inspired by the sippy cup thread -- how old is too old for a bottle

[mrsltg]

I guess I just don't understand the great rush. My dd used her bottle for her morning milk until she was close to two. She knew how to use a sippy cup, a regular cup with a straw, and probably could have used a regular cup by itself had I been interested in cleaning up vast amounts of spills - however - she was a baby. At 12 months old I wasn't quite ready to pack her up for college, so I let her have her comfort in the mornings. I was pretty sure she wouldn't be walking down the aisle with a bottle in hand (at least not the kind with a nipple) and that NASA probably doesn't screen their astronauts for bottle usage byond the first year... She's now 4 years old and doesn't have tooth decay (no bottles in bed), a speech impediment, or a some weird attachment to me so I guess there's been no harm done. Maybe her therapist will tell her otherwise one day!

Erin

 

[huey duey & luey]

I was great at knowing the "perfect age" for kids to be doing things, until I had my own. I remember telling my sister that her son should be off the bottle by 18 months. Well, my kids were on the bottle til about 22 months. It was easy, and most importantly it helped put them to sleep lol. I think you know what is right for you. Please my kids are almost 3 and lets just say potty training hasn't been mastered yet (I am about to give up). I am finding diapers much easier.

 

[mrsltg]

I was great at knowing the "perfect age" for kids to be doing things, until I had my own. I remember telling my sister that her son should be off the bottle by 18 months. Well, my kids were on the bottle til about 22 months. It was easy, and most importantly it helped put them to sleep lol. I think you know what is right for you. Please my kids are almost 3 and lets just say potty training hasn't been mastered yet (I am about to give up). I am finding diapers much easier.

Oh good! Now I have a friend in the "Bad Mommy" club!

Erin

 

[Daisy Duck 5]

I knew a 3 1/2 year old still on the bottle. The mother always said it was not the right time he needed it for comfort due to other change. She also did this with potty training he was almost 4 and not fully trained (still in pullups full time). If parents just threw the bottles in the garbage and stopped buying diapers the children would be fine.

 

[chobie]

My nephew was on the bottle until age 5. It was only at home and mainly because he was on medication for seizures and it was easier to give it to him in the bottle. He's 21 years old now, a happy well-adjusted college student with all his teeth.

My own kids were Bf until way past that magic 12 month mark, so I can't comment on my own kids.

I just think its like a lot of other parenting decisions YMMV. Like co-sleeping and circumcising. There are studies to back up opinions on both sides of those issues, no one has the "right" answer, we just know what was right for us.

 

[huey duey & luey]

Oh good! Now I have a friend in the "Bad Mommy" club!

Erin

 

[bigbabyblues]

I took my kids bottles right around their first birthday, a little bit before. My brother had a bottle until he was 4 and I did NOT want that to happen.

 

[MELSMICE]

My kids were off the bottles by around 12 months - give or take a month or 2. We gradually took away one bottle a week until the last one to go was the night time one. None of my DD's had a problem with it.

 

[Duchie]

I think it's whenever it's right for both the parents and the kid.

My kids happen to give theirs up by the time they were 11 months old, and they all wanted to do it cold-turkey (one day they had a bottle, the next a sippie cup). It's what worked for us, but not necessairly for every family.

 

[MrsKreamer]

My son's doctor said the thing about the window too. It is about 9 mos when they don't need to suck for comfort or food anymore. I will start weening around that time and will put the bottles in the attic(plan to have more kids) right before his first birthday. My son is 4 1/2 months old now and already gets a sippy cup. He loves it! I put diluted apple juice in it and he sips from it like a pro. It isn't like I want him to pack up for college soon, but if he doesn't NEED something why give it to him? He is still my baby but I also want him to have small doses of independance. JMHO

My MIL had a great trick that worked well. My BIL is a few years older then my husband. When my BIL turned 1, they made a really big deal about his birthday and about him being a big boy. He got lots of presents and toys. When the party was over he asked for his bottle. My MIL told him that he had toys now like a big boy and didn't need his bottle, b/c that was for babies. It took him about 6 hours to get over it. By the time my hubby came along my BIL got to have big boy drinks in his cup. Things like juice and chocolate milk. Well my husband weened himself once he learned he could get "sweet" things in a cup and only milk in a bottle. He understood this at 9 mos.

It will always depend on the child and of coarse the parents, so to each his own!

 

[the kabuki]

I guess I just don't understand the great rush. My dd used her bottle for her morning milk until she was close to two. She knew how to use a sippy cup, a regular cup with a straw, and probably could have used a regular cup by itself had I been interested in cleaning up vast amounts of spills - however - she was a baby. At 12 months old I wasn't quite ready to pack her up for college, so I let her have her comfort in the mornings. I was pretty sure she wouldn't be walking down the aisle with a bottle in hand (at least not the kind with a nipple) and that NASA probably doesn't screen their astronauts for bottle usage byond the first year... She's now 4 years old and doesn't have tooth decay (no bottles in bed), a speech impediment, or a some weird attachment to me so I guess there's been no harm done. Maybe her therapist will tell her otherwise one day!

Erin

Boy, after that first page of comments, I was starting to think that I was the bad mommy.

I've never seen a kid in college with a bottle, so they do outgrow it. With my first, the doctor's word was the law, the second, doc didn't seem to be quite as smart anymore and by my third, well let's just say that I've started to wonder if he's even been home enough to raise his kids'.

