Toddlers with Bottles?

[queenbee]

What are your thoughts on toddlers (12 months and older) who are still on the bottle/bottle-attached?

Do dckids go cold-turkey or does weaning take place?

Do your own children have them longer/shorter than the dckids?

Do you have rules for them such as: only at naptime, only filled with water, ect.?

[Blackcat31]

My food program coordinator told me we are NOT allowed to put any type of liquid in a bottle for a child when they turn 12 months old. Whether they have one at home or not doesn't matter. I am required by my food program to give all liquids in a cup at 12 months, just as they switch to the older kid meal petten requirements too.

The ONLY exception would be a special diet statement but in all my years doing this I have never had that happen, although I am sure it won't be so far fetched in this day and age.

I have a letter that I send out to parents about 6-8 weeks before the child's 1st birthday telling them of the rules and the need to start addressing it so that the transition is not to hard on the child.

In recent years all my babies have been breast fed and seem to make the move from bottle to cup very quickly and pretty early so I have been lucky there.

[DaisyMamma]

I have a 14 month old who is still on the bottle. His mom has no interest in switching so as far as i can see it is not my problem, but my food program has no such limitations. My kids were both off the bottle before age 1.

[Cat Herder]

NO bottles after 12 months.

Formula or water ONLY in bottles, ever.

I start giving them sippy's as a "toy" early....even the baby dolls here have sippy cups.

Infants like to mimic other kids, not difficult to incorporate at all into the everyday environment.

It is RARE I have one who will even take a bottle after 10 months....

[renodeb]

If I had it my way there would be knowone on a bottle after a year. I start giving them a sippy at about 7 or 8 mos old. So by a year there off the bottle. I have have a few come to me with a bottle in tow. I always bite my tongue though. Parents dont believe that its possible to break them of things like that. For the most part I think we live in a society that is so afraid of there own childrens dissatisfaction. Parents work so hard to pacify there kids b/c parents cant cope with a little discontent on the childs part. There so afrtaid of scarring there kids when having a bottle after 1 really is doing more hard than good. To me there is nothing worse than a toddler running around with a bottle hanging out of there mouth.
I have this one client, (well exclient) that still owes me some money so she comes by to drop it off and sometimes the child is with her and she has a bottle hanging out of her mouth. Mom insists that she will give up the bottle on her own, I say bull! (this is moms 4th child) When I had that child she was totally on the cup. Now shes 2 1/2 and on the bottle. One thing I have noticed is that she child seems a little chunky for her age. I think having a bottle of juice all day may be a contributing factor? Just a theory!
I just started a new client yesterday, I didnt know she still h ad a bottle before nap until she walked in and mom pulled it out to show me. (the child is almost 2) In her words "I havent been mean enough to wean her off yet" Good grief woman! Its not a matter of being "mean" its progressing your child ina normal way. To be honest I debated on even giving it to her. It was a glass bottle (one of those born free bottles)
Those are both examples of the parent feeling that they need to pacify there children. I say to that "Good grief". Let the children learn to cope on there own. I have never had trouble getting kids onto a cup and off the bottle. Its always the parents who are afraid.
Debbie

[Heidi]

no bottles by a year for sure. If they are still getting one at home at bedtime, that is up to them.

I usually get them on a sippy as soon as they are doing any finger foods, and then the bottles go bye-bye. I can't STAND toddlers walking around with bottles, shaking them all over, or sitting on my lap ripping my fingers off (why do they do that?).

I had a little girl many years ago that was still taking a bottle to GO TO SLEEP! AT 3! With Juice in it!

ahhhh...no!

Because she was 3 already, I had to back her off slowly. First I watered down the milk, next day more, then less and less each day. By Thursday she had just 2 oz of water, and Friday she went with an empty bottle.

Monday, for some strange reason, all the bottles in my house went missing!!!::

[momma2girls]

I have it written in my contract at a yr. I will provide milk, food, etc. they supply the sippee cups.
I just interviewed a family who's son was 3 1/2 and still needed a paci for naptime- OMG!!! Needless to say, weird family and bad children!!

[sahm2three]

What are your thoughts on toddlers (12 months and older) who are still on the bottle/bottle-attached?

Do dckids go cold-turkey or does weaning take place?

Do your own children have them longer/shorter than the dckids?

Do you have rules for them such as: only at naptime, only filled with water, ect.?

My thoughts are, it is the parents job to break them of it. So if they can get 'er done over the weekend, great. I don't allow anyone to walk around with a bottle. So, I guess I don't make too big of a fuss over it. From about 8 months or so, they all get sippies at lunch and snack. If they still take a bottle, they get one before each nap, and that is it. I breastfed my kids, and they all breastfed until they were 18 months when they self weaned. They only wanted to nurse right before sleep, so I didn't push weaning. I feel like it is the same with bottles.

I have one 1 year old who is weaned, and two who are not. It is up to the parents to do it. I don't lie them in bed with one either. They each take turns lying in the bouncer with their bottle. Then they get a drink of water to wash it down and they go to bed.

[laundrymom]

I am another who weans early. 8-10 months is usually the latest here.

