No bottles after 1 year?

[CollegeMama]

I'm hearing from some friends that you are not supposed to give a child a bottle after they turn 1. Is that true? I had to stop breastfeeding, so we're unfortunately on formula. DS will drink from a sippy cup or regular cup of water, but I haven't tried formula yet.
Do you think I should be encouraging more sippy cup usage? DS is 9 months old.

TIA,
Marcy

[Justice2]

It really depends on if your son is ready to start holding his own cup. A good indicator of this is if he is holding his own bottle. I would buy some very good spill proof cups and let him go to town! My dd was not breastfed and she did come off the bottle on her 1st birthday. Also, I will take Kaeleb off the bottle (if he is still taking the bottle and not full time breastfed) at a year old. This is just what I will do, you have to make a decision that best fits you and your family!

[Laurel]

My 10-month-old ds is bottlefed, and I have no intention of taking him off the bottle at a year. If I were nursing, I would not wean him at a year. We bottle-nurse, so he is almost always held during feedings. He doesn't drink much from sippy cups at all, but even if he did, I still wouldn't push weaning from the bottle. Feeding is still connecting time for him and me, in my mind, and I think it's important to not let this go too early. He is eating more and more solids, so I'm sure that over time, he will be taking fewer bottles. As he gets older, I'll cut out more of the daytime feedings, but keep a bottle before nap and bedtime. I see no problem with a bottle at these times and in this situation (held in mom's arms) until at least the age of 2 and possibly longer.

[scribblerkate]

My 2.5-year-old still gets a bottle at night or when he is very upset/just plain wants one. We decided to "bottle nurse" like the above poster did, and let him wean from the bottle when he is ready to, just like many EBF'ers let their young ones self-wean. He eats great and drinks from cups, sippy of various kinds (not no-spill, though) as well as regular sometimes now, and also happens to like his bottle sometimes. It contains soy milk once a day as part of bedtime, water usually the rest of the time, if he asks for more than one in a day.

I think the decision about whether to wean from bottle should be a personal one for you and your child. From formula, though, you should switch to another liquid within a reasonable time (a few months at most, I think?) after the first birthday.

[CollegeMama]

I love you ladies! That's what my intuition told me, but I was afraid I was missing something.
I, too, hold DS in a nursing position when he drinks his bottle, to keep that physical connection. I hated to give that up.
He's not holding his own bottle yet, so we've got some time, I think.
Thanks!

[Foobar]

WE give Goo a sippy at meals and snacks, but she still prefers the bottle. We hope to start migrating to more sippies after her 1 year birthday and keep the nighttime bottle for a few more months. Eventually, we'll drop that. It is all up to your comfort and your child's. Goo is already trying to drink from "grown up"
cups, so I suspect that she'll give up the bottle when she is ready.

[The Lucky One]

Ds will be 17 months tomorrow and still takes 4-5 bottles a day. We too, were told by our ped to transition to the cup at 12 months. I have, on occasion, tried to give him his milk in a cup, but he will have nothing to do with it. I honestly believe it's a comfort thing. He's always held and rocked during feedings and I don't think he's willing to give that up yet. (I can't blame him!)

If I were you I'd give the sippy cup a try at around 12 months. Some kids are VERY laid back and wouldn't mind the transition one bit. Others, like my son, know what they want when they want it and won't give up anything pleasurable one second before they are ready.

I really don't think there is any right age to wean from a bottle, so long as their teeth are remaining healthy.

lisa

ps. My ds didn't really get the hang of giving himself drinks from a sippy until around 12 months. Until then, he loved drinking out of one, but I had to hold it for him.

[sleepies]

that is what the dentists say

our dentist wanted the bottles to be GONE by one year.

i got rid of them at 15 months.


with my firstborn i got rid of them at 2 years old. my firstborn has PERFECT beautiful teeth with zero problems. so it isn't life or death.

be sure you dont put them to bed with a bottle (unless it is water)

i also wiped his mouth with a wet cloth after bottle feedings.

[Chelly2003]

I think my son was close to 3 before he gave up his last bottle (his bed time one- no teeth problems here either his teeth are perfect)
He's almost 4 and still sleeps with his "binkie" and "blankie". He has promised that when the new baby comes, he'll give his binkie to the baby! (we'll see if THAT happens)

[sadean]

I honestly don't remember exactly how old they were when they weaned off the bottle. I think ds#1 was between 18 months and two years, though he used a Nuk (pacifier) until he was 3 1/2. Ds#2 was somewhere around 12 months, but I encouraged it so that he would not choose bottles over nursing. I shouldn't have worried, he nursed until he was 2 1/2 before weaning (sniff).

My sister used a bottle until she was four (she has perfect teeth BTW) and my mother has stated on several occasions that when my sisters were small (late 60s - early 70s) that mothers in Florida where they lived routinely sent their school aged children to school with pacifiers pinned to their clothing

i say do what works for your family and what feels right to you as a mother and don't worry too much about what other people say is "right" as, with everything else in life, YMMV.

[DaryLLL]

Yes, I agree with the "watch your baby, not the calendar" idea. I think new moms are so bombarded with old fashioned advice, it is a crime!

All babies should be weaned/sleep alone/sleep all night/talk/walk/potty train by x months or years.

What a a crock!

Every child has their own timetable. If you ap, you respect that. Forcing them to meet a new milestone when they are not ready will always backfire, sooner or later.

(Personal note: I was weaned from my bottle at about 1 yr. I secrectly sucked on a wet washcloth I would go get for myself after that. I guess my mom knew I did it for a while, then tried to shame me out of it, but I kept doing it til I was 5, when she caught me again [I can still remember the day!], and this time the shaming worked. So, I stopped sucking until I started sucking cigarettes [nicely modeled for me by her and Dad] at 16!)

