Milk Bottle Versus Sippy Cups

No, I don't think he's moving too fast. We transitioned from bottle to a regular cup at 9-12 months, and used a sippy cup for situations where we didn't want to deal with a spill.

Her bottle isn't "taken away" from her. She's just using different containers at different times. Not a big deal and nothing to get worked up over.

My kids never had bottles, but they learned to use a sippy cup around seven months, and by the time I weaned them from the breast at 12 months they were proficient with the cup. I work in a child care and the majority of the toddlers come with sippy cups, although there are a few that still have bottles. At 12 months most kids transition from breast or formula in a bottle to whole milk in a cup.

My daughter was drinking from a sippy cup around 8 months old... She was breastfed, so she still nursed. She was using an open cup around a year old, and weaned herself from he breast around 16 months.

14 months is not an infant... That's a toddler. If the baby is being fed formula, there really is no point beyond a year... It is made for babies, not toddlers (unless she drinks formula made specifically for toddlers.) that's why most bottle-fed babies are weaned around a year. Their nutritional needs are better met with a balanced diet, as opposed to filling up on formula or cows milk, if that's what is being out in it...(Breastfed babies are recommended to nurse longer, as the milk evolves to meet the needs of the child and provides much of the nutrition needed for babies and toddlers at different stages of development; hence the later weaning.)

There are plenty of bonding moments that can still be shared. Reading stories, snuggling into bed (even on nights my daughter slept in her crib, we still snuggled in my bed for a few minutes.) bath time, play time, the possibilities are endless.

It's sad to lose moments like that... But that's what it means to be a mom. You cherish the moments you can, because they are so fleeting. Then when they end, you move on and embrace the new moments as they come.

My ped said at 12 months to drop the bottle and move to a sippy or regular cup. It is not good for the development of their teeth. I don't think the boyfriend is out of line. Everybody needs to be on the same page so your granddaughter is not confused. Dropping the bottle is considered a milestone imo.

Our daughter stopped the bottle on her first birthday and never looked back. So did the other children in this neighborhood, except for the kids that were breast fed.

We threw them all away and she never missed or asked for them again. It is easier if you are all on the same page.

Since she does so well at his home without them, and at at daycare.. I would just stop. Your daughter can still hold her and read her books. That never gets old for a child, until your legs start falling asleep.

I had my first off the bottle by 12months and my next by 14 months. My son has been extremely stubborn, taking it at night only until a month ago. Really, when they are able to hold a cup, they should be able to drink from a regular cup. We do still use a sippy cup for my 2 yr old but only when needed so I don't end up with a big mess and it is usually water. He has been drinking from a regular cup sinc 11 months.

I think it is great to have her off the bottle now.

Everything I read said baby should not use a bottle after 12 months. But my kids had theirs a little longer. I understand what you mean. I miss those precious moments of holding my kids and feeding them. It's probably time to give up the bottle.

My kids are usually totally weaned (i breastfeed) around 14 months. I've already introduce a cup to my current LO (she's 11 month). I use old tupperware sippy cups that leak if held upside down. In a few weeks I'll probably take the top off and let her just drink out of a cup. When she hits 1, I will give her milk in a cup at lunch time.

For snuggles and special moments, I read to my kids.

I think moving from the bottle to sippy cup around 12 months is increasingly common. While there are certainly many babies that keep a bottle longer, many parents try to wean the bottle a little earlier. Since most kids are drinking water and/or juice out of a cup, it makes sense to switch the milk to a cup too.

I see your point of view, but I don't think her father is doing anything wrong or moving too fast.

Every child is different.
She might be too young but if she takes it w/ease at his house, try following suit at your house so she doesn't feel sad at his house.
Ask him how she does w/it at his house? "Any fussing? Any refusals?
Any problems?" etc.
If she is off it would be good for her in the long run.

Around that age we started to transition, but I still used a bottle at night for our bonding time and she still got one first thing in the morning. I think it is important to use sippy cups so they won't only use a bottle. My pediatrician said to start to use a sippy around 9 months so that my son wouldn't only associate milk with a bottle.

My question is, how does your daughter feel about this? It should really be a decision that she and the dad are making together, not grandma (not that we don't appreciate grandma's opinion. no sarcasm there. I really DO appreciate my mom's advice :) )

I was told by a specialist recently that not only can it cause issues with teeth but also the development of a child's speech as a sippy cup strengthens the same muscles within the mouth that's used for talking. At 12 months a child should have all liquids through a sippy cup for these reasons.
So for these reasons I would embrace the ease with which your granddaughter has accepted her cup. My 2 year old twins absolutely refuse to have their milk in anything other than a bottle (sippy cup for everything else!!) so quite frankly I would be tap dancing down the street if I had this issue :-) x

My pediatrician said DS should be off the bottle at 12 months. We were using regular cups (why teach them to disregard gravity with sippy cups and then teach them again later?) starting at 9 months for practice. His daycare started using cups at meal times (when they offered solids) at 9 months. For 'real' feedings he was on a bottle until 12 months. He got a bottle before bed until he was 13 months. At that time we switched to a cup. We switched to water for the last before bedtime drink at maybe 16 months - since we did not brush his teeth after the last drink. It had absolutely nothing to do with being independent. My son is 8 so these are not new suggestions.

