The Verdict Is In: Guilty As Charged!

Judge me. I know you're going to anyway, so I'm giving you permission...I would judge me too, if I were you. My son, who is approaching his 26th month, still drinks from a bottle in the morning and before bed. It's completely ridiculous, I know. Especially when he has no issue when it comes to drinking from a cup. He has several cups of water throughout the day, a cup of water with his lunch, a cup of milk (with a splash of chocolate) for dinner. I haven't even tried to NOT give him a bottle. What's my problem??? What am I doing??? I'm trying to hang on to this one last slice of babydom??? Am I ruining his life by allowing him to drink from a bottle when he's basically going through puberty??? Am I creating issues that he will forever blame me for??? Will he be sitting on a shrink's couch in 40 years and the psychiatrist will say..."Ah, yes! It's because you were almost 2 and a half and your mother was STILL giving you a bottle"?????....Probably not. But still. It's totally, completely and utterly absurd. AND I've tried to justify it to myself for too long.

LIE: He won't drink his milk unless it's in a bottle, therefore, he won't get his daily calcium intake unless I give him his bottles.

TRUTH: He drinks his milk just fine out of a cup at dinner time.

LIE: He won't drink milk unless it's warm.

TRUTH: Again, dinner time milk is cold and he has NO problem drinking it, AND, one can always warm it up and put it in a cup, right?

Anyway, I've deluded myself LONG ENOUGH. My husband and I have decided that this coming weekend we will start to "wean" our little guy off his morning and evening bottles. I'm not sure how it's gonna go, but I'm anticipating a little bit of a struggle - not so much in the morning (as there are plenty of other distractions), but I'm going to have to put my gloves on before bed time. I think the best course of action is to eliminate the morning bottle first, and then SLOWLY (???? I'm trying to get a grip! Really I am!) work our way to the nighttime bottle. I've promised myself I will be firm. If he cries, I will DEFINITELY not give in....right?? If he begs, I will DEFINITELY be strong....right?

Perhaps my conscience has given me permission to loosen the tight grip I have on baby #1 and give him a little more independence knowing that I'll be able to baby #2 in a few short weeks. I'm not 100% sure what my issues are here, but I know that this weekend could end up being a painful one for the entire family...(or it may go smoothly). Only time (and this blog!) will tell. And for all of you Judge Judies out there, wish me luck, as I have two other HUGE milestones to deal with after this one: Getting rid of the soother AND potty training. And I thought raising kids got easier as they got older....??? SHEESH!