You know how I am always complaining that our little Spark is still waking up in the middle of the night to ask for milk... Well, something struck me and I finally decided that I would say NO to her tonight.

C woke up at 4 am and asked for her milk. "No milk, Baby." There was a pause.

Then she sat up and said even louder, "Mummy, make milk." Of course, I repeated myself and told her it was alright as I would pat her back to sleep. She brushed my hand away angrily and kicked her legs. I told her I would give her water in her bottle and I got up to pour some lukewarm water into her bottle.

She refused to take her bottle and even slapped the bottle many times. Then after begging for the umpteen time, she gave up and laid down but she was sobbing miserably. I thought I could try to make her feel better by patting her but she was still angry and would not even have me touched her.

Then 30 minutes later, I thought she had already gone to sleep but she got up and said she needed to pee so I brought her to her potty. 15 minutes after, she woke up and asked for her water bottle and when I finally brought it to her, she shook her head. Then just before I put her back on her bed again, she asked, "No milk?" Sigh, then I said no firmly and gave her a kiss.

She went back to sleep eventually but the whole ordeal took an hour.

Daddy commented that I should have done it during the term break because this morning, we woke up feeling tired still.

update (18 March 08) :
C didn't wake up at all last night. Is she finally getting the idea?

We will see how it goes tonight... .

Cheryl has always been an Avent fan (actually, it's me) until I found an article warning us about the chemicals found in plastic bottles.

Actually it is found in all plastic products and when I came across B free bottles which is free from Bisphenol-A, I immediately changed all of Cheryl's bottles. Like many other kinds of brands, they also boost that B free bottles can prevent colic in babies. But I became truly convinced when C drank from them. There was no sound and I did not see any bubbles in the bottle when she was furiously downing her milk.

The 2 pictures on the top: they came in the original package. But cleaning can be a little tedious because of the many little spaces. By the way, there is a little brush given so that these difficult spaces can be cleaned thoroughly.

And 2 pictures below, they are the newly improved version. Cleaning is so much easier :)

You can do the comparison yourself and see how many "extra" parts there are to wash and dry. Initially, I didn't know that the blue little thingy can be removed and when I finally found out, I received a rude shock because of the built up of milk.

So when I wanted to get replacement vents and I saw the white ones, I decided to get them instead. One point to note, these bottles are rather pricey (1 300 ml bottle can cost $20, 260 ml costs $18) but I feel its worth the money. :)

Cheryl's milk intake is scary. She would take 210 ml of milk before she sleeps and an hour later, she will ask for "a bit"; 120 ml again. Sometimes, immediately after she finishes her 2nd bottle, she will ask for "a bit" again and this time, she will ask Daddy to make milk.

We have been wondering how her small tummy can contain all these liquid but she seems fine. The amazing thing is, she still will wake up in the middle of the night and whisper "Mummy, make milk".

So we nicknamed her "milk moster" and Cheryl will giggle and growl very loudly everytime she hears someone calls her.

We thought we should introduce her to fresh milk and got her this. She took a few sips happily then turned to Daddy and said "Not nice!" and Daddy had to finished the drink for her.

Okay, we will try again tonight...

...else Daddy will have to finish the other 5 packs!

Honestly, from these shots, they sure looked like she was enjoying the milk! How deceiving!

Alright, I will start with the good news first!

For the past 3 nights, Cheryl did not wake up for her usual night feeds. This meant that her last feed would be at 8.30pm just before she turned in for bed. In the past, she would wake up once in the middle of the night and cry bitterly for milk but since Sunday night, she had been sleeping through and only waking at 7 am.

This is super-duper great news because FINALLY, I get a night-ful of sleep!

But then again, Daddy and I are worried... Yes, because Cheryl's been on a diet lately. We do not know if it was because of her cough or a change in taste, but our little girl had not been eating properly the past few days. She used to love rice, even willing to eat plain, old, simple rice but now, she would gag when I bring the spoon near her mouth.

She would eat, correction; she hardly ate her dinner and then she would not completely empty her 270ml of milk before bed time and I would expect her to wake up for her night feeds yet she would sleep through.

So tell me, should we be concerned about her lack of appetite? Should we rejoice in her being finally able to sleep through the night... on a less-than-empty stomach?

For the past 2 weeks, Cheryl's been waking up more than usual in the nights.

Initially, I thought it was a phase; that it would pass and Cheryl was just maybe trying to be "difficult" but it is definitely not cute nor funny now. She would wake up and cry for milk sometimes, only 2 hours apart. This morning, she woke up at 545am and requested for milk again. I asked her if she really wanted it and if she was hungry and she nodded her head. What really makes my heart melt is the way she calls out to me. It is always so full of emotions and it really sounds like she is pleading me with her dear life. I don't have the heart to just ignore her although there were times where I tried to.

But I am wondering if it is because of her refusal to eat nowadays. Sometimes, she won't eat her lunch or dinner and she seems to have lost interest in food. This is also why it is so difficult to ignore her in the nights; because what if she really is hungry?

In addition, Cheryl has also developed this habit of hitting her peers. Zinnia, unfortunately, has been a victim to her "abuses". Cheryl would scream if someone came close to her toys (or someone else's toys) and she would raise her hands to beat her. It has become quite painful for us to bring her to common play area because Cheryl would not share. But Zinnia has been a wonderful Big Sister as she is patient with Cheryl. That is so sweet of her!

Hmm... is Cheryl showing signs of entering the infamous Terrible Twos stage?

Lately, Cheryl's been on a diet. She does not like to take her lunch and dinner properly. She will eat several mouthfuls and when she does not want them anymore, she will just spit them out. She will not even hear of you telling her to eat them. She will just close her eyes or turn her head away.

