After reading Mylene’s post “Battle With Bottles,” I have decided to finally get rid of all of Justin’s remaining feeding bottles because like Mylene’s daughter, my son is more than three years old already. He turned four last July, but he is still drinking milk from feeding bottles, well, not all the time, but at least once a day. He already knows how to drink milk from a glass or cup, although he still prefers bottle-feeding most of the time.

Last week, I already discarded some of his feeding bottles, but I left a few at home just in case he asks for them. I’m still a consenting mom, you see, so I’m partly to blame for his continued dependence on feeding bottles. LOL!

Last Wednesday before he went to school, I told him, “Justin, no more feeding bottles for you today; I’ll throw them away later.” He nonchalantly answered, “Okay.”

Later when he arrived from school, had lunch, and got ready to nap, he asked for milk. I said, “You’ll have milk in a glass.” I actually forgot to hide his feeding bottles while he was away, and he was quick to notice that. When he pointed to his bottles, I said they were still dirty and so he agreed to drink milk from a cup.

Now, all of his remaining feeding bottles are out of sight. He hasn’t been asking for them for four days now, and I don’t intend to bring all of them back even if he whines, so yes, I can finally say that my son is now totally weaned from bottle-feeding!

Thanks, Mylene! Your post inspired me to follow suit.

Last December 2008, I prepared a list of things I intend to accomplish in the coming months as far as my son Justin is concerned. That list included the following activities: potty training, bottle weaning and less TV watching. Here’s a quick update on that post.

Potty training – Justin is not completely potty trained yet, although he has shown considerable improvement in this area. He has gotten accustomed to wearing briefs, and he doesn’t wet or soil his underwear anymore. When he feels the urge to pee, he asks to be taken to the toilet. He wears a diaper only when he’s about to take his nap or at bedtime, when we go out of the house and when he wants to poop. He doesn’t really want to poop in the toilet, and this started when he was constipated a few weeks back. He finds it easier to do it on his diapers.

Bottle weaning – Justin sometimes drinks milk from a cup, but more often, he drinks milk from his bottle. But he consumes less milk now. He can actually last a day without milk. When we’re out of the house, he doesn’t usually ask for milk anymore, but on the rare occasions that he does, we simply offer him juice instead, and he seems quite content with it. He also goes to bed sometimes without asking for milk. I am actually relieved because less milk at bedtime means less baby bottle tooth decay.

Less TV watching – The two hours Justin spent attending his summer class (9am to 11am) meant no TV watching for two hours every weekday for the past five weeks. And because he was tired from school, he usually just slept in the afternoon, plus, we don’t watch TV in our bedroom anymore before he sleeps at night. I hope this trend won’t change now that his summer class is officially over. I just have to find ways to keep him busy and prevent him from watching too much TV.

This is my agenda for December as far as my son Justin is concerned.

Potty training – We thought Justin's first time to sit on the toilet last November 9 was a good start. Our rejoicing over that accomplishment was short-lived, however, as he never repeated the act again. Yesterday, I started placing his potty in the living room so he is reminded to plop into it when he needs to.

Bottle weaning – We also started making Justin drink his milk from a cup. The only time we make him drink milk from a feeding bottle is when he’s about to take his nap or at bedtime.

Less TV watching – We’re also cutting back the number of hours Justin can watch TV. Before, the TV set in the living room is on almost the whole day. Now, we’re encouraging more play and less TV. We keep him busy with his toys, his coloring book and crayons, and his notebook and pencil. He goes to the playground, too, to be with other kids.