Help!

Brigitte,
I am so glad to read that J & K *just* got off the bottles. A & A drink
from sippies all day, but refuse to drink milk from a sippy, so they get
a first thing in the morning bottle and a bedtime bottle. I was worrying
that at 18 mos. old we were getting too old for bottles, but like the
binky, I guess they will let me know when they are ready to give the
bottle up.

Megan~
Mommy to A & A
18 months old!!!

www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aidannalexis
***New Pictures 02/04***

Brigitte,
I am so glad to read that J & K *just* got off the bottles. A & A drink
from sippies all day, but refuse to drink milk from a sippy, so they get
a first thing in the morning bottle and a bedtime bottle. I was worrying
that at 18 mos. old we were getting too old for bottles, but like the
binky, I guess they will let me know when they are ready to give the
bottle up.

Megan~
Mommy to A & A
18 months old!!!

www.babiesonline.com/babies/a/aidannalexis
***New Pictures 02/04***

Megan Byrne wrote:

Brigitte,
I am so glad to read that J & K *just* got off the bottles. A & A drink
from sippies all day, but refuse to drink milk from a sippy, so they get
a first thing in the morning bottle and a bedtime bottle. I was worrying
that at 18 mos. old we were getting too old for bottles, but like the
binky, I guess they will let me know when they are ready to give the
bottle up.

I think the whole get them off by the time they are one year is a CYA by
the AAP. If they are not sipping on the bloody things all day long, I
can't see it being a problem. I mean, a sippy cup is just a redesigned
bottle if you think about it. Also, if they are sipping milk/juice from
a sippy cup all day they will still rot their teeth.

Gosh, even I got a bout of sensitive teeth because I sipped at *one*
ginger ale every 2nd or 3rd afternoon a few years ago. Dentist said not
to sip.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/i/isabellazora/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

Megan Byrne wrote:

Brigitte,
I am so glad to read that J & K *just* got off the bottles. A & A drink
from sippies all day, but refuse to drink milk from a sippy, so they get
a first thing in the morning bottle and a bedtime bottle. I was worrying
that at 18 mos. old we were getting too old for bottles, but like the
binky, I guess they will let me know when they are ready to give the
bottle up.

I think the whole get them off by the time they are one year is a CYA by
the AAP. If they are not sipping on the bloody things all day long, I
can't see it being a problem. I mean, a sippy cup is just a redesigned
bottle if you think about it. Also, if they are sipping milk/juice from
a sippy cup all day they will still rot their teeth.

Gosh, even I got a bout of sensitive teeth because I sipped at *one*
ginger ale every 2nd or 3rd afternoon a few years ago. Dentist said not
to sip.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/i/isabellazora/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

Megan Byrne wrote:

Brigitte,
I am so glad to read that J & K *just* got off the bottles. A & A drink
from sippies all day, but refuse to drink milk from a sippy, so they get
a first thing in the morning bottle and a bedtime bottle. I was worrying
that at 18 mos. old we were getting too old for bottles, but like the
binky, I guess they will let me know when they are ready to give the
bottle up.

I think the whole get them off by the time they are one year is a CYA by
the AAP. If they are not sipping on the bloody things all day long, I
can't see it being a problem. I mean, a sippy cup is just a redesigned
bottle if you think about it. Also, if they are sipping milk/juice from
a sippy cup all day they will still rot their teeth.

Gosh, even I got a bout of sensitive teeth because I sipped at *one*
ginger ale every 2nd or 3rd afternoon a few years ago. Dentist said not
to sip.

--
Brigitte aa #2145
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/j/joshuaandkaterina/
http://www.babiesonline.com/babies/i/isabellazora/

"Readers are plentiful; thinkers are rare."
~ Harriet Martineau

"Peggy" wrote in message
news
My girls are almost 2 ...

snip

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like the meanest mother on the
face of the earth not giving her the bottle but if I don't do it now I'll
never get her off it.

See, I don't follow this. Why do you feel that if you don't do it NOW, it
will never happen? Can you see how this statement is not correct? It is no
more accurate than "If I don't get her potty trained NOW, she'll never get
potty trained." "If I don't get her to sleep through the night NOW, she will
never sleep through the night."

What, never?
No, never.
What, never?
Hardly ever!

My oldest daughter breastfed until she was five. One of my twins breastfed
until she was 3 1/2 and would have gone longer if I hadn't gotten pregnant.
They all slept in bed with us as babies, and transitioned peacefully,
gradually, and without any trauma, to the kids' room around the age of 2,
more or less. None of them potty trained before 3 1/2. I didn't worry. I
don't understand the urgency of NOW. Why NOW? Why not...three months from
now, when she's more accepting and emotionally ready? Or six months? Or a
year, as long as she only has the bottles at specific times? Is there
something special about this point in her life, such as she must be weaned
to a sippy cup in order to attend a certain preschool program?

