Toddler won't feed himself bottle

[emma22234]

Hi all :)

I have an 18mo who refuses to feed himself his bottle (morning, before nap and before bed). Obviously it's fine as I can feed him still but he is starting at nursery soon and I would like him to be able to do it himself.

He is obviously capable enough as he feeds himself from his water bottle and food etc, but if it's milk he throws a paddy unless I feed him. Any tips on how I can get over this? I've tried putting it in front of him and refusing to give him it myself but it upsets him so much I end up giving him it.

I've also tried laying him down and getting his hands and putting them on the bottle but he hates it and pushes his hands away...

Any tips would be great :) xx

Sippy cup.

I’d take the opportunity to stop the bottles completely and switch to a cup. Would be better for his teeth too.

Is the bottle too slow for him? I'd move to a cup or even just up foods like cheese and yoghurt. Mine isn't that keen on milk as a drink.

Maybe it's because he associates milk with being cuddled and fed, and doesn't feel ready to give that up just yet?

Should be having milk in a cup around the 12 month mark. Bottles aren’t good for their teeth.
Also remember that calcium/ milk can be in a variety of things, cheese, yogurt etc and not just by drinking milk.

My 18 month old feeds himself his milk (he has it in the morning and bedtime) with a Munchkin weighted straw cup. The weight on the straw means that they can be held at any angle and can still get the liquid out.
We ditched bottles at 12 months.

Give him a cup. He's a bit old for a bottle

A bottle is actually really hard to drink out of yourself. You have to either lie down or hold it up while sucking so the milk will come to the teat. It's time to move to a cup - sippy cup or straw cup. There's nothing bad about cuddles though, especially before nap or bedtime. My eldest had a cup of milk and cuddles until she was nearly 5 before bed. At nursery, he'll adjust to the new routine and happily take a cup like everyone else as that's just what's expected.

I didn't know eighteen month olds still had a bottle, I certainly haven't known any. Why doesn't he use a cup?

As above. Ditch the bottle and get some kind of a sippy cup.

The flow will be faster.

My baby is 22 now but even back then we were told to ditch bottles by 12 months.

They behave differently in nursery than at home so I wouldn't worry about that, just enjoy the cuddles :)

My DS is nearly 16 months and still has a bottle for his milk only. I know they say to ditch bottles by 12 months but he wouldn’t drink anything from a sippy cup until recently and I wasn’t going to risk dehydration.

He also wouldn’t hold it himself for ages and what I found helpful was sitting him in his high chair to drink his milk. I just left it in front of him and he had no choice but didn’t think I would do it because he wasn’t on my lap. We do a story after for cuddle time.

I also came on to advise leaving bottles and moving on to a cup. I’d do beaker rather than sippy cup. DC will spill a little at first but will quickly learn.

Milk three times a day is a lot for an 18 month old too. My DD had dropped all his milk feeds by then, even bedtime. He just has a cup of milk with snack during the day, plus in his cereal and then yogurt, cheese etc for calcium. I can’t imagine many nurseries will provide a middle of the day bottle to an 18 month old.

We found a straw cup helped transition from bottle to cup with milk, so he could still suck, then moved on to a free flow Tommee Tippee.

He probably likes the comfort of you doing it will feel a familiar routine to him, wean him off his nap bottle for nursery just give him a cup.