[momma2girls]

I have had parents ask me about letting them carry around sippee cups here at daycare. Are you kidding me? I never let my own 3 children carry around sippee cups!!! I keep them in the refrigerator, til snacks, and mealtimes.

[daycare]

My food program coordinator told me we are NOT allowed to put any type of liquid in a bottle for a child when they turn 12 months old. Whether they have one at home or not doesn't matter. I am required by my food program to give all liquids in a cup at 12 months, just as they switch to the older kid meal petten requirements too.


Ditto this... I was told the same thing by my food program lady. I had a little girl that was almost 2 and she refused the sippy cup here and would just wait until she got home to drink out of the bottle... I even told the parents about bottle rot and they did not care.

I tired really hard and it took 4 months to finally get her to drink out of the sippy..

[GretasLittleFriends]

I had a girl in the first part of November start who was 2.5yrs old. She will be 3 in May. Her dad dropped her off with a bottle of chocolate milk. He called it "dikita" because that's how she says chocolate milk. This is their youngest, and third. I asked how she did with cups (thinking lidless) and he said "she doesn't use a cup at all". Ok, we'll use a sippy cup. My next question/statement was we don't have chocolate milk here often. He gets this confused look on his face and says "she's never had white milk". I still to this day wonder if he was messing with me because the chocolate milk went in the fridge and came out at the end of the day when she left. She drank plain milk out of a sippy cup just fine, and told him both at pick-up. It seems like they don't want their baby to grow up.

[Country Kids]

I had a girl in the first part of November start who was 2.5yrs old. She will be 3 in May. Her dad dropped her off with a bottle of chocolate milk. He called it "dikita" because that's how she says chocolate milk. This is their youngest, and third. I asked how she did with cups (thinking lidless) and he said "she doesn't use a cup at all". Ok, we'll use a sippy cup. My next question/statement was we don't have chocolate milk here often. He gets this confused look on his face and says "she's never had white milk". I still to this day wonder if he was messing with me because the chocolate milk went in the fridge and came out at the end of the day when she left. She drank plain milk out of a sippy cup just fine, and told him both at pick-up. It seems like they don't want their baby to grow up.

No, I don't think he was messing with you. I had siblings that never had white milk at home. In fact mom would have two cartons in the fridge all day at work staying cold and then bring them to drink on the way home. They were very suprised that I didn't serve chocolate milk!

[cheerfuldom]

I let kids have bottles longer but no walking around holding them and no bottles to bed.

[Texasjeepgirl]

If I had it my way there would be knowone on a bottle after a year. I start giving them a sippy at about 7 or 8 mos old. So by a year there off the bottle. I have have a few come to me with a bottle in tow. I always bite my tongue though. Parents dont believe that its possible to break them of things like that. For the most part I think we live in a society that is so afraid of there own childrens dissatisfaction. Parents work so hard to pacify there kids b/c parents cant cope with a little discontent on the childs part. There so afrtaid of scarring there kids when having a bottle after 1 really is doing more hard than good. To me there is nothing worse than a toddler running around with a bottle hanging out of there mouth.
I have this one client, (well exclient) that still owes me some money so she comes by to drop it off and sometimes the child is with her and she has a bottle hanging out of her mouth. Mom insists that she will give up the bottle on her own, I say bull! (this is moms 4th child) When I had that child she was totally on the cup. Now shes 2 1/2 and on the bottle. One thing I have noticed is that she child seems a little chunky for her age. I think having a bottle of juice all day may be a contributing factor? Just a theory!
I just started a new client yesterday, I didnt know she still h ad a bottle before nap until she walked in and mom pulled it out to show me. (the child is almost 2) In her words "I havent been mean enough to wean her off yet" Good grief woman! Its not a matter of being "mean" its progressing your child ina normal way. To be honest I debated on even giving it to her. It was a glass bottle (one of those born free bottles)
Those are both examples of the parent feeling that they need to pacify there children. I say to that "Good grief". Let the children learn to cope on there own. I have never had trouble getting kids onto a cup and off the bottle. Its always the parents who are afraid.
Debbie

For the second time this morning.. I began reading a thread... and from the moment I saw the title.. I knew what my own post would say...then I ran across one that said mostly EXACTLY what was forming in my mind...

I begin ALL babies on a NUK trainer cup as soon as possible!!! 6, 7 8 months old.. My philosophy is IF THEY CAN HOLD THEIR OWN BOTTLE...they CAN HOLD A CUP... especially one that has HANDLES... I have an 'almost 7 month old infant' in my care now since 6 weeks of age... the day I started giving her the cup... and she responded well to ****ing on it.. was the LAST DAY she got a bottle in my care... This is the second child from this same family... although I did not care for the first child until he was 14 months old.. he was off the bottle when he arrived in my care...so I knew the mom would respond well to taking the bottle away with this new baby...I told her the day I offered the cup...she was excited...and went out that same day and purchased several of the same cup so that she could 'maintain consistency' at home....

Of course if a baby doesn't do well with transitioning to the different style of nipple that comes on this particular cup.. I work with them until they do... but...if they are able to figure it out...and **** their formula out of that cup...then WHY would you give them a bottle???? My own granddaughter is in my daycare...she started with this cup at 5 months old.. and did fantastic... has been on it ever since.....