Tuesday, January 27, 2009

the bottle situation

The pediatrician said that at 15 months the bottles must go. I don't really understand why, but ok, I'm trying. Dropping the mid-day bottle was easy. And actually dropping the morning bottle was pretty easy too. The issue is that I can't get them to drink milk out of cups. I've tried every cup and every temperature of milk. They'll drink some water from cups, and diluted juice, but nowhere near the quantity they would take from a bottle. Everybody tells me that it's normal that they drink less during the transition, and that it's ok. The issue is that Daniel system is so sensitive, and the decrease in liquids has made him severely constipated. The poor guy is sobbing while trying to poop. We had gotten over his constipation problem months ago, and I'm not happy about it being back. Is it so important that we wean off a bottle? Important enough to have to make this poor boy suffer like this while he's learning that he's supposed to drink from a cup? I'm confused and this is one of the few times in this parenting experience that I feel like I don't know what I'm supposed to do.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Good luck with everything! I got really lucky and my girls went off bottles very easily at one year, but I switched them to cow's milk (in a sippy) at the same time and they liked it.

I'm not an expert on why they need to go off the bottle but the main reason I think it's a "problem" is because of the way liquid pools in their mouth and it could cause tooth decay. So I'm thinking you could offer water in a bottle to up their liquid intake? Then offer other liquids in the cups?

Wishing you luck! Michele in Atlanta

Serenity said...

I don't know the whys either, but I like Michelle's suggestion that you offer water in a bottle, especially for Daniel, until he starts to drink more from the cup.

I will say that my nephew is 18 months and still takes bottles, and his pediatrician doesn't seem all that concerned by it. I expect that 15 months is a goal, but you're not going to hurt Daniel if you continue to give him one or two bottles on the day where you KNOW he isn't getting enough liquid.

Just my two cents. *hug*

Anonymous said...

Oh, bottles "must go" at 15 months? Not here in Sweden. DO what you feel is right for your wonderful twins. And offering water is a great idea. That we are encouraged to do here too, in Sweden ;).

I always read your blog but seldomly comment. Your twins seem like such lovely children and I really hope that Daniel will outgrow whatever is slowing his development at the moment. Good luck with the pt.

Anonymous said...

Our eldest had a bedtime bottle until he was two or so.

Our twins, at almost 16m now, have a bottle first thing in the morning and one before bed. They drink from staraw cups throughout the day. We might drop the morning bottle when they reach 18m, but the bedtime bottle likely won't be going that soon unless they decide to give it up for themselves.

cat said...

I first changed slowly from one bottle (first thing in the morning because then they are hungry and thirsty)to a cup, one feed by one feed and the night time one last. Worked like a charm.And I say, take it slow. Why rush it now. Another month will not make a difference.

Helen said...

My two still get a bottle in the morning and one before bed. I figure I should pick my battles. They can use sippy cups, but it's not the end of the world in our house if they use bottles. Not like they'll still be using them in 5 years.

karenk said...

I'm a reader but don't think I've ever left a comment before. My daughter is almost 15 months old. We never used bottles, but when I was weaning and going to the sippy cup, she pulled a drinking fast for about a week. I think I tried everything. One thing that did manage to get some liquid in was when I put a straw into the liquid, covered the top with my thumb to fill it, and then released it in her mouth. She liked the game and while it didn't give her much, it was better than nothing. After about a week, she did eventually drink if I took the valve out of the cups. Hope that helps give you some ideas. Karen

Bea said...

Why? I'm interested. Not that we use bottles here - he never got the hang of it properly. I vote go ask!

Bea