Comments on: 13 mo baby + bottle = FAIL

By: toothfairy

toothfairy — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:41:13 +0000

Happy to see everything is progressing normally. Really, as both Jocelyns said, it’s a battle of wills. Think your Dr is strict? Mine said 12 months… time to wean off the bottle and NO sippy cups.

We started with water and, after a couple of spills and soggy tshirts, she adapted to a regular cup. No weaning, just GO! hahaha I guess she felt like a “big girl” so I had it easy. It took only a week or so.

You are NOT failing. You’re just being tested.

BTW, she’s gets more adorable as time goes on! Congratulations!

By: Sheri Payne

Sheri Payne — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 00:49:20 +0000

Hang in there!

Just a thought – when you approach her with a cup, what is your attitude? Are you anxious? fearful? doubtful? Babies are smarter than we are at reading body language and emotion. She may be picking up on your anxiety and feeling anxious herself.

Here is my suggestion; back off from the cup for about a week. Then choose one or two times a day to keep the bottle for now, and then matter-of-factly give her a sippy cup at the other times. Don’t be concerned if she throws it or doesn’t drink, just put the cup away and stay calm. If she seems thirsty, give her the cup again, and stay calm about it. If you remain calm she will eventually calm down about it as well. If she is strong-willed it may take a while, but you will only win this battle if you stay calm.

Once she surrenders to the cup then you can work on eliminating the bottle completely.

By: Lissa

Lissa — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 22:51:05 +0000

I say go with what you feel. If you want to mix formula with whole milk, I don’t see anything wrong with that and then gradually increase the whole milk if she ends up liking that. Also, with the bottle it’s good that you’re making the effort of weaning her off it. You’re not behind at all.

With kids, any type of change is not welcome but if you keep at it, they will eventually adapt. Connor had a hard time adjusting to the different sippy cups we had cause they all work a little differently but he learned soon enough. I’m sure your little baby will too.

By: marsi

marsi — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:30:14 +0000

we are transitioning here too. we are on whole milk, but our pedi had us do it gradually by substituting an ounce of milk for formula in each bottle over the course of a couple weeks until it was all milk, which will be tomorrow. They have had no problems with transitioning to the milk, and this has also transitioned us to the cold temperature as well. as far as the cups go, they have been using the “Take and Toss” little plastic cups. we re-use them, and they don’t do well with other kinds. i think that they do well with them because it drips slowly out, but they still have to suck, just not as hard as the other kinds. they still get a bottle first thing in the morning and before bed, but we are getting rid of the morning bottle within the next week, and our pedi said that at 14 months get rid of the bedtime. for us, doing things gradually has been the key. Hope this helps!

By: Barbara

Barbara — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:19:38 +0000

I think you are being way too hard on yourself. What you are calling failure will be hard to remember when she is 6 years old. Doesn’t matter which you do first. Whatever you do to start with – if it doesn’t work too well, you have to decide whether to persist with the first try or backtrack. You are an adult. You can handle that decision.

Now go buy a book to help her earn a good score on the SAT.

By: Jamie

Jamie — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 02:28:52 +0000

Dr. Chang told us not to worry about taking Taylor off the bottle when I asked at her one year well baby visit, and I didn’t. One day, at 17 months I just said no bottles and she was fine. Of course, we were letting her use cups by then too. Krislyn will be ready when she’s ready, don’t force it.

As for the milk. I had to mix the formula with milk for about a week and a half and then she ws fine on whole milk. I started with 2 ounces milk and 3 ounces formula and then increased milk while decreasung formula. If you feel that’s what needs to be done then do it. Only you truly know your daughter!

By: Cass

Cass — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 00:28:12 +0000

I need to tell you – don’t sweat the small things. You are definitely NOT a failure. We didn’t force Ben (15 months) to switch off the bottle completely. We just started giving him water/juice in a sippy cup. It took a really long time, but he eventually started getting used to it and now we’ll put milk in his sippy cup. It was just last month that he learned to use a straw. Babies will let you know when they’re ready.

By: Toot Sweet

Toot Sweet — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 13:56:43 +0000

Don’t be hard on yourself, it sounds like your doctor is a tough guy. Chloe is only 7 months. We recently started handing her a sippy cup with water in it. She mostly just puts it up to her mouth and sucks in the water then lets it drool out of her mouth. I think she just likes that it is something new. I would try giving her the milk in the cup, maybe with the newness of it she will be interested.

By: Jocelyn (seriously! I can't believe another Jocelyn commented)

Jocelyn (seriously! I can't believe another Jocelyn commented) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 22:41:45 +0000

Just wanted to say you are NOT a failure! Slowly but surely they learn to use sippy cups/cups… with my now-almost-3-year-old, I gave him a sippy cup at snacktime (milk) and between meals (with water) and gave him the bottle for nap and bedtime until he adjusted to the sippy cup…

Hope that helps!

By: jocelyn

jocelyn — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 08:55:15 +0000

Don’t worry about baby being behind! She is fine working on her own schedule!

I would give her all liquids in sippy cups from now on, no more bottles. Not even as a back up. Like, dump the nipples and sell the bottles on craigslist. I say this because when she goes on liquid strike, you (mama) will want to give her the bottle for fear of her getting dehydrated! She may use her strongest will to avoid the cups, but eventually she will need to drink. And she will.

That said, we went through a million (felt like it!) sippy cups with our 16 mo old. He learned to drink with a straw around 13 mos like the poster above, but I just did not like cleaning the stinky milk from the straw and all its parts. We have settled on 2 sippers with valve: Playtex (6oz) and Munchkin (the skinnier 9 oz with Go,Diego,Go image). The cups are skinny enough to palm and not too heavy when filled to the max. Due to the low volume, we do refills once or twice.

Our oldest took 10 days of milk introduction before she would take more than a sip. The 16 mos old took about a week to acquire the taste, and then a month or so to really get into chugging the milk down. He drinks 18-30 oz a day. He also eats 6-8 oz of yogurt daily, so we are not concerned with the calcium intake.