Getting your kid off the bottle

We have been trying to get our son off the bottle for a few months now, but haven’t had much luck . Yesterday we went to a early speech class to see how our son is doing and to make sure we are doing things correctly.  Overall things are good except for the fact that our little guy still like his bottle to relax with.  The instructor informs us that a bottle, sippy cup, or pacifier can actually delay speech and might lead to speech issues because it fails to engage the lips and tongue in a way to develop more advanced speech patterns.  So yesterday was the day!  We went out and picked up a few more spill proof straw cups, a bottle of wine, and a 12 pack of beer (the alcohol was for the parents).  We lucked out early because he fell asleep in the car so he didn’t require a bottle for his nap.  After his nap we went for lunch, played, and on to dinner without him asking for a bottle.  Bedtime was the challenge.  We tried a straw cup — that was tossed out of the crib like a two bit whore.  Next up was a sippy cup with a nipple like top – no fooling him with that one.  Finally after nearly 90 minutes we gave him a bottle, but only with one ounce of milk -  he fell asleep soon after.

So after day one we have determined this won’t be a quick process, but it is something we need to be strong about – both of us.  He is going to fight us at every turn until he learns he can soothe himself without the luxury of a bottle.  We have moved all but two bottles to a top shelf in a closet so they are out of mind for us.  We don’t have our existing bottles filled and ready to go – they are for emergency only.  I know we are the parents and we are in charge, but when you have a crying kid that is begging for a bottle it can make you so weak – this is where the alcohol comes in handy (also pickup ear plugs).  Good luck to all of you out there going through the same thing and if you have some tips please comment and let me know!!!