And I am in the camp that says, babies should not hold their own bottles. Feeding is meant by God or Mother Nature, to be a bonding time with mom or trusted relative, not just about getting food in quickly and efficiently.

If a baby/toddler gets off the lap and starts dragging the bottle around from pillar to post, you are asking for bacterial growth in the milk.

Luxuriate in these blessed baby/breast/bottle days! They grow up all too fast.

[girlzmommy00]

It's usually recommended to try and get away from bottles at about 12 months. That works great for some babies and not at all for others, so I'd just go from their lead and see what seems to work for your family.
I'd ask your pedi dr about whether or not to switch to another beverage other than the formula or to continue with the formula. With my 2 older girls, we had them on formula past 12 months at our drs recommendation.

[CollegeMama]

Originally posted by DaryLLL
Yes, I agree with the "watch your baby, not the calendar" idea. I think new moms are so bombarded with old fashioned advice, it is a crime!

Every child has their own timetable. If you ap, you respect that. Forcing them to meet a new milestone when they are not ready will always backfire, sooner or later.

(Personal note: I was weaned from my bottle at about 1 yr. I secrectly sucked on a wet washcloth I would go get for myself after that. I guess my mom knew I did it for a while, then tried to shame me out of it, but I kept doing it til I was 5, when she caught me again [I can still remember the day!], and this time the shaming worked. So, I stopped sucking until I started sucking cigarettes [nicely modeled for me by her and Dad] at 16!)

ITA DaryLLL! I knew there was something off about that. I just had massive mommy-brain and couldn't figure out exactly what about it that bothered me so much.

I did the sucking on a washcloth thing too. I also dipped paper towels in my Tab as a kid! I think I liked the bleachy-chemical taste the papertowels had. :Puke I hate to think of all the nasty crap I ingested!
I remember my dad saying it looked like I was eating poo and feeling bad about that. I also remember my mom putting iced tea in a bottle for me when I was feeling a little "not-so-happy" about being a bigger kid. It was such a comfort and I'm so grateful that she let me do that and didn't make me feel bad for it.
I still smoked anyway though....

Again, thanks to everyone! I really appreciate the responses.

Marcy

[Heavenly]

Yeah well that's a bunch of hooey IMO. I was not able to breastfeed my son. I always treated the relationship like a bfing one, held him for every bottle. I always rocked him to sleep with a bottle and guess what? I still do! He only gets a bottle to go down for naps and nightime and I hold him in his rocking chair while he gets it. He is a big 29 month old boy. So phooey on that advice.

[orangebird]

And I am in the camp that says, babies should not hold their own bottles. Feeding is meant by God or Mother Nature, to be a bonding time with mom or trusted relative, not just about getting food in quickly and efficiently.

I mostly breastfeed my 13 month old but I work full time and while I am away for my 13 hour shift DH has to feed DS my EBM or soymilk. DS refuses to let you hold his bottle. He is very independant. From the moment he figured out he could hold it he has never let someone hold it for him. Same with food. He refuses to be fed, he wants to do it himself. In a case like this it is unrealistic IMO for the baby to always be held with a bottle and not hold his own. Unless he is reeeeeeeaaaly tired he refuses to be held. He is very active. I agree you shouldn't prop a bottle with a little baby but once a baby can hold it's own bottle and wants to, what can you do? I'm not going to make meals a struggle for control.

[Heavenly]

DaryLLL - I agree.

mara - how did he figure out he could hold his bottle? I mean, obviously someone gave him the bottle to hold. My son has never held his own bottle, even now. He just does not even think of it. We never handed him the bottle, we never gave him the opportunity. The bottle is an extension of us in his mind and IMO that's the way it should be.

[Laurel]

My ds does hold his own bottle--but *he* is still held by me. I don't remember encouraging him or offering him the bottle to hold. My memory's a little bit fuzzy, but looking back, I think he was just curious enough to grab it, because it was there, kwim?

He is extremely active too, and also very distractible. So he often only sucks for a minute or too and then he's off to play, and back again in five minutes for more. But I still try as much as possible to just gently pick him back up and put him on my lap if he goes for the bottle. We're not perfect, and there are times when I have let him sip it himself because I knew it would last 10 seconds or less, or when I've held the bottle for him while he stands next to me to get his very quick refueling. But 95% of the time, he's still held. It's partly because he's so active that I insist on this--I feel he needs the down/connecting time. And he's such a cuddler that he's more than willing to comply, even if a few sips is all he needs.

I will put the bottle back in the fridge if it's obvious to me that he's not really hungry after a few tries. And I try hard to push nap and bedtime bottles because I know he's more mellow then, and will be content to sit and drink 5-6 oz.

[DaryLLL]

Well, of course all 3 of mine held their bottles. It just so happened, their "bottles" were attached to my chest. :LOL

[MorgansMomma]

Morgan's 10 months, when he decides he no longer wants his bottle is when he will no longer get his bottle.

As for holding his bottle, sometimes he does, sometimes he doesn't, even if he does hold it, he's still in my arms.

As for figuring out how to hold a bottle. I would imagine if they can figure out how to grab a rattle, teether or something else, they can figure out a bottle is just an object that can be held too.

Morgan learned to hold it while in my arms...by basically just putting his hands up and holding the bottle and eventually pushing my hands out of the way. His way of saying he could do it on his own I guess.

[mykidsmama]

No bottles after 1 year?

With each of my kids it has been different.
My 5th was almost 2 before we ditched the bottle
my 6th was easily off by 11 months. Number 7 is too
young to tell yet.