Bye Bye Bottles!

One week ago today, Abbi had a sip of her last bottle, then threw it across the room. (telling us, she didn't want it.) We have officially been bottle/formula free for a whole week! The process of weaning has always been a very intimidating thought for me. I've heard how hard it can be for babies to be done nursing or bottle feeding. Surprisingly, it was the opposite. 

Abbi pretty much weaned herself. Since about 9 or 10 months old, she really lost interest in her bottle. I would make her a full 6oz and she would eat 3oz maybe 4oz and refuse to drink anymore.  I was pretty concerned. I worried she wasn't getting enough food! {which I have worried about since she was born, nursing was SUPER stressful for me!} I talked to her doctor and he said just to keep offering her the bottle. So I did. 

About 2 weeks before her first birthday, we went from giving her 4 bottles a day to 2. One bottle right when she woke up in the morning and one bottle right before bed. She did awesome! My worry was she would start waking up in the night because she was hungry. But she didn't! (Seriously, we have an awesome baby!) At her 12 month check up, our pediatrician told us she didn't need the formula, but if we had some left we could use it up or give it away. We decided to use it up. We didn't give her consistent bottles. Usually one in the morning and maybe one at night, but we didn't stress about it. She was doing so good! 

On our long trip to Oregon, she was having a hard time falling asleep in her pack n play. She cried and cried and we finally decided to try giving her a bottle. She tasted it and then wanted nothing to do with it! So we gave her some water and she guzzled it down. After a full day of not having a bottle, she still didn't care for it! That was her last bottle. At the coast, our cute 6 month old niece had bottles around the house... Abbi wasn't even tempted! 

So that's that. Our sweet girl no longer needs bottles. She's grown up! She eats the same food we do! It still blows my mind. I don't have a baby anymore, I have a toddler. 

Next up... the pacifier!