Help with Bottles

My almost 10 month old tried using a sippy cup but I alwasy held it and if it wasn't full, he'd have to tilt his head too far back. Sinch he had the sucking down, I started him on a straw cup. It's so much easier now. This just happened yesterday after being on a sippy cup for less than two weeks.

Both of my sons were the same way, and others would tell me they were spoiled. The upside of it, they gave up the bottle soon after their first birthday. I found my boys did better with straws. Just hold the straw up to her and see if she takes.

Be patient. 10 months is a little early for her to be holding a sippy cup. As for the bottle, wait until she is quite hungry, then try giving it to her. M. of 5 - 13 grandchildren.

The avent bottles actually have handles that you can buy sepparately. They are supposed to be for the sippy cups but the fit on the bottle too. The only place that Ive seen the handles to buy is at Babies R Us and I think Target too. Thats how I got my son to start holding his bottle. My son is almost a year and we had a hard time with the starting him on sippie cups. I just started him on Nubie cups the lid looks like a sippie cup but it is silicone so it sort of helps him in the transition while tricking him at the same time :) I got the Nubie cups at Walmart. Best of Luck :)

Your baby will not starve herself...Just put the bottle in her reach and let her scream it out until she decides she is hungry enough to try and hold it. We went staight to sippy cups with our kids though. We took them to the store and let them pick out thier own cup so it was more thier idea. I know your little one is young, but she will still enjoy picking it out rather than having it "forced" on her.

Hi you have your hands full. Just fill the bottle and leave it where she can reach it. When she needs a drink she will get it herself. Sounds like she is a very busy little girl. Look out at 3years she will be so much more independent. Have fun and keep laughing M.

Not to worry. My dtr never held her own bottle. We switched her to sippy cups when she turned one year and we still had to hold her sippy cup for her. When she finally did hold her own sippy cup, we still had to hold her for awhile because she wouldn't tilt her head. She figured it out. Some kids just take a little longer than others.

My son also refused to hold his own bottle at that age. Our solution was to switch to the sippy cups that have a flip-up straw to suck from. With cups like these, he didn't have to tilt the cup back to drink from it making it easier for him to control himself. He is almost 16 months now and no longer uses a bottle. I will admit that I still hold him and the cup when I give him his night time milk (I think we both enjoy the cuddle time) but the rest of the day he drinks on his own out of his sippy cup. Hope this helps!

J.,
I nannied tripplets a few years back and in order to get them all fed at the same time and not have to hold three bottles at the same time we used these great nipple attachements where you could cradle the bottle in the seat or where ever and just put the nipple in thier mouth (like a pacifier). the nipple had a straw-like flexible tube that ran into the bottle. See if you can find that, maybe at a store for mulitples or a website...oh here, I found it, cut and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2494205

Good Luck!!!

My daughter, now 17 months, never learned to hold her own bottle. When she was about 11 1/2 months old and we made the transition to whole milk we also transitioned away from bottles to sippy cups. I started off holding just as if I was giving her a bottle and it didn't take long for her to hold the cup her self. I also had started with sippy cups of water on her highchair early on as she ate her meals so she would get used to them being there.
The cups that worked for me we the Take'n'Toss smallest ones to start. They don't have handles and are short so it doesn't take to big of a tip for them to be satisfied. The smallest (I think 4oz) has indentations in the sides for them to grip.
Good Luck!

Set the bottle down in front of her. When she decides she wants it, she will go for it. If she holds and plays with her toys ok, then she is capable. This may sound kinda harsh, but it's worked for several kids in my family.

When you hold your child and feed them it helps connect the two of you. The eye contact you make while feeding also helps to stimulate her brain, so I would not push her to hold her own bottle maybe she likes the comfort of YOU and this is her way of showing it?? As far as the sippy cup goes try lots of diffrent kinds maybe she doesnt like that kind?? My 9 mo. old only likes the tupperware kind that is free flowing he refuses to suck the juice out of the spill proof kind. hope this helps.

I've never had that problem (my challenge was getting my kids OFF their bottles!), but on the bright side, she probably won't be needing most of her nutrition from the bottle for too much longer. As she gets to have more and more of her nutritional needs met with "real" food, you'll probably be cutting back on the bottle quite a bit in the coming 3-4 months. Maybe it is the snuggling with the bottle and mommy that she loves so much and is missing a little bit now that she is sitting in her high chair more and eating strained peas (can you blame her?). =) Maybe if you sit down with her at her usual bottle time and set her bottle where she can reach it (but make no attempt to pick it up yourself), she will reach for it on her own.

Good luck, sounds like you have a very spirited little girl there!

My son, now 2, was never interested in sippy cups. He went from a bottle to a straw cup.

keep working with her, give her a cup at every meal. My twins used to hold their bottles but one is going through a period where she won't. Pediatrician thought it was probably because we nurse primarily & introduced a regular cup or sippy cup, with the valve removed, during mealtimes. Put just a little liquid in the cup if the valve in the sippy is removed or using a cup, otherwise they will just pour it all over themselves. Just keep practicing!

