Bottle transition!

Ugh, So Ally is 11 1/2 months, and magically at 12 months she is supposed to be off the bottle.  Sounds like an alcoholic or something so serious.  I know this will be difficult for me because both my other two were on the bottle way past 1.  I think Evie was almost 3 and Topher was over 2. 

I am hoping to do this right this time, but not so confident!  I have started to give Ally milk occasionally.  She loves chocolate milk!  That isn't the problem.  The real problem is that she associates a bottle with bed time.  She always asks for milk when she is tired.

The biggest issue is a problem I have created.  I started giving her bottles in bed!  I know big big mistake. It has only been a month or two, but it seems to be long enough to have created a habit!  It started when the other kids were fighting and I couldn't sit and feed Ally I had to run in and stop them.  So Ally was put in her crib with her bottle.  She was asleep when I came back.  Now look what I've done!

I'll do it!

My son refuses to eat anything I feed him. He screams when I try to give him a bottle. He spits out the food I spoon into his mouth. He wants to do it himself. I put a cheerio into his mouth he spit it out, and then put on in his mouth and ate it. The same thing with all his meals. I had to give him his plate last night so I could get him to eat dinner.

I know you are probably saying he's about 1 and should be starting to feed himself. The problem is the mess. He gets it everywhere. I'm talking he'd need a bath after every meal, and I need to shampoo the carpets. Last night The bowl was tossed over 3 times. Not intentionally, he's just not coordinated enough. When he tries to spoon out food the dish goes to. I need one that sticks to the high chair. Do they make those?

Once the dish ended up on my chest. I was picking food up off the floor! He did throw it over once he was done to! That was so much fun. The worst thing is it leaves me worring did he eat enough? I didn't really have this issue with my daughter. She still makes a horrible mess, but she didn't want to feed herself until later on. At that point she was coordinated enough she didn't have trouble. The mess she makes is because she likes to wear her food!