I Need Some Advice - Carson City, NV

Hi A.,

Maybe you really should replace the nipples more often. I can't believe they can be that easy to bite through. It is not a good idea to ever put a baby to bed with a bottle. Since you have been doing that, it will probably be a problem to stop, but try holding her at bedtime with her bottle, and put her down when she is finished. Babies love, and need to suck for longer than 10 months. Good luck. Don't we all need a book to answer all the problems. Hang in there. I.

She's probably teething... my son would do that only when he was teething.

Give her something else to chew on... maybe one of those teething rings, or a dampened then frozen washcloth.

She's young to be switching her to a sippy... but each Mom is different... and mostly, she is only 10 months old... babies "like" milk ONLY from a bottle, because it has a nipple on it and instinctively, they KNOW milk comes from a breast and a bottle is like a breast. Weaning from a bottle is the same as weaning from a breast. There really is no "rush" to take away the bottle... just my opinion although there are Moms like me who see no rush to it, and others who do. So.. .it varies.

Next, the bottle in the crib or at sleep is a concern, per tooth-rot. You can use "Spiffies" tooth wipes to clean her teeth and prevent decay.... www.spiffies.com I use it for my son... since he is a toddler, and even for times when I just want to clean my kids teeth on the go if we are out. Its really a great product and handy.

Next, with my son, I gradually would put a bottle of water in his crib... over time, he just adjusted to it. I never forced it though. BUT.... for a baby's first year of life, they must be fed on demand, still. This is per our Pediatrician. So... you might want to wait to take away the bottle for now.

Once she is older, you can transition her to other means of drinking... for me, I'd just put out sippy cups and straw cups on the tables and my kids play areas... and so that they could just grab it at will when they wanted to... thereby, letting them get used to it in a non-threatening way and WITHOUT pressure. I did not ONLY offer the cups at "mealtimes." It can be offered to them at ANY time. BUT, the KEY here is-- at this age of your baby... you do NOT want water/juices to REPLACE her regular feedings... to me, you wouldn't want to "wean" her yet. But that's something to worry about later. Your baby is still under a year old. And you STILL need to feed her on demand.

Just some ideas... all the best. Don't worry, no baby/child goes to school with a bottle hanging out of their mouth. "Weaning" will come, and each child has their own time-line as to when they do it. In some cultures, it is not so "pressuring" to get rid of a bottle. Do what you feel is best for baby and you... and even for me... I told my Pediatrician I will get rid of the bottle when "I" feel it is a right time, for my son.

No worries,
all the best,
Susan

Hi A.,
I am a grandmother with a bachelor's degree in child development. I was 19 when our first baby was 10 months old as well. You have a number of issues.
Are you holding her when she is taking these bottles? If you are. Communicate to her that she is not to bite the nipple of the bottle. You could do this by pulling the bottle out of her mouth and say "no." It is best to pull the nipple and say "no" before she actually bites it. Then she will change her behavior faster and will stay with the new behavior better. This principle works for any behavior you need to teach her. Stop her before she actually does what you do not want her to do.
For the transition to sippie cups, if the baby needs to transition to a new way of doing things, plan when and how you are going to do it.
You say, "sometimes she won't settle for anything else but her bottle and she won't go to bed without it." Your job is not to please your baby. Your job is to raise her with good development. She is used to certain things and does not know that her life will be better with a change. You need to transition her to the next more grown up way to do things. Once you successfully handle this one, you will be more confident about each change as she grows.
She needs for you to be in charge. Some moms let their baby cry for a certain length of time before they will re-enter the baby's room. You can read her a story at bed time. This is time with you. Put her down to bed. You can sing a song to your baby. You can gently smooth your hand or index finger over her forehead and down her nose. She will close her eyes as you go over her eyes. She will have a harder time bringing her eye lids back open until she does not open them because she fell asleep. I used the hand over the eyes more for toddlers and preschoolers. It might be helpful with babies as well.
Yur bottom line is that you are the mom. She needs you to love her by helping her do what is best for her. Know that you are loving her when you do something she needs. You will help your wonderful daughter be that much more secure knowing that she can count on you to show her the way. You are doing great!
L. R.

