[andrea]

No flames here. I agree that no baby or toddler to go to bed with a sippy cup. I'm on a Korean forum too since my daughter came home in 2003 and there have been numerous posts about some of the older babies and toddlers coming home with mouths full of rotten teeth and having to be put under to fix their teeth because the problems are so many. Also it's been said since most of the **'s haven't had any prenatal care or vitamins that also contributes. So this isn't being critical of a parenting style it's just a heads up about what can happen to those precious baby teeth.

Andrea

[MBA62]

Hi Sheryl - no flames here either. I totally agree with you that children should not be put to bed with a bottle or sippy cup. I let my children have one before bed and then we would clean their teeth afterwards. Even infants; I used that rubber brush you put on your finger. I'm sure many parents appreciate the knowledge of the BTDT set. Take care!
Mary

[hcromwell]

We took Madison off of the bottle at around 14 months-15 months. The day I found a sippy cup that she did well with (took her entire morning "bottle" in it) I packed up the bottles and she hasn't had one since. I would have had her off of them beforehand but our pediatrician recommended we keep her on them. She was underweight when we brought her home and he felt that instead of concentrating on getting her off the bottle we should give it to her since that was what she was comfortable with. She needed the nutrients more than she needed to be bottleless, and the bottle was her way of getting them.

I'm thinking of starting to incorporate regular cups, or the kind with the straws soon. She can suck a straw, mommy is just not quite ready for the mess! But, she does very well with a big girl spoon and fork so she might be okay with the cup!

I too agree about the bottle/cup in bed thing. First I don't want to create a dependency, so I've never sent Maddy to bed with one. Second, our pediatrician advised us to not do it because of the liquid lying in the mouth and rotting the baby teeth. Now, I didn't know this but apparently, if the baby teeth are rotted enough it can actually affect the permanent teeth that are behind them!

Just my 2 cents though!

Hope

[parentstobe]

I must say we are very lucky. Our daughter was 13 months when we got her and at 16 months she was off the bottle and at 17 1/2 months she was using a straw. We started with a sippy cup for 6 months by Gerber then transition to the next level end of the month. She loves to drink from our water bottles and cup too. each child I think is so diffrent.

[CkJR4ever]

Hi! everyone, ashley is 15 months old. When we were in china she did not like milk too much. she wanted to drink out of a sippy cup and a straw. now we are home for 3 weeks now no more bottle . she hates milk she will only drink if i put chocalte in it. she drinks alot of water . She also brushes her own teeth, walks and talks. good luck to everyone.

[Mailbox13]

When our son came home from Russia he was close to 12months. We kept him on the bottle until he was about 18months. His pediatrician recommended it because of his being underweight and anemic. He did sippy cups after that for a while. Sometime between 2 1/2 and 3 we started working on regular cups. Mainly because most preschools want them to be able to drink out of a small cup at least.

For those of you working on switching to regular cups here is a tip passed on to me by a preschool teacher. It worked GREAT for us!! Start the little one off with the small 3-4oz paper/plastic cups. (These are like the ones that go in bathrooms for rinsing after brushing ones teeth.) One brand in our area is DIXIE. They are small so little hands can handle them better. Plus, they don't hold much, so the mess' is small when it happens.
Just an idea I would pass on.
Best of Luck

[jessica1467]

We brought Maddy home on 2/11/04 at age 12 1/2 months. She was, of course still with a bottle. I was very concerned about when to do things and I read on another website that a baby should be weaned from a bottle at 13 months or so. Well, but that time Maddy was about 14 months old. OH NO! I'M BEHIND! I'LL SCAR HER FOR LIFE!! So, like the "perfect" mother would do (according to the website)we weaned her off a little at a time and it was no problem. I think it worked so easily because she was not quite attached to anything or anyone at that point. A very happy baby who enjoyed us, but it had more to do with being very accomodating and not attaching. Looking back. I certainly was not behind and was actually one of the first people to get it done. I don't know if I will do it the same way next time.

The thing is, as long as your child is not falling asleep with it or drinking milk and then not rinsing out, its probably more of a social issue than anything else. I had read in a magazine that when everyone else is telling you to do something that you really don't feel is right for your baby, then follow your gut. If your child is comforted by it and its not harmful, so what? Who cares what people say. Yeah, there might be some difficulty in transitioning later, but we cross many bridges as parents, what's one more?
Jessica

[angelkisses0102]

For my son...29 months old and counting. For my daughter it was well after her 3rd birthday and she was still having one at bedtime occasionally. I had mine until I was 4...

From an attachment/attachment parenting perspective...most experts suggest regressing even an older toddler back to a bottle can be very beneficial for the bonding process. Many of our PI kids are *forced* to grow up before they should and never got to experience the babiness associated with being in a non-PI environment. It is very beneficial to their emotional and mental health to get to experience being bottle fed...by the primary caregiver...you holding, not them. You can even do this with a sippy.

It sounds like your daughter enjoys her 'baby' time...and you do too...I say enjoy!

(Of course my opinion is a bit jaded...since I have my attachment challenged little man...I'll keep him on forever if I can get him to sleep thru the night. )

[BEBE]

Great Post!

Our bio daughter had a bottle untill she was 18 months old. Our Guatemalan born daughter came home to us at the age of 13 months. She turned 3 yrs old on Christmas Eve and we gave the bottle to Santa, (to take to the babies in Guatemala, I am sending some bottles to an orphanage in GC) in return Santa left a Dora doll house for our "big"girl. She still has the binky, but that will be given up later.
I dont think the bottle issue is a big deal, and I believe it is different for each child. Some kids need it longer than others. Just follow your instinct and dont let the peer pressure bother you. You will know when its time.
I did brush her teeth good after the milk bottles though. Also she wanted water in her bottles a lot so I didn't worry too much about the tooth decay.
Good luck!