Just like mothers who breastfeed, wean babies, mothers of artificers are forced to wean children from bottles. The habit of sucking a pacifier and falling asleep with a bottle in the mouth of the artisans is very developed. Nevertheless, to wean a child from a bottle at a certain moment is simply necessary, because the mixture does not satisfy the need of a grown-up baby in useful substances, and in order to fully eat, it is very important to learn how to eat “adult” food and drink from a cup. Making the baby leave the bottle is not an easy process, and during this process the children are capricious and require their favorite accessory with tears, because sucking from the bottle not only satisfies hunger, but gives the child pleasure, calms and lulls.
When to start
It is impossible to name a specific age when it is necessary to begin to wean from a bottle. From the point of view of psychology and physiology, we can say that there comes a period of readiness to say goodbye to this attribute of infancy, but in all children it occurs at different times. Moms should only record the presence of signs of readiness in their child and decide on the situation.
- From the point of view of physiology, if the baby is sitting confidently, can hold a cup and a spoon - you can refuse a bottle. Usually, all these skills are formed by 10 months or the first birthday.
- From a psychological point of view, the baby needs sucking as a way to calm down. If the baby does not suckle, he sucks a dummy and a bottle. In this sense, removing a bottle from everyday life is when the child has mastered more advanced ways of coping with anxiety and stress. This usually occurs by 1.5 to 2 years. This, of course, does not mean that up to 1.5 years the child will receive food only through a bottle. By this age, only night suckers remain.
Sometimes the circumstances are such that wean the child from the bottle, without waiting for complete readiness on all fronts. For example, if there is a journey in which it is impossible to take care of the sterility of the bottles and the dilution of the mixture.
Some mothers even believe that the child does not need to take the bottle: the time will come - and he will refuse. Perhaps there is some common sense in this, but, as we have said, it is better to weigh all the arguments. Do not separate the baby from the bottle until he refuses, it should be convenient for everyone. Mom will have to withstand social pressure, since the appearance of a two-year-old with a bottle (as, incidentally, with a breast) often causes condemnation and disapproval.
How to wean - practical tips
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- Do not wean sharply. Give your child the opportunity to calmly and smoothly survive this stage of growing up.Contrary to the opinion of some mothers and even doctors, throwing the bottle away, saying that Babayk took the bottle away, hiding it and not giving it under any circumstances - these are tips from the series “How not to do it”;
- Choose the right moment. The period of parting with the bottle should not coincide with any significant changes in life and stress (divorce of parents, moving, the appearance of a brother or sister);
- Do not give or bottle feed for lunch. For lunch, eat from a cup, drink from a mug. Last night suckers leave the bottle;
- For drinking, use the intermediate option between the bottle and the cup - a non-spill drinker.
In form, it resembles a favorite bottle, and by the principle of extracting contents, it is an ordinary cup. There are a lot of options for cups: with and without handles, with a plastic “nose” and with rubber (here is an article on drinking mugs); - Motivate your child to eat from his dishes and drink from a cup. To do this, firstly, all these items must appear in the house and be always in sight. Choosing the first dishes of the baby, do not overdo it: the cup and plate should certainly attract the attention of the crumbs, but they should not be associated with the game, therefore, maneuvers distracting from eating food should not be in excess. Keep children's dishes in full view, regularly suggest crumbs to drink from your mug. Some mothers go to tricks and pour a deliberately more pleasant drink into a cup, and vice versa into a bottle (for example, sweeten a drink in a cup, or add salt to a bottle). The intentions of this technique are good, but the technique itself is doubtful. It is much better when the child consciously grows to a new way of drinking, without any deception;
- When the baby is ready to completely abandon the bottle, you can conduct a kind of ritual of refusal. The meaning of these actions is to “officially” admit together with the child: you have grown up, the bottle is becoming a thing of the past. You can solemnly present a bottle of “Lale”, carry it to the little squirrels in the forest or simply put it on a high shelf. The main thing is that all this be on a positive note.
Weaning the child from the bottle, the mother should be flexible and focus not only on her goals, but also on the baby. If any attempts to part with the bottle cause tantrum, it is better to postpone them for a week or two. Children grow up very quickly: yesterday he screamed hoarsely, not wanting to change the bottle to a cup, and tomorrow he will do it easily.
