Bye-bye bottle

In the last few days, Hila has gone from 2-5 bottles per day to about one. She used to have one in the morning, one at nap-time, and one at bed-time without fail. Sometimes the one from the morning would last until nap time (which is why I say sometimes 2) and sometimes she'd NEED one in the afternoon (4) and sometimes she'd drink her night-time bottle, NOT fall asleep, and then cry until we give her yet another bottle (5).

The doctor told us on Sunday that we should really be brushing her teeth and then putting her to bed without a bottle of milk (water is fine). That night we took it away. Over the last few weeks we've been re-introducing the pacifier to Hila so that when we finally got the guts to take away her bottle, she wouldn't miss it too terribly.

That night she cried for half an hour, we went in to calm her down, she cried for another half hour, we went in to calm her down, and then finally she went to sleep. WITHOUT A BOTTLE. [Note: We'd tried taking away her in-bed bottle for AGES, but always succumbed to Hila-pressure.]

The next day, Hila was starting a new gan where she'd be sleeping on a mat on the floor -- something she'd never done before. We didn't want the adjustment to be too difficult, so we sent her with a bottle. She slept on the mat successfully.

That night, she went to sleep without a bottle AND without crying (with her Pooh and her pacifier). The next day, the gannenet forgot to give Hila her bottle at nap-time, and Hila slept! That night, a few tears, but no bottle. And today, she went to gan and we didn't even bother sending her a bottle.

The thing is, is that now she's not really drinking any milk. We give her the morning bottle, but she's really not that interested. And before bed we give her a bottle to drink before brushing teeth, and she needs a little convincing to drink it. I think she's having enough, it's just funny that just a few days ago we were trying so so hard to cut back on her milk intake, and now we need to try and boost it.

P.S. Hila's new gan is in Hebrew and apparently Hila is a model child who does whatever she is expected to do...including sleeping on a mat on the floor, a feat I had thought impossible for my sleep-in-crib-only baby.