Hi there, I kind of have an odd situation here. I have been breastfeeding my daughter since she was newborn and still am at 18 months. She usually nurses 2-3 times during the day and then at night also when she wakes up (she sleeps in my bed with me). She has been sick with a cold and cough lately and has been nursing a lot, but won't drink other fluids. On Saturday, I was sorting through old baby stuff and there were some bottles that have never been used before because she would never take a bottle, even when she was very little. She has been into babies and feeding her babies the pretend bottles, so she wanted to try one of the big ones and now she just keeps wanting a bottle! She is definitely still breastfeeding and it hasn't made her cut down on that, but she is getting a lot more fluids now and my question is, could this be detrimental to her learning or cause some kind of tooth damage? I want her to be gettng more fluids, but don't want to start a habit at such a late age with a bottle that will be hard to wean her from. Any suggestions? I gave the bottle to her daycare teachers today and told them that if they can get her to drink more out of that than a sippy cup, then that is definitely a good thing. Thanks for any help :)
M.,
I would not give her the bottle just for the simple reason of having to break her from it later. Pushing fluids is a really good thing when your little one is sick. What i do for my son, I breastfeed as well, is offer the sippy if he won't take that then we make it fun. I do water in the little medicine syringe or else in a little cup (medicine cup) or ice.
B.
When I nursed my first child, he tried that, however, Dr's say that they should go to the sippy cup. I stopped nursing when he was like 14-15 months. I understand that you want your child to be healthy, however, I think that it is time to start weenin from it all and start the sippy cup, even if you put breast milk into the sippy cup.
I'd try to steer away from the bottle. Only because eventually you will need to wean her from that and if you don't start her on one then you won't need to go through the hassle of weaning her from it. Good Luck~
I agree that you don't want to start her on a bottle now and have to worry about weaning her from it. You say she is nursing plenty, so she should be hydrated enough. You could offer to nurse more if you're worried she needs more fluids. You can also try the other methods of giving her liquids that the others have mentioned. I'd get rid of the baby's bottles and the big bottles. Get her baby a sippy cup and play up on how big the baby's getting (and your daughter) because she's using a sippy. Hopefully, she'll only be sick for a short time, so starting her on bottles doesn't seem worth a little extra fluids, when she seems to be getting enough already. :0
Maybe offer a sugar free popsicle instead? Pretty sure pedialite makes them now. Of course you'd have to supervise her while she eats it and it gets a little messy, but she will get fluids that way and would probably prefer that over a bottle given the choice :)
I dont think it would be detrimental to her learning, but it might cause decay if you give her juice in it. I'd just stick with boring water, or not do it at all. She's old enough now to drink from a regular cup, so maybe try to encourage that rather than a bottle.
I think that its great you are still nursing! Really as long as she is nursing as usual, she doesn't need any extra liquids. Breastmilk is really the perfect food, no matter what your childs age is, because its tailor made for your child, your body makes what your child needs.
I wouldn't do the bottle, offer her a really cool sippy cup, with Dora on it or some other character, or let her pick it out. But I would say she is well past the bottle stage. STick to nursing and offer her a sippy/cup for other liquids, and she'll be fine!
