My son is 11 months old today, adjusted age is 9 months since he was born 2 months premature. According to his pediatrician and early intervention nurse he is not lagging in any developmental stage and is the average height and weight of an 11 month old - so he has done very well to say the least. My question is this ~ he refuses to hold his bottle or sippy cup himself. I try to let the bottle fall or lower it when I feed him so he would pick it up himself ~ no such luck. He just screams and throws a fit until I pick it up. I tried to even hold his hands on the bottle and he pulls back and doesn't even want to touch it! Same thing with the sippy - some he will drink from if I hold it for him...the ones with the handles (we have platex and nuby) he just flings around and thinks they are a toy. Any suggestions??
Thank you to everyone for all of your help....I have tried everyone's suggestions and I think it will just have to happen when he is good and ready!! He is getting better at holding/drinking out of the sippy cup...will have to move forward with this since I want him to have all drinks that way instead of bottles eventually!!
Hi B.,
My daughter never held her bottle. She had no interest in holding it and I really believe that it made it much easier to get rid of the bottle later. See was not attached to it so when we got rid of it, she did not care. My son, on the other hand, started holding it around 11 months and it has been much harder to wean him from the bottle. Maybe it is good that you son does nto want to hold it.
B., I'm glad yo posted this question, as we've been going through the same thing. My 12-month-old doesn't like to do things himself that he can entice someone else into doing for him. He's a smart critter!
After reading the posts below, I'm off to buy some straw sippys. It is maddening to me to have to hold his cup up when I know at daycare he does it himself -- but it's hard to resist when he turns those baby blue eyes on me!
Sounds like our little boys could be good friends! We went through this with our son starting at around 8 months- until we found out from his babysitter that he held his own bottle all day long. What she did with him was to put him in his Boppy pillow with the bottle to start so he didn't have to hold and tilt at the same time. It got him used to the weight of the bottle and the need to hold it with "two hands". We also discovered that he really didn't like the sippy cups, so we offered him a cup with a lid and straw and he drinks very well out of it, so you may want to try that. We also switched back to the shorter bottled for milk so he doesn't have to lean back so far to get the milk.
Unfortunately, don't really have any advice. However,
as the mother of four kids, when he does eventually
decide to hold his bottle you will, believe it or not,
miss holding it for him. I guess what I am saying is
just enjoy your time with him. Very, very soon he will
become a very independent toddler. I guess it just is
not worth battling over now. There will be other more
important things later on. Good luck.
B.,
my son is 16 months old today and he just started to hold his bottle / sippy cup a couple of weeks ago. i really feel you can't push them to do something, even though your early intervention people say that by 11 months he should be holding it. he'll do it at his own pace in his own time, and once he does, you'll be thrilled.
my son holds all his "daytime" bottles; the only ones that i hold are his morning milk and bedtime milk bottles.
don't rush him...
hope it works.
Hi, my daughter just turned 18 months and just stopped throwing that fit. It was mostly inconvenient when she was in the stroller (especially if in a rush or if raining). I think its comforting to have it held--kind of like breastfeeding. I still hold it a lot. She's getting more independent and its nice these days to have a way to baby her.
My daughter never held a sippy cup - had to do it for her. After she turned 1 year, I introduced a straw cup. It worked great. Now at 3 years old she does the straw cup and a regular cup with no problem.
Hi,
Each kid is different...
My first refused to hold a bottle or sippy cup until after she was 1...
Most likely your son likes you to cuddle/hold him.
Try to offer sippy cups at the high chair during the regular meal times and cuddle with him (without bottles in between).
My 2nd held her bottle and sippy cups with no problems when she was under 1 (can't remember exact month). It just depends on the kid, I guess...
It'll be fine - enjoy him now while he's still at this age, he'll be holding his cup before you know it. :)
Did you try buing cups with characters (elmo, barney etc)? That may be of interest to your son.
I would try a nuby straw cup. They are wonderful. My 11 month old loves them, and didn't understand tipping a cup, but has no problem with the straw cups. :)
HI B.
Congrats on a job well done you made it to 11 mos when they didn't know what would happen at 11 days. At least that is my guess. God has blessed!!! Praise Him!!!
As for holding his sippy cup/bottle. My oldest always did. My youngest never did. I mentioned it to the MD after it was over and he said she probably just didn't make that connection. Trust me she eats/drinks today. I wish I had mentioned it to the MD sooner it would have taken away some of my worry. Oh, by the way I was much more concerned about the fact she was not picking up her head at 10 mos than I was about holding her bottle. Talked to MD about that, of course.
My advice "hold the bottle, and be thankful that is the only lag they see" Another idea that worked at about that age but I am not sure exactly when was a straw. They could both work them easily.
Today, mine is a college sophomore on the Dean's list for journalism. Just like the MD said "it will happen just give her time". She is a step learner. Leveling on one step til she has completely conquered the next. As opposed to her twin sister who continually walked up that slight incline as she learned. Both types of learners succeed. By the way, her twin sister is a college sophomore too, making the Dean's list in Fine Arts. Both were homeschooled and are succeeding in public colleges-- commutes and lives on campus respectively.
God bless you
K. --- SAHM married 38 years -- adult children 37,33, and twins 18. Born 3 weeks early, healthy. Praise God!!!
Give it time. My girl wouldn't hold her own bottle or cup and I would wonder why and try to make her do it, and then one day she just grabbed the bottle from me and pushed my hands away and there she goes...That was a few weeks ago, and she just turned 12 months. Don't worry, your child will get there when he's ready, no rush.
This is not unusual. My son wouldn't hold his bottle and wouldn't figure out how to tip a cup up to drink (refusing any help from me) till 12 months - when i offered him a sip of my water from a straw at a restaurant. He drank the whole thing! So from then on, he would drink by himself with a straw. You could try this? They make lots of children's spill-proof water bottles with flexible straws that bend when you close the lid.
As a grandmother of 7 and mother of 3, I suggest that you just enjoy your child and not push him. He will be independent soon enough and you will regret that he is no longer a baby. Some children want their bottles for a long time...life is short...enjoy each moment
