Drinking from a Cup

When Asa wasn't gaining weight well and it seemed all we did was nurse, nurse, nurse all day long to get him caught up, we somehow fell off the "give a bottle once/week to make sure he'll still take one" bandwagon. Oh yeah, and the "he HAS to be hydrated; give him water," demands at the not-our-favorite lab didn't help any. You see, we tried water from a cup, but you should have heard him gag and spit and act like we were giving him poison. Then, knowing I might be ruining my son for bottles but desperate to the answers only a blood test could provide, I gave him water in a bottle. He eagerly took the bottle only to act disgusted and horribly betrayed when he realized it did not have mommy's milk in it but that awful water stuff again. He has not taken a bottle. Ever since. I knew that was a possibility, but I thought surely he'd come around eventually.

We tried, not as consistently as we could have, to offer a bottle before/after every feeding a couple days. IF I could get it anywhere near Asa's mouth, all he did was chew on it. I tried other nipple sizes to no avail. I even tried a sippy topper on his bottles. He was not having it, so I gave up.

We tried sippy cups--spouted sippy cups, straw sippy cups. More chewing ensued, but no drinking. I filled them with my milk, diluted and undiluted apple juice, peach juice (since loves his peachies), but still no success.

Then a funny thing happened. During our Day at Disney, Asa drank water from my Camelbak water bottle. Aha! So now we knew he COULD and sometimes WOULD not only drink from a type of "cup" but even drink water!

Someone told me he probably just did not normally have thirst that needed to be quenched as he nurses pretty frequently still. That made a lot of sense to me and I backed off worrying that my son would only drink from me. It's not like it would stay that way the rest of his life (can you imagine?!). He was hot and had a long day at Disney. It was reasonable that Asa was thirstier than usual that day and willing to quench it with a non-preferred liquid.

I have offered him my Camelbak off and on since then and recently he's been more regularly taking a sip here and there (the timing coincides with our highs hitting the 90s... welcome to "spring" in Florida). I had the idea to see if there are any "baby" Camelbaks. I knew there wree baby Nalgenes (grip n gulp), and I was willing to try that but hoped to stick with the method Asa knows and accepts.

I was thrilled to find out that Camelbak DOES make a little kiddie version of their great water bottle. Guess who now has his very own, matching Mommy's Camelbak water bottle?! (don't make fun of the matching Mommy part... if you are looking for a feminine kiddie Camelbak, you have several cute options. None of the masculine designs "fit" Asa, so blue was the only default left).

OH MY, it is adorable to see him slurping from his little bottle. Best of All was the look on his face when I first showed him his. I offered it to him and he took a sip or two. Then I held mine and his up next to each other. I don't even know how to put his reaction into words, but it was obvious he "got" that they were the same and he now had one of his very own. He flapped his arms, squealed, bounced in his high chair, and grinned from ear to ear while laughing. I WISH I had managed to capture it on video. It was pure Delight. It even fits perfectly in the little cup holder on his tray.

There you have it. We are a Camelbak family through and through... even Daddy has one! :) Can't you just see us at our next picnic? :)