10 mos old and never had a bottle. Concerned?

[newmothermary]

Only in the sense of what to do if I need to leave Miles with grandma or something. Should I try giving him a sippy? And what can I put in it. I doubt he would take ebm from it.

Wwyd?

Thanks,
Mary

[mamazee]

At that age, he'll figure out whatever is given to him. Your mom could even have hip sip out of a regular cup. Or use a spoon, or a sippy. And he might very well take EBM. I'm sure it'll be fine. Relax Is there somewhere you need to go where this is an immediate concern? If he won't take BM, he can have water and some solids at his age.

[mamadelbosque]

By that age I'd stopped pumping for Ds when I left him to take tae kwon do classes and jsut gave him a sippy w/ water and solids.

[tabrizia]

DD has tried a bottle twice and never actually taken it, she won't drink from one. If I have to/want to leave her at this point in time I would just leave a straw cup, which she drinks out of, with water and some regular food. She is also 10 months old. If I was leaving her longer then 4 or 5 hours I would probably leave pumped milk for the straw cup, but for only a few hours I would just leave a straw cup with water and some regular food.

[dividedsky]

i'd definitely start introducing a cup now... but worst-case scenario, he will probably have no problem drinking from a regular cup (with help, of course) and at 10mos he should be OK for a day without milk if need be (as per my ped) so long as he's doing well with solids. i left my boys for the first time for a day when they were 10mos - they were totally happy and fine all day with water in a sippy and solids. if i were to be gone longer, i would have left milk for sure though.

[teachma]

My 9-month old stays with grandma every day while I go to work, and he does not drink from a bottle or sippy cup. He nurses A LOT between 4 pm and 7 am (the hours I am home) and drinks between 3-5 oz of ebm from a medicine cup, like the one that comes with childrens' liquid medicine. He also loves food and eats 2 complete meals while I am at work. My 2 older children completely reverse-cycled when they were babies and I returned to work...they never drank any of the milk I pumped. Your 10-month old would definitely be okay in your temporary absence, though he might miss you a little if he's not used to separating from you.

[elmh23]

By that age, we were using a sippy cup (my kids never took a bottle.) We just did water in it. I into'd both my children at 5-6 months old because we live in the desert and it gets way to hot to not be drinking a lot of liquids and mommy can't nurse in the car.

You could also use a plain open cup as long as you're holding it. The only reason we didn't was because my children mostly drank water in the car.

[starling&diesel]

DD has never had a bottle either. She learned to drink from a small cup at about 5 months, and a sippy soon after, and a straw at about 9 months. You're little one will do great with any of those!

[AustinMom]

we were on bottle (couldn't even BF) till about 12 mo, and sippy cup for about 2 or so, then straight to cup. Next baby, we may skip sippy altogether except for car rides of course.

Maybe a straw cup? and whoever is keeping baby can just use a regular old straw in a cup. I was surprised how well baby took to cup, and with maybe 2 spills since.

[Ruthla]

I woudn't introduce a bottle at 10mo. At that age, all of my children were using open cups (with about half an inch of water at the bottom) on the highchair, and my younger two also used sippies away from the highchair. DD1 drank from open cups only- with adult help if she wasn't in her high chair. She didn't figure out how to suck from sippy cups until she was over a year old and swiped a playmate's cup.

If he's eating a decent amount of solids, you can leave him with Grandma for a couple of hours with solids to eat and water or diluted juice to drink. Nurse him right before you drop him off and when you pick him up. Grandmas usually get a kick out of spoon-feeding jarred baby food to their grandkids, whether or not he's spoon fed at home.

[pumpkin]

DD has never had a bottle and we have been working on a sippy or a cup for 5 months. She refuses everything. She isn't a big solids eater and absolutely refuses spoon feeding. She is a boob girl and incredibly stubborn (just like her Dad.) I do worry if something happened to me and I would like a short break sometime. Just 2 hours to go out with my sister or something.

We just keep trying.

[bezark]

DS has never taken a bottle, and for some reason my milk doesn't keep well at all (seriously, one day in the freezer and it gets stinky).
I didn't start leaving him for more than 15 minutes at a time until 8 months, but he's done really well every time my mom has watched him.
He absolutely refuses to eat from a spoon from me, and he only picks at table foods, but my mom can get him to eat an entire jar of baby food, and he's fine with that. He also sips (and LOVES) water from a glass, with assistance of course.
He's 9.5 months now, and I can leave him for up to 4 hours between naps, and if I leave right after he goes down for his last nap of the day at 3pm, he's fine until bed time at 8:30.

[nukedwifey]

My son hates bottles too. He's a milky connoisseur and nothing compares to straight from the tap. He sometimes, like Monday, will hold out all day until I get home and then it's a nursing marathon for hours. It's great!

The one bottle he'll actually suck is the Adiri. He'll drink straight from a normal cup, will NOT suck on a sippy cup. Although he'll play with it and put every side of it in his mouth except the part that he's to drink from. But I also wanted to say that if you were really in need you could try syringe feeding. He loves that, go figure.

[annekh23]

According to my mum, I had precisely one bottle, she left me with her sister when I was about 10mths old so she could go to a wedding, she didn't make sure I knew how to take a bottle, I guess she just figured it was one night only and I'd survive even if I refused.

All my kids have ended up having bottles at some point, but only my first when I was working was still having them at 10mths.

DD1 took a bottle for 1 day only when I went to a day long conference when she was 4mths, she never took one again and it certainly never worried me that if something unexpected happens this could cause a problem.

DD2 is 7.5mths, she hasn't had a bottle in about 3mths, again I have no concerns about this, I don't suppose it would be fun for whoever was caring for her if there were an emergency and we were apart, but it doesn't seem worth pumping and giving her bottles to practice for a scenario that may never arise.

I have now started offering a sippy, though it's the kind without a valve that just has a spout with a slit in it, the water pours out just at a more controlable rate than an open cup, it gives her practice without me having to be right there holding it, if it does end up on the floor, it dribbles rather than gets water everywhere!

Even sippies without valves can still require suction, if the holes are too small, my understanding is that it's best for palate development to avoid this.