Question about baby bottles

Meery82

It seems like everyone wants a baby to drop their bottle usage completely by 12 months. I wanted to see what the attachment parenting viewpoint is on this subject. When did you/do you plan to get cut out the baby bottles? Why?

=Lee=B

It'll be interesting to hear other answers here...but since a lot of AP families breast feed and bedshare and such I'm going to guess not too many cut out all bottles/BM at 12months.

We breastfeed and BLW.  It'll be a slow transition to more solids and less breastmilk.  At 8 months my daughter still feeds every 2 hrs round the clock...I am all for dropping a few feeds (oh, say maybe the many middle of the night feeds) but I highly doubt we'll be anywhere near completely weaned.

I've worked for many years as a nanny and daycare worker and honestly, I found the happiest, healthiest toddlers, those that slept the best, were still taking a full formula bottle before naps in addition to being great eaters at meals.  If we were formula feeding I'd have no desire to cut out all bottles by 12months...I'd at least keep the bedtime and before nap bottles going until 18months just to keep those bellies full as I just don't see too many 12month olds that can self feed enough to live off!!

 

MouseInLux

Bottles were out here well before a year partially because we BF and partially because bottles aren't great for teeth. It's not dropping the frequency if the feeds but they way they are delivered, a sippy or straw cup or even a normal cup can replace the bottle.

Emerald27

What PP said. I'm not too familiar with bottle recommendations, but from my understanding, the concern is proper oral development and at night, cavity development. It's not that they need less milk/breastmilk, but that they should start taking it more from sippy cups and regular cups and less and less from bottles. I'd imagine you wean from bottles slowly, and just change the method of delivery one feeding at a time...but I've never done it so I'm not sure. Does LO take a pacifier?

mb314

DS is in daycare, and is very attached to his bottles at daycare.  I tried to get rid of them at a year, but he wasn't ready.  For me, the AP-style of parenting told me to make the change from bottles to sippy cups gradually since he wasn't ready.  Going cold turkey and removing his beloved bottles would have caused a lot of stress for him (and his daycare provider!).  We're working on it still at 14 months.  He will drink milk from a sippy, but still needs his bottle before naptime and at 4 pm.

Meery82

Emerald27 said:

What PP said. I'm not too familiar with bottle recommendations, but from my understanding, the concern is proper oral development and at night, cavity development. It's not that they need less milk/breastmilk, but that they should start taking it more from sippy cups and regular cups and less and less from bottles. I'd imagine you wean from bottles slowly, and just change the method of delivery one feeding at a time...but I've never done it so I'm not sure. Does LO take a pacifier?

No pacifier. He never really cared for it much. Used it occasionally as a newborn. 

He is 17 months and still takes a bottle with a formula/milk combo for breakfast ( sometimes he will eat some Cheerios, but he usually just wants the bottle in the morning), a bottle sometime in the afternoon (just milk, unless he doesn't eat much, then it will be a combo), and a formula/milk bottle before bed. He never takes the bottle to bed with him and I always brush his teeth before I put him in his crib. I tried cutting back the bottles when he was a year, but he would get upset when I would try to offer him a sippy and wouldn't calm until I gave him a bottle. It seems to be a method of relaxation for him. He always drinks out of a sippy at mealtimes though.

We do not breastfeed anymore, unfortunately, because my low supply (I always had to supplement) dried up completely by 3 months. 

I just felt that cutting him off at 12 months was a bit harsh, but it seems to be the norm now. I think I took a bottle until I was about 2 or so. I'm torn as to whether I should try to cut them out again or wait a bit.

orangecurls

We really started to encourage liquids from a straw cup at a year. At 17-18 months we replaced a bottle a week with a straw cup. It was a smooth and easy transition. I would recommend 15-18 months.

blu-eyedwife

I'll preface this by noting that obesity related co-morbidities run in both DH and my family, so a lot of my feeding decisions are related to giving my guy as good a headstart as I can.  I breastfed (and EBF) for a number of reasons, one of which is the association with less childhood obesity.  We did BLW, which again is associated with a lower chance of childhood obesity.

Bottle feeding - and I don't care what you're putting in there - is also associated with childhood obesity.  It's a necessary evil, trust me, as a working mom, I don't know what I'd do without that bottle!  But for me, I didn't want him using the bottle for too long.  (As others have pointed out, there's also the oral-mechanical problems associated with it, but we used a pacifier, so I can't claim that was a primary concern).  We switched him over to straw cups at 11 months, when he switched rooms at daycare.

He was still getting breastmilk at that time, and the transition took about 3 days.  I say we went cold turkey, but not as hardcore as many who toss all bottles, we had the bottles for backup if necessary and did have to resort to them on the second day.  But on the third day, he was fine with the straw cup and never looked back.  We also had the help of our amazing daycare.

Meery82

andrea ri 80 said:

DS wasn't ready to drop bottle at 12 mos, (we FF), but I think he was down to two bottles at the time with most of his liquids coming from a straw cup. 

I think by 14 mos we had completely come off bottles, I know the arguments about tooth decay might be valid for some cases, but he didn't use it to fall asleep, DS still takes a pacifier too, so I wasn't primarily concerned with the oral mechanical stuff, it was just part of the routine: cuddles and a bottle, he drank the bottle and would hand it over, brush teeth.  We don't have obesity in the family, and DS is in the 10th percentile for weight, so obesity isn't even on the radar. 

The morning bottle was the last one we dropped (DS was an early riser, like 430 am early, so I would try to get some shut eye while cuddling him and him taking the bottle, the bottle was more to keep him in one place and redirect him from wanting to get up to play, cut me some slack....I was 14  months into twice a night wake ups and 430 up for goodsies and I guess about 4 months pregnant). 

Dear God, that's horrifying. I don't blame you one bit! Take all the slack you need! 

sugarbear0524

Meery82 said:

Emerald27 said:

I just felt that cutting him off at 12 months was a bit harsh, but it seems to be the norm now. I think I took a bottle until I was about 2 or so. I'm torn as to whether I should try to cut them out again or wait a bit.

It isn't harsh for all kids. My son went straight from a bottle of formula to a sippy cup of milk with no issues at all. He was at his grandma's soon after he turned 1 and she was out of formula (she kept formula on hand for him). She gave him regular milk and he never looked back. He never fussed for a bottle. We would sit with him and hold the soft-spout sippy and let him drink it like a bottle before bed. It was no problem for us.

Meery82

sugarbear0524 said:

Meery82 said:

Emerald27 said:

I just felt that cutting him off at 12 months was a bit harsh, but it seems to be the norm now. I think I took a bottle until I was about 2 or so. I'm torn as to whether I should try to cut them out again or wait a bit.

It isn't harsh for all kids. My son went straight from a bottle of formula to a sippy cup of milk with no issues at all. He was at his grandma's soon after he turned 1 and she was out of formula (she kept formula on hand for him). She gave him regular milk and he never looked back. He never fussed for a bottle. We would sit with him and hold the soft-spout sippy and let him drink it like a bottle before bed. It was no problem for us.

Oh, I know, I meant mine specifically. I know some kids stop cold turkey and are totally fine. I wish he was one of them!