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Infant feeding

Get advice and support with infant feeding from other users here.

Original poster

Bottles to Beakers - Going Cold Turkey

26 replies

Corky · 08/01/2004 20:05

I have a 15month old dd who will quite happily drink juice from a beaker. When I try putting milk in this beaker she spits it out. I've tried the beaker casually for the last 5 months with her afternoon milk but with little progress so I decided to go 'cold turkey' and take all the bottles away completely. She had her last drop of milk on Monday and hasn't touched a drop since.

For the milk I'm using a different beaker that I had one successful moment with a few months ago - so I at least know that she can drink from it. I try offering her the beaker at the appropriate time and she now runs off the minute she sees it and the more I force the more it annoys her.

I don't think she is too bothered by this lack of milk as if anything her appetite has improved (didn't eat huge amounts before), so wondered how to progress. Not sure if I should try a different beaker to get her interested again as she knows what's in the other one (I have at least 8 different beakers!), or not offer her any milk now for a few days, or just keep going in the hope that she'll eventually drink it.

Are there any other Mums out there that have been through this experience and came out smiling on the other side??

OP posts:
Evita · 08/01/2004 21:11

Alas, not smiling the other side, but going through the same thing. My daughter, also 15 months, will drink water from her beaker but if I put milk in it she completely rejects it.

I'm hoping some other mumsnetter comes along and solves all our problems ...

suzywong · 08/01/2004 21:21

peer group pressure

DS1 2.8 started nursery this morning and being typical doting mother I aske the head teacher if he could have his snack time milk in a bottle as it was all he ever used for milk at home and he was very attached to it
She smiled sweetly and said 'just watch what happens' and sure enough he sat at the table with his new mates and drained his milk from a beaker without batting an eye.

Now this doesn't help you much with littleys but if you know of an older child who has kicked the bottle habit maybe you could use her/him as an example.

The other thing is not to get too stressed out about it as it really will do her no harm, orthadontically or otherwise, to use the bottle for another year. So ask yourself why you are so keen for her to give it up? IYSWIM

HTH

StressyHead · 08/01/2004 21:33

message withdrawn

Tommy · 09/01/2004 15:12

I bought several different beakers for my now nearly 2 year old to try and get him off the bottle. He drinks water out of one of them (the free one my health visitor gave him!) but insists on drinking his milk out of a bottle (although an Avent one with a green spout) He won't even drink it out of an Avent beaker with the same spout! I've decided that there are other more important things in life to worry about and am assuming he won't go to school with a bottle so I'm just not worrying about it anymore.
He also will only drink warm milk (something he went back to after the birth of DS2) which is a bit inconvenient at times but is better than a tantrum and "Beep beep Mummy!" (microwave oven noise )shouted very loudly wherever we happen to be.
Relax Corky...I recognise myself in your message about a year ago because my HV told me he should be on a beaker. DS is none the worse for it and I think the peer pressure thing is right - they all do these things when it's right for them and not for us!

Northerner · 09/01/2004 15:16

Hio all! My ds (now 20 months) did exactly the same. He drank milk from his bottle (avent) but not from ANY kind of beaker, and I bought every brand going. In the end I just bought white avent spouts and swapped them with the teats. So he still has a bottle and it looks and feels the same, but there is no teat. And it is the taet which does the damage I believe. He swapped to this without batting an eyelid HTH.

Mum2Ela · 09/01/2004 15:19

My DD is just 16 months and I went cold turkey with her from bottles to beakers when she was 10 months. Once she knew she wasn't going to have her bottle again (or perhaps had forgotten about it)she was fine - took only a couple of days.

Also did the cold turkey thing with her 'didi' (dummy) last month. She is only allowed to have it for bedtime now and actually gives it to me when she gets out of bed in the morning.

Just a thought - DD has also recently started drinking out of a proper beaker. Perhaps you could try this? It takes a couple of goes - liquid over head etc. but they soon get the gist. Perhaps then you could use spouty cup for water and beaker for milk? (DD also uses those tope that are like the water bottles you get - y'know, sports bottle things - another option?)

p.s. I also bought about 8 different types of spouty beaker things until I found DD would use the Avent ones. After a bit of use and experience with others, they soon generalise the skill to all the other types.

HTH

Sorry to ramble!

x

Babblan · 09/01/2004 16:42

I would say "don't worry"! I have never seen a fifteen-year-old who insists drinking from a bottle (unless it is beer in it ). My two-year-old drinks juice and water from a beaker and gets
his milk in a bottle. In the culture I come from it is considered very important that children get a bottle as long as they want to. It gives them a great sense of closeness and makes them feel safe. It is something that lets them be "babies" while they develop and move forward in so many other ways. Could someone tell me why it is so important that a child does not drink milk from a bottle?! I just don't understand it.
I would say. Trust your child! She will move on when she feels ready for it with your encouragement and from the example set by other children.

Northerner · 09/01/2004 16:50

Babblan - apparantly drinking liquid from a bottle can lead to tooth decay. When a child drinks from a beaker the liquid goes straight to teh back of the throat and is swallowed, with a teat the liquid gushes in the mouth and washes over all of the teeth. Particularly bad if laying down at the same time.

