Nathan had is 12 month doctor appointment last Friday and it went great. Our little guy weighs 21.5 pounds (36th percentile) and is 31.5 inches tall (90th percentile). The doctor said Nathan's development is good and he was impressed by how much Nathan was talking. However the doctor was pretty much shocked that Nathan was still on bottles and told me to get him off as soon as possible.
Well of course I get all panicky when the doctor tells me we need to change something so I called Matt and after talking it through we decided to get rid of the bottles cold turkey. We went to the store and got Nathan a couple of the sippy cups with the straws in them because he loves to drink through straws and hoped for the best.
It took about 45 minutes to get Nathan asleep Friday night without his bottle. Nathan kept looking at me strangely, pushing his sippy cup away and fussing but we kept at it and got him to sleep. He stayed asleep until his normal time of 4:30 and cried for a bottle. I offered him a sippy cup which he absolutely refused and that kid cried for his bottle for two hours straight! After an hour I was exhausted so I gave up, put him in his crib and shut the door.
This was the first time we had ever let Nathan cry it out and it was awful. I felt horrible for leaving him alone and even worse because I knew exactly what he wanted and what would make him fall back asleep. But we stuck with our plan and let him cry alone in his crib. He cried for another hour until he finally cried himself to sleep. Lucky for us he was exhausted as well and slept in until 9.
We were dreading Saturday night because we were anticipating the same crying episodes but were extremely surprised with how well Nathan did. It took about 20 minutes to get him to sleep this time and (drum roll please) Nathan slept through the NIGHT! He has slept through the night before but it has always been sporadic so we weren't getting our hopes up.
Well Nathan did freaking awesome all day Sunday without a bottle and wasn't even acting like he missed it. And then my little stud slept through the night AGAIN! Monday at daycare was a little more difficult as Nathan refused to take a nap but he ate regular meals and wasn't grumpy or fussy. And then he slept through the night again.
Three nights in a row I just can't believe it. I am so grateful that Matt and I chose to listen to the doctor's advice. We have the best pediatrician who totally jives with our parenting styles and always gives us the greatest pointers and tips. Nathan is eating better and sleeping better and we know taking away the bottles was the best thing for Nathan. This is by far the most rested I have felt in over a year and sure makes this parenting thing easier when you and your baby get a full nights sleep. You rock Nathan, we are so proud of you!
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