Do you want to chat about transitioning to a sippy cup??

[genyaf]

Too Old for a Bottle?


Mothers are often advised to get rid of the bottle by a year or 18 months at the latest, but I think 2 is plenty of time. It’s not the end of the world if your baby takes a few minutes at bedtime with his bottle to snuggle up in Mum or Dad’s lap.


Left to their own devices, many toddlers give up their bottles voluntarily by 2. When they want to hang on longer it’s usually because they’ve been allowed to use a bottle as a dummy—for instance, Mum gives it to him as a quick fix to shut him up at the mall, or Dad shoves it into his mouth to avoid a meltdown in front of company. Or the parents may use a bottle to send him off to naps or nighttime sleep. Some parents leave a bottle in the child’s cot, hoping to grab an extra hour of sleep, which is not only habit-forming, it’s dangerous. The child could choke. Also, when a child is allowed to nurse a bottle all day, he fills up on liquid and often eats less food.

THANK YOU for posting this.  I have been struggling against so much advice to take away DS's bottle since he turned a year, but we have such a nice wake-up routine in place with it right now and I hate to mess with it.  Nice to know it's not the end of the world to let him hold onto it a little longer. 

I appreciate all the advice about the sippy cup too...so far no luck, but we'll keep trying.  He'll drink a few sips if I hold it, but won't hold it himself.  He never holds his own bottle either and shows little interest in self feeding at all.  Anyone else in that boat?

[Sam-n-Max's Mommy]

Hi genyaf,
We are in the same boat here! DS is almost 14 months old and refuses to drink from the sippy cup.  I think he gets it, but doesn't want to do it right now.  I always put it on his tray at mealtime and usually leave one on the floor when he is playing.  There have been a few occasions where I will look up from doing something and he's holding it with the spout in his mouth.  He has also tried it a *few* times in the highchair, but normally he just throws it off.  We also had some luck with these mini Poland Spring water bottles (they are kid proof so the cap doesn't come off).  The only problem is that the water has added fluoride and below age 2 they're not supposed to get so much.  I mean I don't think he'd ever drink the whole bottle, but I'd prefer it be plain.  I thought I'd put my own regular bottled water inside of it or juice, but.......since it's kid proof you really can't get the cap off! So that went out the window. 
I think he'll just use it consistently when he's ready.  I hope .  He currently takes 3 bottles a day and I limit how much milk he gets so that he doesn't fill up and not eat solids.  I don't put juice in the bottle and figure if he really wants it, maybe it will entice him to drink out of the sippy one day.  My DS holds his own bottle, but usually won't take the sippy if I try to put it in his mouth.  So that's good that your DS will let you!
We'll keep trying too!