E1979
07-17-2008, 10:22 AM
Ok I know I have talked about this before. But I am really at a loss. I can't get my 12 month old son to start to hold his own bottle. We can't switch him over to a cup yet because we can't even get him to hold a bottle or a cup. Maybe it's a boy stubborn/lazy issue!!! Does anyone have any advice or techniques for teaching a child how to hold the bottle himself???
What we are doing right now is I lay him down on the floor and I put it in his hands. This way gravity works with him! He balls his hands into fists. He wont open his hands up. It try to pry his hands open and sometimes he'll hold the bottle(then I go nuts clapping and cheering for him) or sometimes he'll just let it fall and have a tiny tantrum.
Any and ALL thoughts are more than welcome!!!
What we are doing right now is I lay him down on the floor and I put it in his hands. This way gravity works with him! He balls his hands into fists. He wont open his hands up. It try to pry his hands open and sometimes he'll hold the bottle(then I go nuts clapping and cheering for him) or sometimes he'll just let it fall and have a tiny tantrum.
Any and ALL thoughts are more than welcome!!!
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jammyslisa
07-17-2008, 11:51 AM
Does he hold other things in his hands?
Lisa
Lisa
LauraLu
07-17-2008, 02:46 PM
Hi E,
Madeline JUST started holding her own bottle a few weeks ago. She too was my little "lazy" girl. I actually would do the same thing you did and ball up her blanket between the bottle and her chest for more leverage. Have you tried doing anything like this? Or even a small, flat pillow so that the bottle will tilt more easily for him?
Madeline got really frustrated at first, but I just kept repositioning it for her and doing lots of praise like you do.
He'll get it! Good luck!
Madeline JUST started holding her own bottle a few weeks ago. She too was my little "lazy" girl. I actually would do the same thing you did and ball up her blanket between the bottle and her chest for more leverage. Have you tried doing anything like this? Or even a small, flat pillow so that the bottle will tilt more easily for him?
Madeline got really frustrated at first, but I just kept repositioning it for her and doing lots of praise like you do.
He'll get it! Good luck!
Ratatosk
07-17-2008, 04:01 PM
DS held his bottle TWICE! Twice for us. That's it. Also was "lazy". Sometimes I'd have to hold the bottle with my chin if I needed to grab something or rearrange him while in my rocking chair. Thing is... He held it at daycare early on -- all the time!!! Ornery child just wouldn't do it for us, his parents.
E1979
07-17-2008, 04:07 PM
Oh yeah, he holds other things in his hands. His fine motor skills are excellent. He likes to pull his ear(no infection, already checked) or pull his hair, gently mind you, while he has his bottle. Its a comfort thing for him. But because of this he doesn't have a free hand to hold the bottle.
I haven't tried propping the bottle up for him. Maybe I will give this a try.
So should I be worried or will he eventually just grow out of this??? With food he wants to do it himself. Use a spoon or pick up little pieces of food. But when it comes to his bottle he just wants to play with his ears and hair while he drinks! My funny little man! :rolleyes:
I haven't tried propping the bottle up for him. Maybe I will give this a try.
So should I be worried or will he eventually just grow out of this??? With food he wants to do it himself. Use a spoon or pick up little pieces of food. But when it comes to his bottle he just wants to play with his ears and hair while he drinks! My funny little man! :rolleyes:
Delia79
07-17-2008, 06:29 PM
This may be a stupid question but have you tried sitting him up? Just a thought. Ella was stubborn about holding her bottle for a while, but when I had to stop doing it for her because I couldn't hold her with my pregnant stomach in the way, she finally decided to do it on her own. I wouldn't worry at all. I think kids just do what they want when they want. You said he loves to pick up food. Ella is a NUT about anything on her hands. If it's not dry and solid, she won't feed it to herself. She is just very particular about things getting on her hands!!!! :D
E1979
07-17-2008, 09:36 PM
He doesn't seem to understand to tip it back while sitting. At least with his sippy cup he didn't. So I would lay him down so gravity did the work for him.
So tonight I decided to try putting his milk in a sippy cup at dinner and gave it to him. He got SO ANGRY and had a fit. So I poured it into a bottle and handed it to him. He grabbed that bottle with a kung fu death grip and finished the whole thing himself! I never thought he was attached to his bottle. But I guess he is.
So tonight I decided to try putting his milk in a sippy cup at dinner and gave it to him. He got SO ANGRY and had a fit. So I poured it into a bottle and handed it to him. He grabbed that bottle with a kung fu death grip and finished the whole thing himself! I never thought he was attached to his bottle. But I guess he is.
Delia79
07-18-2008, 08:06 AM
Good! I think it seems mean, but it's like you almost have to make them mad enough that they end up doing it on their own. That sounds awful, but like I said, that is pretty much what I had to with Ella. With my stomach in the way now, there was just no way I could hold her bottle for her anymore. She is only taking one bottle a day now, right before bed, but she is perfectly content now holding it herself! ;)
E1979
07-18-2008, 12:19 PM
So delia, does Ella have milk throughout the day in a cup? Or does she only get the one serving of milk at bedtime? Tanner has a 5oz bottle after breakfast, lunch and dinner. Then an 8oz bottle before bed. I recently switched the bottle to right after his meal instead of before. That way he eats more table food now.
