“You can lead a horse to water…
February 3rd, 2009
…but you can’t make ‘um drink.”
The saying is mostly true. E has certainly decided when she’ll arrive at certain infant signposts like sitting up, growing teeth, eating solids, crawling, babbling, etc. In general, she’s in no hurry. She still eats pureed foods. She didn’t coast between pieces of furniture until a week before her first birthday. She doesn’t speak any words yet or point at things. But in the last week, she started standing on her own and walking (1-3 steps at a time) and she introduced a third tooth on Sunday.
My mom used to say humorously–in the context of home educating my siblings and me–that although you can’t make a horse drink, you can hold her head under water until she drinks or drowns. My pediatrician takes the same approach to the bottle/sippy cup conversion.
See in her typical relaxed fashion, E had no interest in the sippy cup. So the pediatrician instructed me to hold a bottle retirement party for E and then only give her a sippy cup, even if it means two days without drinking. Well, it meant 2.5 days with just a few grudging sips. And it meant five days before E happily drank from the sippy cup without assistance. But we’ve arrived. Mostly. E still refuses to drink formula from a sippy cup. As a result, she drinks juice-flavored water during the day and a bottle of half-calf* at night.
Ironically, I’m in the midst of reading David Elkind’s seminal work, The Hurried Child. The book discusses how parents push their children to grow up too fast, too soon, and offers advice on how to encourage healthy development through a joyful, playful, relaxed childhood.
Last summer, I read portions of Elkind’s book, The Power of Play, and was impressed by his research and arguments for letting children learn through play rather than through media and a schedule packed with organized activities. Next on my reading list is Miseducation: Preschoolers at Risk and Einstein Never Used Flashcards, two books that debunk the myth of formal early childhood education. (HT: Heather)
*1/2 formula to 1/2 milk in an effort to wean her to milk.
February 3rd, 2009 at 12:23 pm
B, I love your blog. I’m learning so much from it and I appreciate your honesty and humor as you navigation the new territory of parenthood.
February 3rd, 2009 at 4:57 pm
Ha ha! The books sound fascinating–I might go see if the library has any…
February 3rd, 2009 at 6:41 pm
I think it’s great to have a relaxed attitude towards developmental milestones…with a sensible pediatrician who will keep an eye out for areas of concern. I always think Tommy is doing fine until I start talking to a hyper-parent with a child the same age, and then I start worrying that he doesn’t know his colors and doesn’t sing and has regressed to using his hands instead of his fork to eat! =) This is a sane reminder, and I’m interested in checking out those books you mentioned whenever I next have free time to read! Thanks!
February 3rd, 2009 at 8:46 pm
phew. I’m going to relax now. Trey STILL does not have teeth and by golly the books say he should have some by now… ;)
Isn’t Elkind awesome?!?!?
February 4th, 2009 at 8:07 am
She’s so adorable and I love her little push toy thingy! By the way…had the same sippy cup issues except I didn’t really push for Micah to go off the bottle totally till he turned 2. The only good thing about waiting that long is that by then, I could verbally get him ready for what was about to come/he was old enough to understand and so it came as now surprise when we stopped and he was fine with the change. I think you’re smart to start earlier though cause getting them off the bottle really makes life a lot easier in many ways!:) They just do not get as dependent on the sippy I’ve found anyways!
February 20th, 2009 at 4:34 pm
I know you posted this a while ago … I’m doing some catch up while we’re still settling in! (And very much enjoying catching up on you guys.) =) I was just wondering why your pediatrician feels strongly about the transition from bottle to sippy cup? (I’m assuming he/she feels strongly about doing it when they turn one?) Just curious! Bravo and sticking to it and making it through. =)
February 20th, 2009 at 4:44 pm
Rebekah–To answer your question, my pediatrician doesn’t like formula and she thinks the nipple on the bottle will hurt the development of E’s mouth.