Bottle Baby

I don't want to give this up.  There is nothing in the world like these precious moments and they're gone so fast.  I struggle every time I think "she's old enough to be drinking from a cup... that baby is drinking from a cup... will she become attached to it if I let it go on too long???"

And yet, every day that I tell myself "this should probably be the day" I nearly break down in tears and I can't seem to let go of these moments.

Breastfeeding wasn't the enjoyable bonding experience I had hoped it would be for us.  I don't remember either of my other two disliking it nearly as much as sweet Violet.  It often seemed like a battle and wasn't always a sweet "snuggle into me and enjoy the moment" kind of thing.  But I powered through with the goal of nursing until she was old enough for cow's milk (as close to 12 months as I could get.) So just a few weeks short of her birthday I began slowly replacing nursing with bottles of milk and like clockwork, on her birthday, she nursed for the very last time.  I might have actually been sad if it had felt like I was taking something away from her.  But when she pushed me away and shook her head I knew we'd both get over it fast.

Then something happened and our experience changed. She enjoys her milk from a bottle. Our routine of wake-up, bottle time! She enjoys laying in my lap, snuggling into me just right and my heart is full and happy every time. So what if she "should" be drinking from a cup? I'm OK with this for now...