Opinion. If you are ready for several days to calmly react to the crying of the child, the vagaries and tantrums, to the request to return the bottle, then you can simply say that the dog ate the bottle 🙂 In fact, each child is individual, and there are simply no right ways and advice on this matter. You must feel when it is time and how to do it right! Remember! It is difficult - only the first one or two days, then the child will forget about the bottle himself. But if you constantly return the bottle to the child, indulge whims, then the child will quickly feel it and begin to manipulate you intuitively. Those. then the learning process can take a long time. Children age 2 - 3 years - this is the same age when children check how far adults allow them to go, so sometimes you do not let the little manipulator get the better of you.
We read more about how:
How to wean sucking fingers -https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/kak-otuchit-rebenka-sosat-paltsyi.html
How to wean by hand -https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/otuchaem-rebenka-ot-ruk.html
How to wean from a nipple -https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/kak-otuchit-rebyonka-ot-pustyishki.html
How to wean from diapers -https://kid.htgetrid.com/en/eto-polezno-znat/kak-otuchit-rebenka-ot-pampersov.html
Video Question
“Daughters are 2 years old and she still sucks a bottle. My nerves are not enough to wean her. What do you advise? Can she wait and she herself will refuse her? ”
The psychologist-teacher Ekaterina Krivosheeva answers:
A friend did not wean her child from a bottle until 5 years old. Gave her just before bedtime. There was no condemnation, because only relatives knew about it. She did not want to injure the child. When he went to school, he refused himself. I wouldn’t delay it like that. The article correctly says, all individually.
Weaned the son only this way: After the first day, he asked me for a bottle, I said that the teacher took away that the big boy had already begun, it was time to drink from a glass. And do not believe it - it worked! I would have come across this article earlier, would have weaned differently.
As a mother with a young child, I want to know what will be better for him. Everyone speaks differently, someone says that you need to wean the baby early from the bottle, someone else says what you need later. I also read that we will have a bottle problem at night, but my child is still very small, so I still have time.
I just replaced a plastic bottle with a glass one. Daughter then was almost 3 years old. I explained to her that the glass was fragile and would break when it falls. When the bottle really fell and broke, my daughter cried, I explained to her that she had already grown, became big and it was time to drink her from a glass cup, like an adult girl
My son at 4 years old sucks a bottle at night. Consulted with a psychologist, she said that it’s okay, everyone has their own ways of relieving stress. If you pick it up by force, you can start sucking your fingers, fuss over the blanket. Better to drink milk at night.
I have a son for 2 years. I like trying to give a bottle very much only at night, but he even whimpers at night and asks for a bottle! And in the afternoon, too, asks! I think it will be difficult to wean (
Son 1.7. I’m hiding a bottle in the morning. He does not need her during the day. He already eats and drinks himself. But at night we have a problem. Necessarily need a bottle. How to wean I do not even know. Somehow I tried to give tea at night not from a bottle but from a mug. There was such a tantrum. Wakes up at night and asks for a bottle. Now it’s good that it’s not milk, but tea. Sometimes her empty sucks. Although from a dummy weaned up to a year.
And we’re not even trying to unlearn 1.8, but I see that she’s not ready, why bother injuring an already fragile child’s psyche? We weaned from the chest instantly, once and for all as if by a click in 11 months. He drinks from a cup in a nursery (the teacher after a couple of weeks said: “don’t bring a bottle,” and everything in a nursery is only a cup) and at home sometimes, but mostly I give a drink from a bottle, and I don’t have to spill anything and run every time to bring and take this the cup, the contents of which can be poured at any time, the daughter herself knows where she left, she will quickly find and drink if necessary. We fall asleep with a bottle, but if they don’t give it, it’s not a problem, it will fall asleep itself. We don’t recognize the pacifier at all, but the problem is much more serious: we suck our fingers, every time I try to talk, persuade, forcefully remove fingers from our mouth, sometimes we can switch our attention, sometimes not.
I don’t know what to do, help the daughter’s advice and a half years old doesn’t eat anything, doesn’t take a spoon yet doesn’t try to turn away already only a bottle of kefir bottle sweet semolina and rice liquid porridge more and more nothing wants to eat already nerves to the limit doesn't eat fruit doesn't eat no potato soups. What do you advise anyone so how to handle