Avent has a sippy cup in similar shape to a bottle. Plus, it has removeable handles, and the nipple is soft like a bottle. You can even put the Avent bottle tops onto this base. This helped my son through the transition. You can find these cups anywhere, Target, Walmart, Supermarket. Here is a link to the one I mean: http://www.aventamerica.com/products/toddlerfeeding/toddl...

My third granddaughter wouldn't hold her own bottle either at that age I don't believe. She was breast fed, when Mom was available. She is one now, and so independant. I would just give her a little more time, and enjoy loving her up until the next one comes. That will change things naturally, without forcing them.

I agree with Jackie, just enjoy this time of cuddling with your little one. My first daughter never held her own bottle, my second one did and I still sat and cuddled with her while she ate. With both of them, I introduced sippy cups at one year and by then they were ready for it and it was an easy transition. You only have a few more months before the new baby arrives so I'd encourage you to enjoy this time to it's fullest. :)

Try making a game out of it and very colorful. If the baby is sitting in a walking try just sitting sippy cup on the table of the walker. And just leaving it

I sure miss the days I could cuddle and rock my boys holding their bottle for them. Don't be in any rush, enjoy the time together that you get to spend holding her bottle. Soon she will be "too old" to want to come rock with you.

I know there are silicone sleeves for glass bottles now. That may make it easier/more desirable for her to hold her own bottle. Also, some bottles have sippy cup type handles that you can attach to them.

As for the sippy cup, we have the same problem. Now, my 11 month old just drinks water from a little cup. Sometimes, she'll take it from a toddler-sized Sigg bottle. The cup was kind of a pain at fist, but she quickly got pretty good at it.

Hi J.-

My sons are now 6 and 7, but I remember my youngest being reluctant. When I knew he was hungry, I would set the bottle out in front of him and let him see it. Instead of helping him with the bottle or feeding him, he eventually did it on his own. If you keeping doing it for her, she may continue to keep wanting you to. Even if she puts up a little fuss, be patient and eventually she'll figure it out. Good luck.

Try using the soft nipple sippy cups and becasue of the shape it will help her to hold it.

Do your bottles have handles? Our girls couldn't hold their own bottles until we got the BornFree ones with the removable handles.

After that, we did something kind of elaborate. Once they could hold them, we switched the nipples for soft spouts, and then we switched them to the hard-spout sippy cups from the same vendor. After that, we switched to a different brand so they could use valveless sippy cups.

We tried each new thing for the first ten minutes of each meal, and once we saw that they could do it, we switched them completely to the next stage. They hated every change for a day or two, but we went cold turkey each time, and they always came around. You may or may not want this many steps--we have a lot of old bottles and sippy cups lying around now!

Good luck!

Hi Jenelle,
I am also a stay at home mom with a 10 month old girl and a baby on the way in late June....I am having the same problem with the bottle. My doctor told me to just keep encouraging it, and she will pick it up. I notice that she has been doing it more on her own. It just may take a little time. Wish you the best of luck with you little one, and you one on the way!
Trust me I know how you feel..hahaha
T.

I would like to say that you should not worry about your 10 month old girl not holding her own bottle, but note that you will have an even younger one coming soon.

My son who just turned 2, was not interested in holding his own bottle until 14 months, and continued to want to be held during bottle time until a month ago. I tried unsuccessfully at 15 and 18 months to transition him completely to the sippy cup. Each time, he would reduce his total liquid intake to 2 oz a day, even though he was already well familiar with the sippy cup at meal times. After the 3rd day I would just give up in desperation. Then, just before turning 2, he had a rather serious bout of diarrhea and the pediatrician instructed that I withhold all milk products (soy and substitute included) until his bowels returned to normal. I substituted pedialyte for milk for 3 days before switching to plain water. I also swapped out the bottle for the Nuby Sport Sipper. The first day, he reduced his liquid intake to 2 oz a day, but decided that he liked the pedialyte enough to drink from the sippy cup. Since then, he has not gone back to the bottle.

What I want to say is, if it's a matter of life and death, you will find a way to make the transition from bottle to sippy cup (reverting to newborn nipples, offering milk in sippy cup and water in bottle, going cold turkey to sippy cup). Ultimately, it's a matter of your will against your daughter's. It may also be the case with holding her own bottle. But if you will be having help and can afford the time, why not let her go at her own pace and enjoy the cuddle time. As she gets more independent, she will want to hold her own bottle.

Good luck!

My 21 month old still doesn't hold his own bottle or drink out of a regular sippy cup (straws only). I don't worry about it. I'm sure the sippy cup thing will come along soon. As far as the bottle goes, I think it can be a good thing that he doesn't hold it. That means that he only has a bottle when I am holding him in my lap and he doesn't walk around with it. Maybe it will be easier to wean him from the bottle, who knows. I say, why rush it?