ETA - We NEVER put milk in bottles, only formula. That would have seemed a sort of backwards move.

I am an old fashioned kind of gal. Why must babies be off bottle by 12 months. Some babies find great comfort in their baba! Would you want our morning coffee taken.

However, if at daycare and her Dads, she is using a sippy cup, I would give her sippy cup.

However, if she wants it and then uses sippy cup when not with you great. Let her have it. In the scheme of life, such a small insignificant thing. Salute to,her bottle. Bottoms up LOL. It's bottle for me if she enjoys it.

Milk is milk is milk is milk is milk....need more? It does NOT matter what it comes from it's still milk. Not in a bottle? Still milk. In a tippy cup? It's still milk.

So don't fret. Let her drink it from what you want. Some kids stay on the bottle until they are 2 or 3. Some women breast feed until kids are older. It's still just MILK!

Many people are on the bandwagon that kids should be off the bottle by a year. It's still milk people. Some kids need to suck longer than others. Some are ready for a tippy cup at 8 months where others would starve to death if a parent said drink it out of that cup or do without, they'd simply starve because they want to suck it out of a bottle.

Calling this toddler an infant isn't going to make things easier with the dad. He is doing okay and so are you guys. Just because he has him off the bottle doesn't mean that's an order you have to follow. Do what you think is right.

At the end of the day it's a receptacle for holding liquid whether it's a bottle, cup or sippy cup. For us it didn't much matter what we used. We used bottles because that's what we bought before our first was born and it's the standard choice for formula/breastmilk. We slowly replaced them with sippy cups starting right around 11 months. By around 15 months the bottles were gone. I don't think it's too fast because in the grand scheme of things the bottles will be gone eventually and your granddaughter will be moved to cups of one type or another.

We laughed at ourselves the other night when we retired the bottles for our youngest. We joked that the baby phase is officially done. We recognized it was more of a milestone for us than it was our son. Such is life. From one phase to the next, life steadily flows.

with my oldest child (now 25) I was told 12 months so I did.
with my much younger child the pediatrician said by 18 months, so Ok that was nice the extra time to give a bottle, and he was smaller than the other two and adopted so I had less time to cuddle him
with my middle child she never took a bottle, breast to cup at 13 months.
Not a huge decision 12 months or 18 months.

My eldest daughter ditched her bottle younger than 12 months, all on her own. She was a Big Girl and wanted to use a Big Girl Cup. When my middle daughter was weaning off a bottle it was a little later because transitions are difficult for her, and she has Autism. She was still done before 14 months. My youngest daughter was like, "Oh hells to the no, my sisters use Real Big Girl Cups so there's no way I'm using bottles. Straw cup or Big Girl Cup or Mom's Cup."

I think your granddaughter's father is doing the right thing. A bottle may be comforting to her, especially if she's having a little trouble with the transition, but it's all right for her to miss her bottle.

I was told the US is one of the only (don't quote me..) placs that takes it away at 1. Many of my friends/family.. not til 2.. 2.5 yrs.. I don't see an issue.

I don't think he is moving too fast. My kids used sippy cups by age 1. That said, they also still nursed. So, I don't think it's a big deal for her to have a combination of both a bottle and a sippy cup.

If it were me, I'd put a sippy cup on her tray at lunch and dinner time when she is trying out solid foods. But since many 14 month olds don't eat enough solid foods to get complete nutrition, your daughter may also want to give a bottle of formula a once or twice a day during this transition period between formula and solids.

As she eats more and more solids at mealtimes (with a sippy cup of milk on the side), the bottle will gradually go away over the next few months.

Both of my kids were off the bottle just short of 12 months. My daughter was 11 months when she left the bottle. I introduced the sippy cup at 6 months along with solid foods. Due to issues with formula my daughter was taken off at 10 months and started the transition to milk. My son I started the transition over at 11 months and he was fully off by 12 months as well. Never did regular milk or juice get put into a sippy cup. I got rid of the bottles and they never looked back. IMHO 14 months and a bottle is too old. There is no reason why they cannot have the sippy cup and should also not be relying on milk as the main nutrition anymore. But again that is my opinion and its what worked for my children.