My youngest is 3 & still gets about 2oz of milk in a bottle right before bed, it's a comfort thing, my middle son did it and outgrew it on his own. She can drink from a cup, was potty trained day & night by 2 1/2yrs, can fall asleep without it, sleeps in her own bed through the nights and doesn't have any tooth, mouth, or any other weird ailments.

Every generations' medical profession has a new way of looking at things. Bet if you talk to your mother, or grandmother, you'll hear they were told an entirely different way of doing things.

I know in my mom's day, when women were pregnant they were told to gain no more than 15-20lbs during pregnancy. Ask my grandma, and she'll tell you that if you didn't gain at least 40lbs., your baby would be weak and sick. Let's not even get into the breastfeeding/bottle issue.

 

[justhat]

My MIL had a great trick that worked well. My BIL is a few years older then my husband. When my BIL turned 1, they made a really big deal about his birthday and about him being a big boy. He got lots of presents and toys. When the party was over he asked for his bottle. My MIL told him that he had toys now like a big boy and didn't need his bottle, b/c that was for babies. It took him about 6 hours to get over it. By the time my hubby came along my BIL got to have big boy drinks in his cup. Things like juice and chocolate milk. Well my husband weened himself once he learned he could get "sweet" things in a cup and only milk in a bottle. He understood this at 9 mos.

It will always depend on the child and of coarse the parents, so to each his own!

If only my 11 month old understood at that level. She doesn't get a bottle cause she's breastfed, and has been drinking from a cup since 6 months, so at least that's not an issue for us. But like I said on the similar thread I started, she's a pacifier addict! I've been trying to eliminate it over the past 2 days, but it's been a rough, rocky road. I cut off the tip of one, told her it was broken, she cried and threw it. I gave her a different brand that I know she doesn't like, she cried and threw it. I told her she doesn't need it anymore, she's a big girl, and again, she cried. She's having a big 1st birthday party at the Rainforest Cafe on 2/26, and will have presents and all that, but she doesn't understand the whole "big girl" thing yet. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

 

[the kabuki]

If only my 11 month old understood at that level. She doesn't get a bottle cause she's breastfed, and has been drinking from a cup since 6 months, so at least that's not an issue for us. But like I said on the similar thread I started, she's a pacifier addict! I've been trying to eliminate it over the past 2 days, but it's been a rough, rocky road. I cut off the tip of one, told her it was broken, she cried and threw it. I gave her a different brand that I know she doesn't like, she cried and threw it. I told her she doesn't need it anymore, she's a big girl, and again, she cried. She's having a big 1st birthday party at the Rainforest Cafe on 2/26, and will have presents and all that, but she doesn't understand the whole "big girl" thing yet. Oh well, we'll keep trying.

Don't let it get you too worried. In the grand scheme of life, having a pacifier at 11 months rates pretty low. Matter of fact , I will go so far as to say- What's the big deal anyway? Trust me, they will outgrow it.

 

[justhat]

I feel that way too, and really would let her keep using it, but she wakes up whenever it falls out of her mouth during the night and my theory is, no pacifier to fall out, no waking to look for it=mommy gets more sleep! Of course, I don't know why I bother, as I'm betting she'll still wake up just as much anyway!

 

[the kabuki]

Ok, if she's waking up when it falls out, then I would be trying to get rid of it too. Someone else here said to "Pick your battles". My battle was sleeping through the night. Big deal here. Want a bottle till your 4? sure go ahead, pacifier at 3, no problem, sippy cups, potty training, no biggie.... but sleep through the night, MUST HAVE SLEEP!!!! No sleep makes Mommy very cranky!!!! If I have sleep, I can deal with all the rest.

 

[MELSMICE]

I feel that way too, and really would let her keep using it, but she wakes up whenever it falls out of her mouth during the night and my theory is, no pacifier to fall out, no waking to look for it=mommy gets more sleep! Of course, I don't know why I bother, as I'm betting she'll still wake up just as much anyway!

Been there, done that! We started putting extras in DD's crib so when she lost one during the night she had a better chance of finding another. I just couldn't take getting up in the middle of the night & searching on my hands & knees for a pacifier.

My oldest DD was way too attached to her pacifier - through no fault of her own. I didn't realize it would be so hard to break that habit. However, at 11 months I wouldn't be too worried about it.

As she got older we "limited" her time with her "nahnny". She could only have it when she was wearing her pj's, then she could only have it when she was in her bedroom, then she could only have it when she was in her bed. We thought we'd never break the habit. We tried just about everything.

Finally, one night before bed I looked at it & saw some fuzz in the "groove" where the plastic met the rubber. I told her they were "nahnny bugs". (she hated bugs!!! ). I told her that she could put it in her mouth if she wanted but I'm not sure that I would trust that bugs would stay on the "nahnny" & not go in my mouth. She decided she would just hold it that night & that was the very last time she used it!!!

She finds the story pretty humourous today. BTW - she was 4!!!!!!!!

Our twins were a little over 2 years old when we broke then of the "nahnny" habit! It was around Christmas time. We cut the tips off of them & when they weren't working well we told them it was because they were big girls & that Santa had big girl presents for them & they should leave their "nahnny's" for the babies that needed them now.

 

[snoopy]

Oh good! Now I have a friend in the "Bad Mommy" club!

Erin

Consider me a friend as well. My kids were 2 when they gave up bottles for good, and none too enthusiastically, I might add.