Will She Go to Kindergarten with her Bottle?

I've asked myself this question before.  We took Brayden's bottle away from him when he was 10 months old.  He decided that it was fun to bite on the nipple and spray milk all over everyone.  We automatically gave him a sippy cup.  Ian was breastfed until 13 months and went straight to a sippy cup...never gave it another thought.

Then came along Hailey.  The poor little girl fought so hard to learn to coordinate eating and breathing while in the NICU.  She struggled to eat while her heart was slowly giving out prior to her open heart surgery.  After her heart surgery, the tiny thing was so excited about being able to eat that the bottle slowly became a comfort item for her.  We started introducing sippy cups and straw cups.  Most speech therapists do not recommend using a sippy cup of any sort because it causes the tongue to thrust and can cause speech issues.  Our speech therapist recognizes that each child is different and while the straw will help with speech, we need to be realistic and let Hailey take the lead.

Well that is challenging when dealing with Hailey....she has her own opinion in the matter.  We started introducing cups when she was only 9 months old.  We have tried so, so many cups.  She does not like any of them.  She is quite vocal in her disapproval of them all.  The straw was exhausting.  Hailey uses it well with her developmental therapist, but screams and throws a fit for mom.  She is very, very close to mastering it, but you have to catch her in the right mood to work with it. 

Honestly, some days we do not have time nor do I have the energy to fight her to work with it.  Not to mention, should it really be a fight?  As soon as a new sippy cup is on the market, I've purchased it.  Nope...didn't work.  I've tried several different "open cup" concepts, too.  Hailey loves opening the cabinets and pulling out cups.  Every big cup she grabs goes straight to her mouth as if she is drinking out of it.

Here is a sampling of our sippy cup/straw cup graveyard....yes, there are more!

So, I am trying what I think is the last cup to try.  I purchased a Reflo cup for Hailey.  It came in the mail yesterday.  I figured today would be as good a time as ever to try it.  Hailey ate her lunch and I filled her cup.  I placed it on her tray and her eyes lit up.  Almost as if I could read her mind, "Oooohhhhhh, a big girl cup".  She picked it up and started drinking.  She drank about 4 oz. from the cup the very first time!

I don't think I'm going to make her give up her bottle cold turkey.  She puts up with her brothers' schedules every day and we push her on so many other things.  I think I can give her a little time to give it up.  I figure if she hasn't given it up by the beginning of summer, we will push her and maybe go cold turkey then.  We always have more time to tackle those big plans over the summer!

So, it looks like Miss Stubborn might not start preschool and kindergarten with her bottle ;-)