Weaning Baby From Bottle
For a baby, the bottle is one of the most precious and familiar things they will develop a relationship with in the first years of their life. As months pass and they grow older, there comes the time when baby must learn how to leave the bottle behind and move on to cups.
For some kids, parting with the baby bottle is a non-event. The parent announces it’s time, and the baby goes with it. So, what really works when giving up the bottle? Persistence, perseverance and remembering that really and truly … it will work. And as annoying as it is, people really are right when they say that no child has ever gone off to kindergarten with a bottle in their mouth.
When weaning your baby from the bottle, distractions should be kept at a minimal. Nothing else should take place at the same time that will cause anxiety or stress for your child. Renovating the house with the hammering of nails or packing up the house to enter a move across country are not good times to wean a baby from bottle.
Don’t allow your baby to use a bottle as a toy or treat it as a pacifier. Your aim as a parent is to create an association with the bottle that conveys feeding time. When a baby views their bottle as a toy or something that satisfies boredom, it will be hard to ease them towards leaving it behind.
Weaning a baby from bottle to a sippy cup is a popular transition. Many parents introduce the cup when their child has reached the age of 6 months.
The weaning process should be approached with consistency and the process should be gradually enforced so that the baby is fully able to adjust.
The ultimate goal is to support your baby as they associate with the new object with a feeling of satisfaction and enjoyment.