8 Month Old Won't Hold Bottle W/out Help

My son was the same way! He didn't start holding a bottle until after his 1st birthday and by that time I was starting to wean him. I remember being frustrated b/c I had to feed him before we went anywhere. He mastered holding it on his own just a few months before we got rid of the bottles!

I wouldn't be too worried about it. Each child is different. She may just need a little more practice. When my 5 yr old was a baby he started holding his bottle @ 8 months. However, my 18 month old didn't get the idea about the bottle or the sippy cup till about 10 months. I know it's tough trying to get them to learn things. At first I was always comparing the two and becoming very anxious when the younger wasn't doing things around the same time that the older one had done. I have finally taught myself to stop comparing and just start enjoying the differences! Just keep trying, and she will get the concept eventually! Hope you have a great Mother's Day!

My advice would be to enjoy the time you have holding your daughter while she drinks her bottle. I held my daughter's milk bottle, then sippy cup with milk until she was almost 3. She was capable of doing it, but I think she liked the comfort of being held while she drank. She had no problem drinking juice from a sippy cup on her own. I stopped holding her cup gradually over a few weeks. It helps if she has a stuffed animal or other "lovey" to take your place initially. Good Luck!

They learn quick. And maybe she just would rather have your undivided attention then hold her own bottle. My little guy never held his own bottle. And when I first gave him a sippy cup, he was usually in a highchair and playing with it. She will probably be off that bottle soon enough. I'd say enjoy that quiet moment together, cause sooner then you think you won't be able to get anything but a short hug as they run by.

My son is 10 months old and just started holding the bottle for himself. I think he took so long because I never pushed the issue. He still is reluctant and would much rather me hold it, but if I put a little blanket under the bottle he uses his hands to push it up and hold it. It was a messy venture at first...milk everywhere, but now he grabs for his bottle when I bring it to him. The sippy cup he has been grabbing himself since about 7months but now actually connects to his mouth and tips back himself as well. (they both still wind up on the ground occasionally!!)

Two of 3 of my kids learned at age 7 months to hold their own bottles, I am sure your baby will get the hang of it soon! Enjoy feeding her while she will still allow it. All too soon she will want to do it on her own. My kids learned and wanted their bed or to be left alone curled up on the big pillow off the couch and not cuddled. I would not worry, it takes some time to learn to not only hold it but to get it positioned high enough to allow the milk to flow.

Hi, H., I think it's just keep trying. She'll get it. It's been a while for me too, but I remember have two "lazy" kids about holding their bottles. I think the sippy cup will help a bunch. When she's thristy she'll pick it up. I think I eventually just sat them down and handed them the bottle. I missed the cuddle time, but make up for it at other times. Good luck!

My son did the same thing. We started holding his hands around the bottle/cup for him, and that helped a little. Then we gave him smaller cups, b/c the bigger ones seemed to be too heavy, so that helped a little. Then one day he started holding it on his own (I think he was around 10-11 months). Don't worry - most babies do things when they are ready to.

your subject made me giggle with nostalgia! my now 16 motnth old refused to hold her bottle on her own despite the fact that she was totally capable of doing it--she did it for our babysitter all by herself by 8 months or so! it was like she decided that was time that needed to be spent with me (or her dad) on a lap being held and loved on... when she was about 10 months she would take it on her own laying flat on her back on the floor--that's it! it was fascinating that she would take a sippy cup with handles no problem from about 11 months in her high chair but if i put the handles on the bottle she still had to be flat on the floor. one of my friend's husbands decided that their daughter needed to figure it out and basically refused to help her out for a day and she did--though i'm not sure i could have been that extreme... i'm a push-over for cuddle time :)

at any rate, i'd not worry too much about it. enjoy the moments you get together and keep trying to introduce the idea... she'll catch on eventually!

I don't think she's ready yet, and all kids have their own timetable despite what some books would have you believe. The idea that she's "lazy" as one person suggested is ridiculous in my opinion; (sorry)She's 8 mo old! She's supposed to get that you want her to hold the bottle so you can go off and do something else? Of course in her baby thoughts (which are as yet unformed) she thinks you're supposed to sit their with her and hold her and the bottle. And she's right!

An 8 month old seems a little early for balancing the sippy is she's not tipping the bottle. All children are different as to when they do each new thing. Does she sit up and put toys in her mouth? If she does, it's only a matter of time for her to take that bottle on her own. Tease her with the nipple...when she's sucking, wiggle it back and forth so she has to suck harder to keep it in her mouth. When she learns to hang on tight, lay her on her tummy and put the bottle in her reach. She may get frustrated or she may pull it to her pretty quickly but she will learn to "hang on to it once she grabs hold". Happy Mothers Day

My daughter was the same way. I believe it was laziness, so to speak. There was no doubt that she was very capable and able to hole the bottle on her own, but, she just refused to do so. I tried everything, from tucking a towel or something underneath the bottle, and everything in between, and she would let go of the bottle, or she would knock it away, just so I would have to hold it for her. I would have to say, it is a strong will (stubborness?), and it was very frustrating for me. I knew she could do it, she just refused to do so. She lets go of the bottle, because she wants you to hold it! You have a strong willed daughter. That is all that is to it! Good Luck.

I'm thinking that if she can hold the bottle, then she can tip it. Hand her the bottle and then walk away. She will do it or she won't drink. If she goes for a bit, she will get thirsty enough to figure it out. She doesn't do it because she doesn't have to.

I think I held the bottle up while my little one grabbed it. After a little bit of this, she seems to twig that she needed to do this to get anything from it. I left the sippy cup with her and she put it every which way but eventually she worked out how to do it. I think she dragged it around for several days not really drinking from it until she finally connected the holding it up and stuff coming out.

I have a, now, 13 month old boy and he NEVER had any interest in holding his own bottle. We laughed because he would eat with his hands up near his ears. However, once we moved him to milk at a year, we put it in a sippy cup - one with handles- and no longer fed him. He actually took to it just fine and now feeds himself at every meal. I'm not sure he would have been as savvy at 8 months, though.

I wouldn't worry. My daughter just learned how to tip her sippy cup and she just turned 14 months. (She never took a bottle). I just figured she didn't understand that you have to tip it up to get something to come out.

I think that your little one probably does want some cuddle time with you. Even though you probably do spend lots of cuddle time with her, have a lot of stuff that you need to get done, and its so easy to think that they are little grown ups when they seem to be growing so quickly and doing so much on their own, remember that she's only still a baby and the cuddle time doesn't last. Some babies don't even start solids until one years old, but even those who do eat solids still get a majority of their nutrition from their mothers milk in that first year. If you think of an infant who is nursing instead of bottle-feeding, it would be impossible for that youngin' to provide that for themselves. Even if you have chosen the bottle route, consider the fact that if those were breast feedings, you would have to be holding her. Mother nature probably wanted to make sure that this feeding cuddle time happenned because it is just as important for the childs development as it is to have independence and nutrition. Lots of together time, including during feedings--can actually help your child develop the strong sense of emotional security that fosters independence. Good Luck and Happy Mother's Day!
-H.

I have an 8 month old girls, too. She has just started to hold the bottle by herself but doesn't yet know that she needs to tip it up once it gets low. She will learn soon enough, though I'm sure! :)

H.,
My first son held his own bottle at about 5-6 months. But, he refused to crawl until 11 months or walk until 16 months, lol.

My second son is almost 9 months now and he will NOT hold his bottle. He likes being tended to, I think. Lol. Sometimes, I really wish he would just hold it so I could get something done, but really when I do hold/feed him he's so happy and just looks up at me and plays with my face or arm or his head. He's happy, so I am.

T.