A 15 Month Old And A Bottle

[Unregistered]

I was just informed today that my child is no longer able to have a bottle at daycare starting next week I have been through 3 different sippy cups and none of them have worked. I believe it is unreasonable to wean my child from the bottle in 6 days. Is this normal practice? Am I overreacting?

[daycare]

I think this is normal. What does your contract/PHB say?

If your child was in my care, I would not allow children over the age of 12month to use a bottle. According to the health Dept it is no longer healthy for their teeth.

I have children that come to me 17-18 months on a bottle and within two days are drinking out of a cup with a straw.

I also don't use bottles because they are very hard to clean.

Children will learn to do things quickly when there is no other option.

[Unregistered]

There's nothing in my contract about no bottles after 1 years of age. I understand the damage that can be done to there teeth.

[daycare]

If they said no bottle and you know that it is a healthier option then I would start making the same transition at home. Trust me when I tell you I have kids who have never had a regular cup with a straw, refuse it in the morning and by lunch are ****ing them down.

****ing is a natural thing for children to do, so I am sure that your child will have no problem.

[TwinKristi]

It's gonna be hard but believe me (as a mom not a provider) that it's easier now than later. I had to abruptly stop nursing my baby at 13 mos and he wasn't cup trained so I switched to a bottle which he's taken on and off since birth. Well now here we are at 27 mos and getting rid of the bottle is my worst nightmare. He's older, more stubborn and had massive tantrums now with no bottle. I don't know what to do! I wish I would have just switched to a cup at 13mos.

[Unregistered]

I understand taking her off the bottle but I don't feel I should be given less than a week notice to do so

[daycare]

I understand taking her off the bottle but I don't feel I should be given less than a week notice to do so

As far as I know, parents cant make you do anything in your own home. However, the provider will more than likely cut your child off of the bottle from day one.

Again, trust me when I tell you this, it's going to be harder on you than it will be on the child. And as the PP said. the longer you wait to do it, the harder it will be for both of you.

I would waive your white flag and join in on taking the child off. YOur child will get it in less than 6 days. Stop stressing out and just start working with your child.

If you are super worried about it, then maybe cut out all day time bottles and only move to a night time one ( I personally would not) this way you are 100% certain your child is getting enough fluids.

BUT speaking from experience, if you do give a night time bottle, your child will learn to wait to drink until they get the bottle that they are used to.

100% of all of my dcks that come here transition from a bottle at the age of 18 months or younger to a cup only in less than a day or so.

[Leigh]

I do agree with the PP that 6 days isn't a lot of time, and that if the provider felt it was that important, more notice would have been kind.

15 months is the age that the AAP suggests removing the bottle by. It's the age that I start to transition to cups. Some kids resist more than others. The best way to do this is to remove one bottle per day, IMO, ending with the most important bottle to the child (usually first in the morning).

If the provider feels it is so important to do this, I am surprised that she didn't start this process at daycare. I feel that a lot of parent complaints I see here are not valid, but I agree with PP that more notice would have been nice. I'd suggest asking the provider to allow you 2 weeks to complete the transition, and if she doesn't agree, go ahead and get it done in the 6 days-it won't HURT the child, but it may make it a little harder on the kid.

[Janice62]

Transition to smaller bottles and offer straw cups

Transition to smaller sized bottles and offer straw cups after the smaller bottle, meeting the child half way. *if their still thirsty*

[Mom o Col]

As a mom I let my son have a bottle til he was almost two years old. He used the kind with the plastic liners and when we ran out of our last pack I took him off the bottle cold turkey with no problem. My daycare kids are allowed to have a bottle as long as parents want them to but I find that at my house they naturally want a sippy cup instead around one year old because they see the big kids (2 and 3 year olds) with sippy cups. Your child may have an easier time not having a bottle at day care than you expect. Are there older kids around at care?

[Cat Herder]

If your child is moving up to another room in a center, then this would have been known for a while. :confused: Is this a center or a family childcare??

I have a suspicion the provider has already been working on weaning for a while and KNOWS the child will be successful next week. Few providers would be willing to make extra work for themselves. The 6 day deadline may simply be to get Mommy used to the idea...

[Heidi]

Honestly, it's not even a big discussion around here.

I introduce the cup with lots of help (a Tupperware sipper) at 6 months or so already. They get their bottles, too, but as soon as they can get 4oz or so from a cup and are eating a variety of foods, the bottles are gone. Most of mine have been done, done by 10-11 months here.

What happens at home, I usually find out later. Since none of my dcm's have breastfed past 6 months, it is a little different. I don't know if serving bm in a cup would be supportive of breastfeeding or very practical, since there is a lot of spitting at first.

To me, a bottle is just a tool to get food into a child. That is all. I don't see it as a big ritual that needs to be changed.

I've had three year olds come to me with bottles. Oh, and they go to sleep with them. Um...no!

OP...You can either go cold turkey and just plain not offer the bottles at all, in which case your child will honestly just take the cup more quickly, or you can offer milk and juice in a cup, water only in the bottle. That way, the flavor is the incentive.

With my first son (now 24), I didn't even know that he was "supposed" to be off the bottle at 12 months. My pediatrician mentioned it at a 15 mo check up. I tried "tapering" off, but he was miserable with that. So, I just literally threw them all in the dumpster, and it was ONE day of torture. After that, I learned with my other 3 (and my dck's) to introduce the cups earlier and taper off slowly. Good luck!

[Mom o Col]

If your child is moving up to another room in a center, then this would have been known for a while. :confused: Is this a center or a family childcare??

I have a suspicion the provider has already been working on weaning for a while and KNOWS the child will be successful next week. Few providers would be willing to make extra work for themselves. The 6 day deadline may simply be to get Mommy used to the idea...

I wondered the same thing. I find the daycare kids who have been with me since infancy are weaned from bottles easily and naturally by their own choice at my house.

[sharlan]

I have weaned all of my kids off of the bottle cold turkey. Within a day or two, they're drinking just fine from sippies. I do the same with sippies.

It will only be as big a deal as YOU choose to make it.

[Unregistered]

Thank you all for your responses. It's a military home daycare and per her supervisor all babies need to be off a bottle at 12 months she stated she wasn't aware that it was a mandortory thing but a recommendation. So her supervisor gave her a deadline of Monday to wean off the bottle if not she will get written up.