When and how did you wean your children?

[Eranice]

My little boy is just over a year old and I'm trying to figure out a good time to try to wean him off the bottle. He drinks perfectly well out of a normal glass but at nap times and before bed he still takes a bottle. I was wondering how all of you handled that and at what age.

I'll share a little story that my grandparents told me last night about it.

When my dad was small, the chickens didn't get along with him. He really disliked the roosters in particular. My grandparents took him away from the bottle and he kept asking for it. After getting awfully tired of it, my great-grandmother told him that those bottles were the for the rooster now. She told him that the rooster took it. My dad very seriously told my grandma, "Well, let's just kill that rooster."

[bookwormom]

lol, smart kid. I would not worry too much about it. If he still wants it for bed time I would let him. He is only over a year, he will quit soon enough. I nursed my three and each quit at a different time. there is no time that is perfect for every child. My little girl got croup when she was almost weaned and wanted the comfort, so I went back into production and nursed her a little while longer til she was over it.

[annabella1]

use the bottle for water only, It's better if he falls asleep with water instead of formula, milk or juice which all contain acids that will harm his teeth. he will probably wean himself.
I breast fed my kids, when they bit me they were weaned.

[bookwormom]

lol, way to go annabella

[Eranice]

Annabella, we brush his teeth after he takes his bottle so we've kept him on the milk. He takes juice and water in the hotter parts of the day.

Bookwormom, thanks I'll just let him pace himself then.

[Laura]

I nursed also, but did do a few bottles from 10 months to 1 year.
At about 11 months I started introducing the sippy cup. By 13 months we were totally off the bottle, and onto our cups.
Two out of three of my kids would not take a binki. The youngest gave up the bink at about 6 months.

HTH
Laura

[momma_to_seven_chi]

It's a comfort measure to go to sleep. I wouldn't worry about weaning at 1yr.
I just nursed mine until they got teeth then gave a bottle. When they were old enough to bite the bottle nipples and make holes, the bottle was "broke". When they would cry for the bottle, you get it out to show them the (empty)bottle and ring with no nipple and say, "it's broken". They would get mad and throw it on the floor for a few days. But just let them hold it as a comfort blanket. After a while they will look and point at the bottle and say, "broken". You never really take it away, they just learn that it is broken. Eventually after a few times they forget the bottle. Most of them are off the bottle around 2-2 1/2 if you do it that way, some earlier. It just depends on when they start to bite the rubber nipple and make it dangerous for themselves to have it. At that point the bottle "breaks", but you can still let them hold it (empty) as a comfort measure like a security blanket.

[Eranice]

That's fantastic, Mommaof7chi. DS has had teeth since he was six months old, but he's just started chewing on the bottle. He hasn't made holes yet, but when he does I'll try the broken bottle tip. Maybe he'll start talking soon too. Thanks again.

[NCLee]

I'm getting old..... :( can't remember....

I'm the oldest of our gang of siblings. I remember that Mom got something from the drugstore that she put on nipples that was bitter. It wasn't harmful.

Remember my little brother and sister decided quickly that they didn't want a bottle or a pacifier that tasted like yuck. Mom didn't have to take the bottle away from them, they cast it aside themselves.

Wish I could remember the name of what she used. Perhaps someone else knows of it.

Lee

[Eranice]

I'm getting old..... :( can't remember....

I'm the oldest of our gang of siblings. I remember that Mom got something from the drugstore that she put on nipples that was bitter. It wasn't harmful.

Remember my little brother and sister decided quickly that they didn't want a bottle or a pacifier that tasted like yuck. Mom didn't have to take the bottle away from them, they cast it aside themselves.

Wish I could remember the name of what she used. Perhaps someone else knows of it.

Lee

Maybe the same thing used to discourage thumb sucking?

[mom2]

I have no experience with bottles - nursed all 4 and the first one was born in 1973 and my Dr and the nurses looked at me like I was crazy - I am surprised they didn't report me for child abuse. Each of my boys weaned himself from the breast at different ages but 2 of them were close to 1 1/2 years old. As long as he gets over wanting it before he starts to school I figured I was ahead of the game. Babies suck in the womb - one of my sons was born with a blister on his thumb from sucking it before he was born. The only one that sucked his thumb. I never tried to break him - figured he did it before he was born and therefore God had told him how and who was I to interfeer.

[momma_to_seven_chi]

I have no experience with bottles - nursed all 4 and the first one was born in 1973 and my Dr and the nurses looked at me like I was crazy - I am surprised they didn't report me for child abuse. Each of my boys weaned himself from the breast at different ages but 2 of them were close to 1 1/2 years old. As long as he gets over wanting it before he starts to school I figured I was ahead of the game. Babies suck in the womb - one of my sons was born with a blister on his thumb from sucking it before he was born. The only one that sucked his thumb. I never tried to break him - figured he did it before he was born and therefore God had told him how and who was I to interfeer.

