Holding the bottle?

DawnJM25 · June 2012

A few questions: Does LO hold his/her own bottle? If so, how did he/she learn to do that? Encouragement from you or was it natural? Also, do you think that being able to hold their own bottle helps the transition to sippy cup?

I ask because DD (9 mo 1 week) will not hold her bottle. I've tried laying her on her back and handing it to her so gravity will help, and she'll drink about 1 oz. then bring it to me and cry until I feed her. I know that my giving in is not helping. I'm thinking that being able to feed herself through the bottle may help her learn how to use a sippy? Am I wrong? Any feedback about this?

law&order · June 2012

My 11 month old doesn't hold the bottle- in fact he won't. But he does hold his straw cups with no problem and knows exactly what they are for.

RubyRed80 · June 2012

I kind of trained my daughter to do it but it took her a while to hold the sippy cup. I use to hold it (bottle) and then put her hands around it so she could get the feel. I did this for about two weeks. She was very cooperative and then she just started holding it herself. The sippy cup was another story. She finally holding it now but it took some time. Now even when we are in the car and I hand either one to her she'll just take it.

luvmyducks · June 2012

She just started doing it on her own around 5m I think. But she also tries to "hold" my breast while nursing, so I think it is a natural thing for her. I had to show her how to hold the sippy cup by the handles but she picked up on it super quick and has been drinking out of a sippy also since about 6.5m.

WeeGee619 · June 2012

DD has been holding the bottle and feeding herself for about 2.5 mos(yes I'm lucky). Around 4 months she started touching the bottle when I was feeding her, then I started to hold it in front of her and make her put it in her mouth and then we would hold it together. So I did do a lot of helping and encouraging. Also we use dr browns standard bottles and I think they might be easier to hold than the wide neck. And she grabs the sippy from me as soon as I fill it and happily drinks from it (we use the Zoli sippy cup). She never had an issue with the sippy but i think that's bc she holds her bottle?

ladylisalt · June 2012

I used to worry a little about this awhile back bc I would see babies younger than DS holding his/her bottle. I realized that older babies don't necessarily hold it, its different from baby to baby. My DS will hold it if I put his hands around it but usually he likes to rub my hand fingers while I hold it. I have noticed more recently that he is trying to hold it but this is at 11.5 months. I don't know if he is just lazy or he likes mama and dada feeding him.

SharonB222 · June 2012

My LO doesn't hold her bottle and I doubt she ever will (although reading the pp, maybe she will). It's obviously not a requirement for being a "big girl", because she holds glasses and cups just fine. I started with her holding a small glass around 7 months, then added sips of water and now she's a pro (with a small cup, not large). GL!

babyAutumn · June 2012

I never encouraged my kids to hold their own bottles. Whenever they were given a bottle it was by me while sitting in a rocking chair or other chair if I was out. They learned to hold their sippy cup by the age of 7 months because I started offering it with a little water around 5.5 months when they would sit at the dinner table with the rest of the family. IMO feeding time should be a time to bond with LO and that's what I used it for...cuddles and quiet time with my LO. Your LO will eventually learn to hold/use a sippy cup when she is ready to and encouraging her to hold her bottle I don't think will help her learn to use the sippy any faster but that's just me.

landosmommy · June 2012

DawnJM25:
I'm thinking that being able to feed herself through the bottle may help her learn how to use a sippy? Am I wrong? Any feedback about this?

DS has been holding his own bottle since he was about 5 months old, but that has not helped him hold his own sippy cup. In fact, we had to resort to a straw sippy cup because he couldn't get the fact that he had to tilt the cup up.

veggie0420 · June 2012

i was just gonna ask about this! ds is 10 months and wont hold his bottle or sippy cup or feed himself anything! its really annoying when im driving or out at a store somewhere and have to go sit somewhere to give him his bottle. he has held it twice a couple months ago, but just does not want to do it

Want a personalized experience?

Holding the bottle?

Re: Holding the bottle?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards