Update on Operation Bye-Bye BaBa

I've mentioned Operation Bye-Bye BaBa here and here.  I'm back today with an update.

Brief recap - "BaBa" is Bean's baby bottle and her bestie.  She can not take a nap, go to bed, or even walk around the house without BaBa.  It is her security item.

We tried in December to break up Bean and BaBa.  That failed miserably.  She couldn't stop crying.  I couldn't stop crying.  Hubz caved and gave it back to her.

In January, after her check up, she was only 21 pounds and anemic/borderline anemic.  Bean always picked at her food, preferring instead to drink from her bottle.  Food was fun, but BaBa was best!  I knew that probably the best way to get some weight on her and to try and up her iron levels was to get her off the bottle.

So my next new idea was to give her a bottle that was shaped differently than the ones she's always used.  I thought maybe this would cause her to lose interest since it didn't feel the same.  So last Monday night, I handed over the new bottle when Bean started asking for BaBa after her bath and the placement of the PJs.

She looked at this new fangled contraption and said "No!  BaBa!!!"  I explained to her that this was her new BaBa and that the old ones were in the dishwasher getting a bath.  If she wanted a BaBa, then this was what she was gonna use.  Then the crying started.  Luckily, it was just Bean performing that night.  I made myself stay calm.  I kept telling myself "There's no crying in Operation Bye-Bye BaBa!"

The crying continued for an hour until I finally asked Bean what would make her feel better.  I figured she would say "Duh, dummy!" but she said "T.B."  That's "t.v." to you toddler-speak rookies out there.

So I let her lead me in to the living room and she and I laid down on the couch.  She handed me the remote and we started watching ice dancing.  Within ten minutes, Bean was asleep with tears drying on her little cheeks.  At first, she fell asleep with the new bottle next to her.  After I checked on her again later, she had made friends with the new one, and it had made its way to her mouth.  She woke up about 3 a.m. and when I checked on her, she asked for BaBa.  I handed her the new one and she spent the next five minutes crying some more but finally went back to sleep.

Since she did make friends with the new bottle, I knew that this plan wasn't going to work.  She was just gonna start wanting the new type bottle all the time.  I only bought one.  I didn't want to spend more money on bottles.  So the next night...



Tune in tomorrow for the rest of the story.