Babblan · 09/01/2004 17:27

I have heard this argument before, but I find it very hard to believe. Where I come from people have very good teeth indeed! (Documented fact) I would think it might be a problem if your child spends ages emptying a bottle. My son gulps the stuff down. I have bought teats with a large slit in them which makes them easier to drink from. Don't think they are available in this coultry though, but there are other ways of making the hole bigger. Child happy, teeth happy,
mummy happy

Hulababy · 09/01/2004 17:31

My DD was (and is) just the same. She is now 21 months and still doesn't like to drink milk from a beaker. She will now, however, drink it from a normal glass.

We cheated. I kept the bottle (Avent) but rather than a teat I replaced it with an Avent sput (removed the valve as she hated it with that too). Hey presto, it worked!

Even now, first thing in a morning she occassionally likes a drink of warmed milk from her bottle with a spout. I think it is a comfort thing as well.

BTW, DD doesn't like cold milk at all and it has to be slightly warmed through. Don't mind at all though as I am just glad she will drink it - I hate the stuff.

Hulababy · 09/01/2004 17:32

Forgot to add - cold turkey didn't work at all with us. DD just refused it for a week. My priorit ended up her having the milk rather than what she drank from.

ThomCat · 09/01/2004 17:40

How strange that they take water but not milk, funny little thing bless 'em

All I have to add to this is that Lottie was a nightmar with taking a beaker, milk or water, just wouldn't go for it and i spent a bloody fortyune and have 55 (!) beakers in a cupboard all of which she won't touch.

Then I discovered Boots own make beakers, they are bright jade green ones and she took to them stright away - no fuss at all - still refuses others though - thought I'd mention it to you girls anyway.

Cawthorne · 09/01/2004 18:13

my now four year old drank milk in a beaker at nursery from 12 months and didn't at home until he was almost 4 ! he is dinosaur mad and we went to a museum that had dinosaur cups and we said he could have one as his milk cup and that seemed to work (although even now if he is very tired he will ask for milk in a bottle). I thought it wasn't worth the battle to make him use a cup at home earlier since I felt it was more important that he drank the milk. I also agree that the comfort factor is important and we brush teeth straight after milk anyway.
good luck but don't let it stress you out

hana · 09/01/2004 18:51

DD now 2.3 still has her bedtime milk in a bottle . Through the day she has cups or beakers, depends on where we are. Teeth get brushed after her milk so I don't see a problem.
Good luck in getting rid of the bottle if that's what you want to do!

carriemac · 09/01/2004 19:16

my 3 year old had 3 back teeth removed under ga with terrible decay and i blame his bottle of milk habit!

Epigirl · 09/01/2004 19:38

2 year old dd not had a drink of milk in a year since she was bf until 12 months and wouldn't/won't drink milk from a beaker/cup and believe me, I tried them all. She has plenty of cheese/yoghurt/other dairy products as well as a varied diet and is perfectly OK so I'm smiling!

popsycal · 09/01/2004 19:41

Hulababy - my ds is similar to your dd in terms of milk from a bottle disguised as a beaker!
he is getting better however
He will drink it from a tommee tippee sprots bottle

popsycal · 09/01/2004 19:41

SPORTS bottle

Hulababy · 09/01/2004 20:12

Epigirl - I never drank milk as a baby either; still don't. My teeth are just fine. I haven't even got a filling, even now.

jasper · 10/01/2004 00:37

Babblan I completely agree with you.
I have asked this question to several dental health educators and never got a decent answer.
If a toddler swigs down a cupful of milk in a couple of minutes from a bottle once or twice a day , where is the harm? Different scenario if he/she is sooking all day long for comfort, but simply as the prefered method for getting milk down the big tube, where is the harm so long as all the usual sensible dental health advice is followed?

jasper · 10/01/2004 00:38

Thomcat

Demented · 10/01/2004 21:00

My goodness Thomcat, I didn't even know there were 55 different types of baby/toddle cup, the mind boggles!

What I did with my DS1 when he was about 9 months(and it now seems a bit daft in the grand scheme of things but if you are really keen) was dip the spout of the beaker into either fromage frais or apple puree and get him to suck on it, once he started to get the milk he was fairly happy, did this for a couple of days and he seemed to have forgotten all about bottles. He did however become addicted to Anyway-up-cups after this but this is just the sort of child he is.

All the best whatever you decide.

popsycal · 12/01/2004 22:53

Was thinking about this before as I was putting away the dishes....ds is great with beakers but here are afew dfor you to try
I had a doidy cup when i was a child and i just bought ds one
for when they are prgressing to a real cup
also tommee tippee have started a new cup aged 12= which I cant find a website for - morrisons stock them - they have a starw but a little little with a small hole in. you use it like a normal cup but not much comes out at once
may be too old for your little one but worth a mention
also kids on the go sports bottles (tommee tippee again) are very good for toddlers
i thikn anyway

popsycal · 12/01/2004 23:33

oh and avent do a new sport spout
hold on

popsycal · 12/01/2004 23:34

here it is

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