won't hold the bottle...

[Antoinesmom]

My son is 7 months and has been holding on to the bottle since he was 5 months. He never held it for the full bottle and now pretty much refuses to hold the bottle at all. I place his hands on the bottle and let go of the bottle, he just lets go of it and tries to sit when the nipple falls out.

Same for the sippy cut. During meals, he'll grab the cup and bring it to his mouth but he doesn't tillt it far enough, so I help him tilt it, when he gets the water he'll let go. I then let go myself and we start all over just for a few sips.

Any adivce how to get him to hold onto his bottle and sippy cup?

[Lªuren]

I would try putting only an 1oz or so in the bottle or sippy and give him it to play with, so he can find his nouth with it himself again.

When Calum takes his bottle or sippy to drink himsself (usually the sippy it has a non-drip valve) I offer him it andhave always said to him "Calum hold it with both hands", he now just takes it.   What I did find was that bottles and sippys with handles are NO good for us, he just wants to chew the handles, so I had to remove them.

[Ennypen]

William has never held his own bottle and still doesn't hold the one he has at bedtime and he is over 13 months.. when he has his bottle he likes to have his hands free to touch my face, play with my hair, hold my hand etc.. all soothing things as he finds his bottles relaxing..
I'm glad he didnt if I am honest too as I really enjoy the cuddly time when I am feeding him and holding the bottle for his is nice as I am doing something for him.

He is only just starting to use his sippy cup properly. He likes to hold it but he prefers to shake it about that drink from it.. even though day by day he is getting the hang of it and drinking properly from it.. I think the sticking point has been having to tip the cup up to get the liquid out lol... I too have just let him play with a small amount of liquid in it from about 5 months.. and also have found handes to be a mistake.. too much of a distraction!

If I were you Id just relax and let him play.. he's still very young and its not essential for him to hold his bottles and cups yet. He will get there in time if you just give him time to explore holding them and model what to do for him from time to time.. you show him how you drink from one.. he will want to copy!

Helen xx

[Antoinesmom]

Thanks, that makes me feel loads better. It can be frustrating when feeding him sometimes. I use to feed him in his room in the rocking chair, I started to feed him in our livingroom when he was 4-5 months as he couldn't be fed anywhere else. A problem when being babysat at my moms every Sunday and if we went in public, everything was a distraction. Things improved after the change of scenery for feeding but now that he is older and has more a concept of his environment he get distracted by the slightess thing. The dog, the cat, cars/trucks passing by. He'll flail his arm away from me and often hits his heads over and over. I tell him to be gentle and not to hit and ask that he hold his bottle instead. Or he just wants to roll away and look around after just an oz.

He is better with a regular cup then a baby cup. He actually started to drink from a glass before the sippy cup. He saw me drinking and wanted to try. If the sippy cup isn't available I use a cup and at the end of the meal I let him play/experiment with just a bit of water in it. He managed to get some in his mougt tonight most went on the floor to the dogs delight.

[Ennypen]

Glad you are feeling better.

William has always been one for distractions when feeding too.. he seems to be a bit better now though. Our dog seems to be his biggest distraction now so I have to shut her out of the room when I am feeding him lol..

He managed to get some in his mougt tonight most went on the floor to the dogs delight.

Hehe our Pippin loves William having food or drinks.. as she gets to eat up everything he drops to the floor!!

Take care!

H xx

[Michaela's Mom]

Michaela is 10 months old and has never even attempted to hold her bottle - no matter how much i try coax her to do it. Personally, i think she's just pure lazy - why should she make the effort when her most willing slave is there to do it for her!!! 

I did have a breakthrough the other day when i gave her juice with a straw - of course she grabbed the juice bottle and squeezed it and it ended up all over the floor.    Sigh - one day at a time Sharon, one day at a time.......

Sharon 

[Antoinesmom]

I have a mom on another board whose is suggesting I drop a feed, the 10 am one. He isn't taking more than 2 or 3 oz during that time of day. I do feel unsure about the whole thing. I mean it may also play a factor in Antoine wanting to roll over and play since he's not that hungry. What do you think?

Yes, Sharon, one day at a time, it's what we live by now that we too have become the humble servants. Hi hi hi

[* Paula *]

If he is fussing with a bottle, it may be time to drop down to 3 bottles.

Let us know how you get on.

Just to let you know, Thomas is nearly 14 months old, and still shows no interest in wanting to hold his own bottle (does fine with his juice in a sippy).  Tonight I gave him his bottle, he took a few sips and then handed it to me.  I tried to give it to him again and he just got worked up.  DP says that I will still be sitting with him when he is 21 holding his beers  LOL

[ryan's mum]

Ryan never held his own bottle either and like Helen i enjoyed the feeding time .He was 18 months before he held it himself and it's been really hard getting him off the bottle  .It was a bit hard when it came to days out and he needed a drink , i couldn't push the pram and hold his bottle but still i didn't mind .I was never one to prop the bottle up on blankets and let him drink that way 'cos he has reflux and he would get very windy with it.
 Enjoy the time you have holding the bottle 'cos you do miss it , the closeness you have whilst feeding

[Antoinesmom]

Yeah, your all right. Might as well enjoy these little things as they do grow up fast. Can't believe he's already crawling around at 7 months!!!

We have to find the correct plan of action to reduce to 3 bottles for Antoine. It's all in the works. Our first attempt resulted in him taking less formula, not good. We went back for now, I need to sit with hubby and see how we can make this work. The whole solid food amount vs bottles is hard to get.

[macsmum]

I was worried too about dropping to 3 bottles but today i went for it, but i did feed him some dinner at 11.30am which would of been bottle time then he had a bottle at 2.15pm tea at 5pm and bottle 7.15pm.I noticed though that he drank an extra ounce at the last 2 feeds.

have put him to bed lets just hope he sleeps as well as he did b4.

Emma

[Antoinesmom]

Well we did it!!!For 4 days now Antoine is taking three bottle and taking in more oz then before.

Bottle at 7
Solids at 8
Lunch at 11
Bottle at 12:30 ish
Snack at 3
Bottle at 5
Dinner at 5:30-6

[* Paula *]

Way to go Antonie.

That is fantastic news 

[Antoinesmom]

Thanks, it's hard to change their routine hoping it's the right thing to do without being sure.

Thank you for your support.

Martine