The Finger Puller

[Heidi]

THis little lady is 4 months old...and she's a squirming little finger puller when I feed her. Someone remind me...at what age do they start holding their own bottle? It's been a long time since I've had one this little!

Yeah, in the great scheme of things, it's pretty minor...

[Blackcat31]

NONE of the last few babies I have had held their own bottles until close to a year... I assumed it was because they were/are breast fed at home so the only experience or opportunity they got to do it was at daycare and it was just easier for me to hold it and get the job done.

I have one right now that I hold and feed but canNOT make eye contact with because if I do, he will burst into fits of giggles a smiles and won't get anything down! He is just so stinking happy, he can't help it!

[Lilbutterflie]

I think right at about 6-9 months has been my experience. I start teaching them at the finger pulling stage; by putting their hands on the bottles and my hands over theirs. If they want to let go, I let them. Rinse and repeat at every bottle feeding. Once they start to hold it (still with my hands covering theirs) for longer periods of time; I start letting go. Bottle will fall, I let it fall. Pick it up, put their hands on it; rinse and repeat. Once they are holding the bottle well while holding them, I gradually move them to the floor on their backs, with me right by their side. Then when they hold the bottle on the ground by themselves, we're done! Yay! happyface

It's a process, but usually by 9 months they've got it down!

[Heidi]

She drinks either b. milk of formula...either way..she eats every 2 hours! Somedays it feels like all I do is feed and change her...

They're waiting 'til 6 months on solids now-a-days, right?

[EchoMom]

Both my DCbabies learned to hold their own bottle at 8months. One the parents were working on it at home and it never even occured to me! I was overjoyed when they mentioned he could do it and suddenly I was so much freer! The other baby the parents were not ever giving her the opportunity to hold her own bottle so at 8months I gave her some tough love and started bootcamp style teaching her to hold it herself! She figured it out in about a week.

SO much nicer to not have to hold the bottle for them!!!

[Blackcat31]

She drinks either b. milk of formula...either way..she eats every 2 hours! Somedays it feels like all I do is feed and change her...

They're waiting 'til 6 months on solids now-a-days, right?

The food program guidelines say between 4-7 months it is optional but is required at 8 months. My oldest baby isn't on solids yet either and is just shy of 7 months.

[Heidi]

The food program guidelines say between 4-7 months it is optional but is required at 8 months. My oldest baby isn't on solids yet either and is just shy of 7 months.

Wow...so different than even 12 years ago, much less 22 when I had my first.

I think I had oldest on cereal at 3 months...then added other stuff. By 8-9 months, not one of them even got "baby" food anymore...just simple finger foods. By a 11 months, they ate what we ate, for the most part.

[Sugar Magnolia]

I have a child with an older sibling who taught him to say "pull my finger" before passing gas. I was hoping from the title of your post that someone else out there has this problem::.