I can tell you that when I tried to wean my oldest, the more I refused her
to nurse, the more she took up sucking her thumb. If I allowed her to nurse
even once a day, the thumb-sucking vanished. I concluded that she needed to
suck still, and she was going to do it one way or another. I preferred it be
me. Eventually and gradually she stopped asking to nurse, and one day it
was simply over. I couldn't tell you when it happened. It was too gradual
and too painless.

In contrast, the one who was force-weaned at 3 1/2 STILL asks me to nurse,
and mourns her weaning. She cries a lot about missing being a baby.

I don't know, dear. I understand you have your reasons, but I can't
comprehend what is so important that it's necessary to traumatise the baby
and yourself, and even risk her dehydration, to accomplish it. (Yes, I do
understand that many or even most kids are off the bottle by that age. But
your baby is not many or most kids. She's one individual.)

--angela

"Peggy" wrote in message
news
My girls are almost 2 ...

snip

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like the meanest mother on the
face of the earth not giving her the bottle but if I don't do it now I'll
never get her off it.

See, I don't follow this. Why do you feel that if you don't do it NOW, it
will never happen? Can you see how this statement is not correct? It is no
more accurate than "If I don't get her potty trained NOW, she'll never get
potty trained." "If I don't get her to sleep through the night NOW, she will
never sleep through the night."

What, never?
No, never.
What, never?
Hardly ever!

My oldest daughter breastfed until she was five. One of my twins breastfed
until she was 3 1/2 and would have gone longer if I hadn't gotten pregnant.
They all slept in bed with us as babies, and transitioned peacefully,
gradually, and without any trauma, to the kids' room around the age of 2,
more or less. None of them potty trained before 3 1/2. I didn't worry. I
don't understand the urgency of NOW. Why NOW? Why not...three months from
now, when she's more accepting and emotionally ready? Or six months? Or a
year, as long as she only has the bottles at specific times? Is there
something special about this point in her life, such as she must be weaned
to a sippy cup in order to attend a certain preschool program?

I can tell you that when I tried to wean my oldest, the more I refused her
to nurse, the more she took up sucking her thumb. If I allowed her to nurse
even once a day, the thumb-sucking vanished. I concluded that she needed to
suck still, and she was going to do it one way or another. I preferred it be
me. Eventually and gradually she stopped asking to nurse, and one day it
was simply over. I couldn't tell you when it happened. It was too gradual
and too painless.

In contrast, the one who was force-weaned at 3 1/2 STILL asks me to nurse,
and mourns her weaning. She cries a lot about missing being a baby.

I don't know, dear. I understand you have your reasons, but I can't
comprehend what is so important that it's necessary to traumatise the baby
and yourself, and even risk her dehydration, to accomplish it. (Yes, I do
understand that many or even most kids are off the bottle by that age. But
your baby is not many or most kids. She's one individual.)

--angela

"Peggy" wrote in message
news
My girls are almost 2 ...

snip

Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like the meanest mother on the
face of the earth not giving her the bottle but if I don't do it now I'll
never get her off it.

See, I don't follow this. Why do you feel that if you don't do it NOW, it
will never happen? Can you see how this statement is not correct? It is no
more accurate than "If I don't get her potty trained NOW, she'll never get
potty trained." "If I don't get her to sleep through the night NOW, she will
never sleep through the night."

What, never?
No, never.
What, never?
Hardly ever!

My oldest daughter breastfed until she was five. One of my twins breastfed
until she was 3 1/2 and would have gone longer if I hadn't gotten pregnant.
They all slept in bed with us as babies, and transitioned peacefully,
gradually, and without any trauma, to the kids' room around the age of 2,
more or less. None of them potty trained before 3 1/2. I didn't worry. I
don't understand the urgency of NOW. Why NOW? Why not...three months from
now, when she's more accepting and emotionally ready? Or six months? Or a
year, as long as she only has the bottles at specific times? Is there
something special about this point in her life, such as she must be weaned
to a sippy cup in order to attend a certain preschool program?

I can tell you that when I tried to wean my oldest, the more I refused her
to nurse, the more she took up sucking her thumb. If I allowed her to nurse
even once a day, the thumb-sucking vanished. I concluded that she needed to
suck still, and she was going to do it one way or another. I preferred it be
me. Eventually and gradually she stopped asking to nurse, and one day it
was simply over. I couldn't tell you when it happened. It was too gradual
and too painless.

In contrast, the one who was force-weaned at 3 1/2 STILL asks me to nurse,
and mourns her weaning. She cries a lot about missing being a baby.

I don't know, dear. I understand you have your reasons, but I can't
comprehend what is so important that it's necessary to traumatise the baby
and yourself, and even risk her dehydration, to accomplish it. (Yes, I do
understand that many or even most kids are off the bottle by that age. But
your baby is not many or most kids. She's one individual.)