So this morning he wouldn't hold his bottle again!!! He has a VERY strong personality. If he doesn't want to do something, he's not going to!!! So we'll keep at it. I know he wont be drinking from a bottle forever, that would make going to college strange! ;) So I guess he'll do it in his own time. I will just keep trying to get him to hold it himself. My doctor says that right now his milk intake is still too important to do the "if you don't hold it, you don't get it" routine. So I get him to hold it as long as he will and if he drops it and wont hold it anymore but will finish it if I hold it then I will, just so he gets all his milk in his tummy.
So this morning he wouldn't hold his bottle again!!! He has a VERY strong personality. If he doesn't want to do something, he's not going to!!! So we'll keep at it. I know he wont be drinking from a bottle forever, that would make going to college strange! ;) So I guess he'll do it in his own time. I will just keep trying to get him to hold it himself. My doctor says that right now his milk intake is still too important to do the "if you don't hold it, you don't get it" routine. So I get him to hold it as long as he will and if he drops it and wont hold it anymore but will finish it if I hold it then I will, just so he gets all his milk in his tummy.
abby1998
07-18-2008, 12:51 PM
My son never held his bottle right up to when we weaned him at 13 months. I wouldn't worry too much about it. Try giving him a cup and seeing what he does with it!
Delia79
07-19-2008, 08:56 AM
E,
Yeah, Ella takes her milk in a cup all day long. And when I say she has a bottle before bed, that actually has formula, not milk. When I took her to her one year check up, she was still taking about 1-2 bottles a day of formula. He said to take the morning one away first then the night one after that. The morning one is gone, but she's still getting her one before bed, although she never finishes it, so I am pretty sure she is ready to get rid of that one as well. I understand what you mean about not giving it to him if he won't hold it alone. I would never deprive Ella of food if she wouldn't do it herself. Like I said, she pretty much refuses to pick up food and eat it herself unless it is dry and solid. She hates things on her hands. Now she does love to use a spoon or fork on her own, so if it can go on a plastic spoon or fork, she's good doing it herself. But the only things she'll really feed herself with her hands alone are things that won't stick to her. :D I was just starting to have a really hard time feeding her the bottle because of being big and pregnant again and so started trying to get her to do it alone. She never really refused to hold her own bottle, she just had a hard time figuring out how to tip it back. But she finally got the hang of it and I am sure Tanner will too!!! ;)
Yeah, Ella takes her milk in a cup all day long. And when I say she has a bottle before bed, that actually has formula, not milk. When I took her to her one year check up, she was still taking about 1-2 bottles a day of formula. He said to take the morning one away first then the night one after that. The morning one is gone, but she's still getting her one before bed, although she never finishes it, so I am pretty sure she is ready to get rid of that one as well. I understand what you mean about not giving it to him if he won't hold it alone. I would never deprive Ella of food if she wouldn't do it herself. Like I said, she pretty much refuses to pick up food and eat it herself unless it is dry and solid. She hates things on her hands. Now she does love to use a spoon or fork on her own, so if it can go on a plastic spoon or fork, she's good doing it herself. But the only things she'll really feed herself with her hands alone are things that won't stick to her. :D I was just starting to have a really hard time feeding her the bottle because of being big and pregnant again and so started trying to get her to do it alone. She never really refused to hold her own bottle, she just had a hard time figuring out how to tip it back. But she finally got the hang of it and I am sure Tanner will too!!! ;)
simplyheather
07-22-2008, 10:48 AM
I don't think its a big deal. My son has never held his own bottle, but that b/c I don't let him. I like holding him close when he will actually take a bottle, its still a special bonding time between us. He will drink out of his sippy cup all day long without any help, so I'm not worried about it. I heard that its easier to break a baby of a bottle if they've never held it as well. Don't know how true that is, but supposedly if they hold thier own bottle, they see it as thier property, and its harder for them to give up, but if its an extension of you, (you holding it all the time) then its easier to give up. But you know how things are that you "heard" lol
If they want it bad enough, kids will get it/do it...
If they want it bad enough, kids will get it/do it...
E1979
07-22-2008, 10:57 AM
I know what you mean heather, I am not trying this because I am tired of holding his bottle for him. I love our cuddle time. I just figured maybe he should be able to. I don't want to hold him back or anything like that. But if I had my way we'd be having our special cuddle bottle time forever!
LauraLu
07-22-2008, 01:32 PM
Hi Heather,
My pediatrician also told me this - that if they never really held their own bottle, then it would be easier to break them of it. I hope you're both right! I'll be going through it very shortly!
My pediatrician also told me this - that if they never really held their own bottle, then it would be easier to break them of it. I hope you're both right! I'll be going through it very shortly!