Hello A.. I read the previous post, and there might be some truth to that. Your daughter may be teething. I remember both of my children doing that, but it was a very long time ago so I can't remember if it was associated with anything, such as teething. The reason I an writing is to say that when you do decide to get her off the bottle, remember that you are in charge, and you make the rules. This is hard for me to remember to remember sometimes, but it really helps. Once you let your child establish the rules, you lose your upper hand. I don't mean to sound harsh in any way, but the one thing that needs to be constant (well, one of many) is discipline. I can only tell you from experience that it is best to be consistent. Being consistent goes for a lot of things, and I didn't mean to imply that you should be "disciplining" her right now, but I did mean that you have to stand your ground. Again, when you are ready to wean her, whether it be tomorrow or four months from now, stand your ground - take that bottle away, let her say "bye-bye" to it, and be done with it, do NOT give in by giving it back. It's easy to feel sorry for her, because she'll cry oh-so pitifully, and it will tear your heart into two, but she will be learning a valuable lesson each time you stick to your guns. Bedtime will be hard, I remember my son flinging himself against the wall and the bed when I took his bottle away from him, it was like his best friend died, and in a way, that's what happened (his comfort was gone) but he did get over it. So, when you say she won't go to bed without it, trust me, she will, she just won't like it. She will put up a fight, but you will both get through it. I always say give them (kids)extra hugs, kisses and attention during these difficult times. They need to know that you are not being mean, and still love them. I hope this makes some sort of sense, and that it helps you in some way. Best of luck to you :)

Hi!

Safe Sippy and Sigg both make bottles for little ones, and my son took to them readily. The mouth piece is hard, but not shaped like the plastic sippy cups. And there is less plastic, to boot!

Talk to your daughter (I am a big beleiver in talking to them, no matter the age) and tell her that the bottle is going byebye. Then cold turkey. She may come unglued for a couple of days, maybe a week, then she should forget.
Another thing you could try is to put water in her bottle and put formula only in sippy cups. I started my daughter on take-n-toss's with a hard top, and she liked them a lot. Course some of that was that she got juice in the sippy's.=)
It will take some work, but you are at the right time to wean from the bottle.
good luck
R.

The transition to sippy cups can be difficult but it is worth it! My son took about 3 days to get used to it but what I did was I made the slit in the valve a little bigger. That way he didn't have to suck as hard to get it out and he knew the good stuff was in there. I also cut him off bottles cold turkey (it was an ugly 3 days) but as with any habit, if you go back to bottles, you are just making things harder on both of you for the future. Goodl uck and remember...they can smell fear!

~V

Hi A.. My friend went through the same thing with her daughter, until I found the NUBY transitions bottle to sippy nipplees for her I found at Walmart. It comes in a pack with one bottle & 3 different nipples. One is a baby bottle type nipple,then switches to longer more cylindar looking type nipple, then finally the sippy cup type nipple. You just have to keep it up and make sure not to go back to baby bottle type nipple once shes moved on. Good luck!!

The way I got my very bottle attached daughter to switch to a sippy... I simply took all bottles out of the house but 1 (in case of emergency). Announce that this is a positive change since she's such a big girl now. Stock up on sippys that she would like (pictures, characters, ect. As well as a variety of them so she can find a style she prefers. The give it 1 whole week (with all your support system people a wear of the plan) and DO NOT offer a bottle under any circumstances. Hype up the sippy even in times of tears but say this is the way it is and eventually she'll get thirsty enough to give it a shot. Yeah it may be an unpleasant week but it will pass soon.During that week have some things planned to do to keep her occupied and mind off bottle.At the end of the successful week have a Mini party with close friends and fam to celebrate he achievement...Perhaps everyone around her drinking from a sippy + positive reinforcement will make her feel special and big. Then at last you can be bottle free. :) Just a thought, hope it helps. Take care!
M.