Make Your Toddler Boot The Bottle
March 15, 2018
Weaning your little darling from the bottle isn’t easy at all as most experienced parents would bear witness. From experience, no toddler wants to give up her comfort. The American Academy of Pediatrics reports that parents should start weaning their babies off the bottle starting at 9 months as at this age, babies have the necessary coordination to drink from a cup. Not weaning a toddler from the bottle early enough does have disadvantages, which I believe no parent would find amusing.
Do you know why?
Toddlers who walk around with a bottle in their mouths are exposed to accumulation of calories. Also, excessive constant sucking can also affect the roof of the toddlers’ mouth, affect her facial muscles and may further on affect the position of her adult teeth.
When a toddler is allowed to have a bottle to sleep, it can actually be dangerous because the body generates less saliva, which helps to wash particles away while they are asleep. Also, if your little one loves to hang on to the bottle while lying down, some of the milk tends to go to the back of the throat, and this may cause the growth of bacteria, which can crawl up to the ear.
Finally, milk has lactose and other acidic content that if allowed to continually hide in the teeth, it may boost tooth decay and cause cavities.
Then how do you wean your toddler from the bottle?
Start early – It is essential to start introducing a sippy cup early to babies. Add the cup to their feeding routine, and you can begin serving them water in a cup from as early as six months and above. This process would make them accustomed to using cups and would ease the weaning process.
Wean off the bottle gradually – If your little one has grown past nine months and is still very much accustomed to the bottle, there is certainly a need to take him off the bottle slowly. For instance, you can take away the bottle from afternoon meal time, have days off, and gradually introduce a sippy cup, together with other solid foods.
Avoid using bottles (if you can) – If you’ve been breastfeeding your baby up until 12 months, you can just avoid the bottle and move straight to cups. By doing that you will save the stress of trying to wean your child off a bottle. And It will surely save you time too!
Take the bottle out – As uncomfortable as this may be, time is all your child needs to adapt. It will be an undeniably trying process as children have a tendency to use crying as a way to manipulate you into getting back the bottle; yet you mustn’t give in to this. Going cold turkey might be difficult, but sometimes it’s the only way to really get your child used to it.
Regardless, weaning a toddler can be another very trying time for you as a parent, but then parents are advised to try to enjoy the process as well as the experience!