The only thing she wants is her milk. She can finish her milk and 10 minutes later, ask for milk again. Daddy said she is making up for all the milk that her mummy didn't take and I thought so too.

Believe it or not, she is still waking up to ask for milk. Once, I gave her water instead of milk and she drank all 210ml of it! Yes, she emptied the bottle and I immediately felt guilty as I wondered if she was really hungry. The following night, she woke up and I told her that I would give her water again. She only took a little and went back to bed. The third night, she would not take "no" for an answer and cried for her milk so I gave in.

Last night, she was whimpering and making noises but I told her to go to bed. It took her a while to quieten down and finally sleep again but at least it showed that it was possible for her to go without her milk. I will try again tonight. Wish me luck!

Oh, this is probably how Cheryl will look like if her hair was permed! Hmm... I don't really like it; and neither does Daddy. Actually she got this look as her hair was up in plaits the entire day. I brought her to the mirror and when she saw herself and the new hair do, she burst out laughing!

Last night was the second time Cheryl woke up and said "milk". At least she didn't wake up crying and fussing; she used to do that but she has progressed.

Daddy didn't hear her say it the first time round but last night, he did and Daddy was rather amused.

For these few nights, she has been waking up more than usual. I am wondering if she is going through another growth spurt! Her last feed was at 9pm and last night, at 12am, she drank 210ml of milk and at 3am, she woke up and said "milk". Is she really hungry? I am saying this because on both occasions, she drank up all 210ml of the milk. Daddy thinks that she is doing it out of habit and I think so too.

We were not asleep yet at 12am and when she fussed, Daddy was there in the room. I calmed her down by saying I was making milk for her. Daddy called out her name and she was frustrated. He called out her name a few more times and she reacted in a similar manner. I told Daddy it was because his voice means "play", not "milk" or "sleep" and Cheryl was too sleepy to play with her beloved Daddy.

Cheryl is still waking up in the middle of the nights to drink milk. I am not sure if she is really hungry or if she is just doing it out of habit. The night before, she woke up at around the same time too.

I let her fuss for 15 minutes before attending to her. I got her her bottle but instead of drinking the milk, she suckled for 10 seconds and went back to slumberland. The 150 ml of milk was barely touched!

So I decided to substitute her milk with water. She suckled for a while and when she realised that it was water, she scolded me. Can you imagine? She actually sat herself up and scolded me! I quickly made her a bottle of milk. She pushed the bottle away initially until I told her it was milk. Then she gladly emptied the bottle.

Okay, I will try the water again on Friday night; and this weekend. Don't want to wake up the rest of the sleepy heads in the house.

oh, the bump on her forehead. It's gone! :)

This morning was a huge success! Cheryl drank from the bottle and she finished all 120ml of it! I was thrilled. On Christmas, she was fussing and crying for my breasts... again and I breastfed her. But as I was doing it, I told her that Mummy has got no more milk and Cheryl must drink from the bottle soon.

True enough, she suckled for several minutes but because the flow was not there, she looked at me with so much saddness and I was about to break down myself. I told her gently that she must drink from the bottle and gave her the teat which she took. She was still crying as she suckled from the bottle.

This morning, she woke up as she was hungry and she could not go back to bed. So I carried her and prepared a bottle of milk for her. I was half-expecting her to let out a shrill, as if to tell me that I have cheated her. But when I gave her the bottle, she took it without any fuss and finished all the milk in no time. I was so proud of her!

After that, she went back to bed. I will give her the bottle again tomorrow night.

We are back to square one. Cheryl has been slowly taking the bottle but she will not finish her milk though. She will leave about 80 ml in the bottle and push the bottle away. Here is the evidence!

But I am still alright because at least, she does not reject it outright. But during the time she was ill, she was exceptionally touchy and won't have her milk in the bottle at all. So now, even though she has recovered, she still does not want the bottle that readily. Everytime she sees the bottle, she will cry.

So you can just imagine the amount of milk I have to throw away. Just 2 days ago, I made milk for her 3 times, and each time, she rejected them. I was hoping that my the end of December, I would not have to breastfeed her but from the looks of it, it is still going to take a while longer.

I have not given up on Cheryl when it comes to bottle feeding, especially the night feeds. So I decided to try again. I got up before Cheryl woke up for her feed and made a bottle of milk. I thought if I could give the bottle to her before she fully opened her eyes, she would take it. Oh, how wrong was I?

When I carried her, she quieted down in anticipation of my breast but when she felt the teat on her lips, she screamed like she was in so much pain! In the dead of the night, you can imagine the shreak in her cries. I almost felt guilty of trying to "cheat" her.

I gave in and offered breast to her much to her relief. She suckled for 10 minutes and fell asleep but I knew she couldn't possibly be full so I offered her the bottle. By this time, she had fallen into a deep slumber and didn't protest at all. I tried for 10 minutes without any success. So I said to myself to try again another time and before I put her back in her cot, I tried to feed her on the other breast and guess what? She suckled furiously!!

By this time, I didn't know if I should laugh at her ingenuity or "scold" myself for failing to see this coming.

I have been thinking that it is time to maybe wean Cheryl off nursing so I started giving her formula milk in a bottle for her last feed before bedtime. So far, it has been a tug-of-war. She would drink 30 ml and then cry for my breasts! Other nights, she started screaming the moment she saw the bottle. Now, she has even learned to use her hands to push the bottle away.

As for me, its been an emotional ride because I love that Cheryl prefers me over the bottle. I guess its the bonding we share at that very moment. Yet, I know I cannot do this forever. It will be very painful for her too. I am still trying and wasting milk because she still has her moods.