Do we ever stop giving bottle?

[jswerczek]

I am wondering if there is a time when we stop physically giving our babies their bottles and let them do it themselves. My lo is holding on the the bottle when we eat but I still take the lead. I just read on a post here that some moms give the bottle or sippy cup with a solid feed, but then that would mean the baby is feeding herself the bottle. I had always thought that I would feed the bottle until we transitioned over to the sippy cup.

We are only two weeks into solids and right now I am doing solids an hour after first bottle and about 45 min. before last bottle. He doesn't seem to be hungry for the solids in the morning, maybe because he has had a bottle. Should I be giving the bottle with the solids? I can't imagine that my ds would do anything but play with the bottle. 

Also, I am going to introduce a new food soon, all we have done is cereal. Do I offer that food alone or do I also offer cereal during the meal? When should they be eating 2-3 foods per meal? How much of each?

Thanks so much!

[Lana]

I pretty much held Ewan's bottle right to the end.  I think it had more to do with my attachment to him but he was a pretty lazy kid too :wink: .  My nephew held his own bottle from 5 months on.  I think it just depends on the baby and what you are comfortable with.

[tylersmommy]

I had a lazy kiddo too...Tyler never held his own bottle. I think when some moms say they're giving solids with the bottle, they might mean one right after the other, not necessarily at the same time. What you're doing sounds fine because it's more important for your DS to keep his bottle intake up for now, since formula should be his main source of nutrition for a few more months. For a beginning solids eater, portion sizes vary quite a bit, but 1-2 tsp is the average. It's best to keep an eye on how much formula he's taking and adjust accordingly so he doesn't fill up on solids.

There are lots of different opinions on how to introduce new foods. Some moms like to mix each new food with something familiar, like cereal, and others like to offer new foods on their own. HTH!