Best Advice Yet?

The switch from bottle to sippy cup has been super stressful. To say the least. And incredibly unsuccessful. So much so that we entertained the idea of just going back to the bottle for the time being. My problem with that being that we've already started and going back to the bottle would just be giving Grant what he wants. Most babies are spoiled, but I'd rather not have mine be a spoiled brat because he always gets what he wants.

Grant will not take formula from a sippy cup. Absolutely refuses it. Screams when you put it in front of him. But give it to him in a bottle and it's gone before you know it. And IF you can get him to take even a sip of formula from the sippy, he will gag and then open his mouth so the liquid dribbles out. But he will take the water/juice mixture we give him. So weird. However, we've quickly learned - as I'm sure so many parents do - that our child is definitely aware that we are trying to pull a fast one. And he's trying to let us know he's on to us.

The new day care has been a huge help to us and it's such a relief to not hate the place where we leave Grant every day. They've gone a long way with helping us work real food into Grant's diet and now, bless them, they're helping us with the sippy cup. We had no idea where or how to start. One lady, Ms. Rutha, told us to bring two sippy cups with formula and one bottle. She said they would offer him the sippy and if he didn't take it - he just didn't get the formula. By day two, she said, "he gonna take that sippy". Yesterday was day 6 and he was having nothing to do with the sippy. I was starting to get very worried. I don't worry often, but when I do, I want a solution. Grant had gone from about 28 ounces of formula per day to less than 7 ounces. I was to a point where I didn't know what to do. I called the pediatrician and they told me that as long as he was getting calcium elsewhere then he "should be fine". But I was not ok with that answer.

Husband mentioned the problem to Ms. Rutha. She said she'd seen that problem a lot. She suggested maybe putting some chocolate syrup in the formula. I thought: GENIUS! But instead, I went with:

Strawberry Nesquik. I figured it had extra calcium and what-not in it. I had absolutely zero hope that it would work. After a doctor's appointment for an ear infection yesterday we went home and I made a sippy with 4 ounces of formula and a 1/2 tablespoon of the strawberry nesquik. Nothing. So I let Grant watch me open the cup and I gave him a spoonful of the formula. He took it and cried. Another spoonful. He took it and cried. He watched me put the top back on the cup then I gave it to him with a graham cracker and went about my dinner preparations. I looked back a minute later and he was chugging the formula! His head was tipped back and he was devouring it! I was so relieved I cried. It's stressful wondering if your baby isn't getting all the nutrition he needs. Thank you Ms. Rutha! I need to bake her something. Hopefully - I'm keeping my fingers crossed - it goes just as well at day care today.  

Update: While Grant didn't drink all his formula at daycare today, he did make a good dent in it. And even drank some this evening at home before and during dinner. So it looks like the strawberry Nesquik is working it's delicious magic and is helping us out for now. I do know that this is just one more thing we'll have to break him of in the future but the pros out-weigh the cons.