--angela

Peggy,

My kids weaned off their last night-time bottle at 17 months due to an
accident that my son had. He slipped and fell face first into a coffee
table and caused some trauma to his front teeth. The poor thing couldn't
take his bottle *and* he couldn't sip his sippy cup (the spouts were too
rigid and hard), because it hurt!

So I came up with the idea to snip a hole in the tip of the nipple! We did
the same to my daughter's bottle too, so they would be on the same page, so
to speak. Charlie was able to drink his before-bed milk in relative comfort
because the flow was faster and so he didn't need to suck hard. Over the
next few days as his mouth healed, we made the holes bigger and bigger.
Finally, they just didn't desire the bottle anymore and switched to taking
their sippies before bed.

It worked out well and I don't think I would have ever thought of it had
Charlie not had that accident! We were starting to feel the pressure too of
getting them off bottles. I've read the other posts, and understand what
Chotii means about *why* folks feel the need to do certain things within a
certain time frame... But, everyone's different and this seems important to
you, so maybe this will work! As you make the holes bigger, they just don't
get that satisfaction of sucking. If you decide to try it, don't tell them
that anything is different... be nonchalant about it. If my memory is
correct, it only took about a week before they were off bottles completely.

P.S. Be careful too, as if they pull the bottle away from their mouth (or if
they hold the bottles themselves) it can be messy! We just had paper towels
handy at all times!

Anyway, good luck!

Lynn (Mommy to Charlie and Jenna 8/30/00)



"Peggy" wrote in message
news
My girls are almost 2 and I have still not successfully gotten them off
the
bottle and onto sippy cups. I first tried only their juice in cups, but
they wouldn't really drink it and just wait for their bottles of milk.
So,
I just decided to take the bottles away completely and give them cups. We
are now starting the third day of this and while one of my daughters is
drinking from the cup no problem, my other daughter refuses. She has
barely
had anything to drink in two days. When I give her the cup she throws it
away and cries. I'm worried she's going to get dehydrated so I'm giving
her lots of fruit. I thought if she got thirsty enough she would drink
from the cup. I know she's capable because I've seen her take sips
before.
What do I do if she still refuses to drink for the third day in a row? Do
I
relent and give her the bottle? I don't want to be inconsistent and I
don't
want to ruin my other daughter's progress by taking out the bottle again.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like the meanest mother on the
face of the earth not giving her the bottle but if I don't do it now I'll
never get her off it.

Help!
Peggy

--
http://www.babygardengifts.com

Peggy,

My kids weaned off their last night-time bottle at 17 months due to an
accident that my son had. He slipped and fell face first into a coffee
table and caused some trauma to his front teeth. The poor thing couldn't
take his bottle *and* he couldn't sip his sippy cup (the spouts were too
rigid and hard), because it hurt!

So I came up with the idea to snip a hole in the tip of the nipple! We did
the same to my daughter's bottle too, so they would be on the same page, so
to speak. Charlie was able to drink his before-bed milk in relative comfort
because the flow was faster and so he didn't need to suck hard. Over the
next few days as his mouth healed, we made the holes bigger and bigger.
Finally, they just didn't desire the bottle anymore and switched to taking
their sippies before bed.

It worked out well and I don't think I would have ever thought of it had
Charlie not had that accident! We were starting to feel the pressure too of
getting them off bottles. I've read the other posts, and understand what
Chotii means about *why* folks feel the need to do certain things within a
certain time frame... But, everyone's different and this seems important to
you, so maybe this will work! As you make the holes bigger, they just don't
get that satisfaction of sucking. If you decide to try it, don't tell them
that anything is different... be nonchalant about it. If my memory is
correct, it only took about a week before they were off bottles completely.

P.S. Be careful too, as if they pull the bottle away from their mouth (or if
they hold the bottles themselves) it can be messy! We just had paper towels
handy at all times!

Anyway, good luck!

Lynn (Mommy to Charlie and Jenna 8/30/00)



"Peggy" wrote in message
news
My girls are almost 2 and I have still not successfully gotten them off
the
bottle and onto sippy cups. I first tried only their juice in cups, but
they wouldn't really drink it and just wait for their bottles of milk.
So,
I just decided to take the bottles away completely and give them cups. We
are now starting the third day of this and while one of my daughters is
drinking from the cup no problem, my other daughter refuses. She has
barely
had anything to drink in two days. When I give her the cup she throws it
away and cries. I'm worried she's going to get dehydrated so I'm giving
her lots of fruit. I thought if she got thirsty enough she would drink
from the cup. I know she's capable because I've seen her take sips
before.
What do I do if she still refuses to drink for the third day in a row? Do
I
relent and give her the bottle? I don't want to be inconsistent and I
don't
want to ruin my other daughter's progress by taking out the bottle again.
Does anyone have any suggestions? I feel like the meanest mother on the
face of the earth not giving her the bottle but if I don't do it now I'll
never get her off it.

Help!
Peggy

--
http://www.babygardengifts.com