My11 Month Old Son Wants the Bottle

If he wants a bottle but is drinking from a sippy, I'd only give him water in the bottle---makes it less desirable. He's old enough to eat table food, and he probably wants to feed himself--he can't do that with baby food. Give him anything you are eating, cut in tiny pieces and cooked well (green beans are great). Also, soft fruit---bananas, canned fruit pieces, grapes(cut), berries, avocado, whatever he can pick up. With enough finger foods to keep him busy, he may let you slip in a bite or two on a spoon.

there is nothing wrong with an 11 month old having a bottle both of mine bottle broke around 12 months my oldest went cold turkey and my youngest has a sippy attachement. but they both broke early. so let him have his bottle.

My son went through a phase like that. I found out he was getting molars and the bottle filled his belly without hurting his mouth. As soon as the molars cut through, he went back to the same little man I once knew. It's probably a phase for yours too. Don't stress. He won't be going to school with a bottle. : )

We began by giving our daughter water and juice in a sippy cup (the one with the bendable straw) and only put the milk in a sippy cup for lunch to get her use to it. The night time bottle stopped at 12 months due to she was drinking everything from her sippy cups with the bendable straw. -- We have 4 different cups used for certain liquids for her due to we don't like the mix the bevarages in the cups due to juices scent the cup.

No worries; your son will be fine. Your doing a great job.

My son also would eat only cheerios when he was about 10 months. It was a phase though. After about a month of eating only cheerios or milk, he eventually started trying other foods: cheese, yogurt, and fruits like pears, strawberries, cooked peas, veggie burger. Not as much baby food as regular table food. He turned out to be a very good eater eventually, always ready to try new foods. As for the milk, mine would only nurse. No bottle, no sippy cup. Making him give it up wasn't easy. Two things helped. One, once we introduced cow milk around the age of 13 months, he liked it. He hated formula. And the milk was directly from a sippy cup, no bottles. Second, we eventually got him to give up the night time feed by the time he was 13 months with my husband's help. Earlier, anytime he woke up during the night I used to look after him, so he would expect to nurse. Then my husband started holding him and trying to calm him down anytime he woke up during the night. That was when his night time feeds eventually went away.

it's just a phase. moms tend to panic that kids are 'backsliding' but in truth progress is usually done in stages, and the wise mama doesn't push. offer him soft food, cheerios are good, and keep offering (but not insisting on) the sippy cup.
khairete
S.

Hi J.,

Please do not get worried!!! My daughter finally just weaned herself off of the bottle at 2 and a half years old. Did I get comments from family members? *YES* Did I get weird looks at the store? *YES* It was like these people thought I was the worst mom in the world. It got to be quite annoying.

But you know what??? My daughter never took a binkie; she doesn't have a woobie, or whatever you call it; and she doesn't drag a dirty old stuffed animal around (which are all fine by me, by the way).

She is TWO. She drinks out of sippies, and regular cups with or without straws all the time, but she took her bottle at nap time, at night, if she got hurt, and if she woke up in the middle of the night.

Did her teeth rot out of her mouth for falling asleep with her bottle in her mouth? *NO* Did her teeth/bite get negatively affected? *NO* Her dentist said she has beautiful, healthy teeth from all of the calcium she got from the milk she drank out of HER BOTTLE.

I don't know who created the age that children should lose the bottle, but I never had to worry about the anxiety of giving it up, or the 'bottle fairy' or any of that. She weaned herself when she was good and ready. So yeah, I am that terrible mom you may see at the playground because my daughter was on the bottle for 30 months of her life. BIG DEAL!!

She is the most secure, happy child I have ever met, and I owe a big part of that to letting her be a kid.

Good luck and don't stress!! When he is ready, he will give it up. It is not worth the stress of fitting him onto a specific timeline!!

And Cheerios rock too,
L.