bottle as well. That worked out better then nap time. David just gave him the sippy cup of milk that I tried earlier that day and Andrew went to sleep. So we had a very successful day with breaking Andrew off the bottle.
So onto today, I just put Andrew down for his first nap of the day (11am). I tried a different approach by putting him in his crib with his sippy cup and walking away. Andrew just drank his water and passed out. I believe that Andrew is associating the chair in his room to getting a bottle of milk. So I guess I had to change to routine to get him to take his naps. I hope things go as smoothly tonight while I'm at work. If the sippy cup doesn't work again tonight as it did last night, I guess we'll work on bed time bottle feedings another time. If everything continues to go as smoothly, we can pack the bottles away until they are needed again.
Just a little side note: Andrew has six teeth coming in at this moment in time. His two fangs on the bottom. Then on top his two molars and those two fangs as well. So we really need to keep on top of those Tylenol or Motrin dosing. Just look at the bright side. He'll finish teething faster and he'll have all his teeth faster.

Two Sundays in a row!

Andrew has gone two Sundays in a roll without being a pain in the neck at church. We went to Nursery and played almost the whole time. The last two weeks we have had to take a walking break with his friend/rival Blake. (They have a love, hate relationship.) Blake and Andrew would be playing fine with one another and the next minute they are fighting. Blake has an older brother, Sean, so he has learned some things but Andrew is learning fast on defending himself by being around Blake. For example, today Andrew took a bit at Blake's arm when Blake attacked him on the couch. Andrew also shoved Blake when he wasn't giving him room to climb up the slide in Nursery. My little guy is learning fast with all those bigger kids around him at church. (Blake is only 3 months older then Andrew though.) No I'm not going to encourage Andrew to bit people but it is about time that he starts to fight back with Blake. He has been beating up on Andrew for several months now. Maybe Andrew will be able to hold his own the next time that the other cousins come to visit, whenever that happens again.
Well, we have gone through the first day of delight saving and Andrew's nap schedule and bed time were right on schedule today. We will just have to see how things go the rest of the week and so on. Even though to him it was 9 am, the clock says 10 am and he still went down for his nap. The same thing with his bed time. The said 7:30 pm when to him it was 6:30pm but he was ready to go to sleep though both times. I guess we just got lucky. The last few days, before the time change, he has been getting tired earlier in the day and I've been keeping him up to take his naps at his regular times. Maybe he was just getting himself ready for the time change. We will just have to see, if things stay the same.

Not enough time

Today I had another day off from work. I tried to make a quick run to Walmart to pick up some need items but Andrew was just being a pain. It was too close to his nap time for him to be happy while I tried to shop. I ended up leaving without the items I went there to get. So when I got home and put Andrew down for a nap, I called my mom to pick up those items for me. That was so nice of her to help me out. Once Andrew woke up from his nap and we ate some lunch, David, Andrew and I headed out to a park to play. I don't know the name of the park but the play area is fenced in and the little monster couldn't escape. Andrew pretty much just sat in the sand and played with his shovel. A couple times he got up and walked around and tried to play on the equipment. We went down the slide a couple times but for the most part the sand was the highlight of the day. Andrew even tried to follow one the older kids up the equipment but that area was for older kids. We only stayed at the park for 20 minutes because Andrew was getting tired for his second attitude adjustment. Also more larger kids were coming to the park and he was putting himself in harms way.

A little update:
Andrew has two more teeth coming in again. These are now on the top. The bottom two have already come in and it is starting again. For the most part he is just fine when he takes his nap.
David is still in school and moving forward day by day. He is almost to the end of his photo class that meets online. I believe he only has a couple more weeks left. Now his Chemistry class and Math class aren't over until May(I think). But he is taking everything in stride and trying to take it all in to pass his classes. I'm so proud of him taking the challenge of going back to school. Way to go!