Biblical weaning was at the third birthday according to traditional views. And I never worried about finger/thumb sucking either. They do outgrow it when it is the right time for them to outgrow it. I don't know how the world got so neurotic about the simple things that kids do (or pets either). If it doesn't upset the Lord God for a kid to nurse until 2 1/2 or more then way does it upset humans? If it doesn't upset God for a kid to suck his thumb until he outgrows it himself at age 6-8, then why does it upset humans?

[kancel]

Biblical weaning was at the third birthday according to traditional views. And I never worried about finger/thumb sucking either. They do outgrow it when it is the right time for them to outgrow it. I don't know how the world got so neurotic about the simple things that kids do (or pets either). If it doesn't upset the Lord God for a kid to nurse until 2 1/2 or more then way does it upset humans? If it doesn't upset God for a kid to suck his thumb until he outgrows it himself at age 6-8, then why does it upset humans?


I have never forced my kids to wean or even potty train either. When my first was nearing that age that people start thinking a kid should be trained one kind mom pointed out to me "I've never seen a kid enter Kindergarten that wasn't potty trained." I just figured when they were ready they would do things without all the fuss and drama and stress. My youngest (2 1/2) still takes a bottle at certain parts of the day (usually his grumpy times or his snuggly times) and will want a cup at other times.

Now there was this time though that I saw this kid that WAS kindergarten aged that was still in a diaper (and the conversation between he and his mom suggested he didn't have any issues that would cause delay.) If I had come across her with my first I probably would have freaked out. I have seen how people who have trouble getting pregnant can lengthen that "infant stage" as long as possible (they may not get a chance again) so I figured she had her reasons for doing what she did.

My sister in law just told us she was pregnant. My advice to her "Collect advice from everyone, for everything so you have lots of ideas in your mommy bank. But at the end of the day God gave that child specifically to you and he gave you the heart to raise it the way it needs to be raised. Ignore the criticisms of others and always trust your mothers heart."

[annabella1]

Let me get this straight, you put him to bed with a bottle of formula, then when he finishes the bottle you brush his teeth and put him back to bed? If he is going to bed with formula in that bottle then he is getting milk acids eroding his teeth all night. That is not the only reason for no formula in the bottle when he goes to bed. If he has formula at the time he goes to bed, he will be hungry for formula at the same time the next day (at bed time) If you give him his formula during the day when he is awake in a cup. Wait a half hour then to let the tooth enamel harden, then brush his teeth. You will prevent a lot of tooth enamel loss. If you put him to bed with a bottle of warm water, he will get the comfort of the sucking and he will not be hungry for formula at bedtime the next day. Giving a bottle of water in the middle of the night is also a good way to eliminate the 2 am feeding for toddlers who still wake up hungry. Teach them that food is for the daytime, and sleeping is for nighttime.

[duplessis3]

I nursed my two boys until they were 3. Of course it got a lot less as time went on (to like once a week). I was very grateful when my boys both ended up in the hospital (for different reasons) and the docs told me that the breastmilk would heal them from the inside out. I'm also on the path of being a lactation consultant, and the milk changes as the child gets older. Also, breast cancer runs in my family and the breast cancer risk goes down if you nurse your children, and the longer you nurse, the more benefit you get.

[MelleeRN]

I had four children and nurse all until they grew teeth then switched to bottles. Yes, bottles are a comfort, but more than bottle mouth can occur from bottle feeding. deformities of the mouth can occur called baby bottle syndrome. It is suggested that weaning from the bottle start around 15 months.

[Suzy]

I nursed mine but the last one, a little boy, took a bottle when he was bigger as well as we had some major problems right about then (husband almost cut his foot off under a mower and had to stay in the hospital a month) then came home from the hospital and a couple of months later our house burned! So little one was on the bottle longer than he should have been and it did TERRIBLE damage to his teeth! he had to have those little metal caps put on ALL his teeth but two....and they stayed on til his permanent teeth came in.

We had to do it because his teeth were so bad it would have impacted his permanent teeth....and NOW at age 28 he has beautiful white teeth...

Anyway, don't ever let him go to bed with a bottle of formula or milk at night....it's just not worth it. I'd even hesitate with juice...

A little story about those caps....like I said, we had had some real troubles then that left us struggling financially....When we went to his WONDERFUL pediatric dentist, he told me about the caps and told me he knew we'd had some financial problems....I'll NEVER forget that dentist sitting there with a stubby pencil figuring and figuring on what to charge....and when he gave me the total it was the EXACT amount of my husband's union settlement check in my purse! The EXACT amount. And there is NO WAY the dentist or anybody else had seen the check because it was in an envelope tucked way down inside my purse which hadn't left my side!

I always felt like that was just one more way that God was letting me know that no matter how tough things were, He was always still there....

[Catalpa]

Wow, Suzy, that was awesome! Isn't it great when we can see God behind the coincidences?

My kid got weaned when she learned how to use her teeth! Ow! That was at about ten months. We supplemented with the bottle for a little bit, but she pretty much quit on her own and went right to the sippy cup without looking back. She never did take a binky, either, or cling to a certain stuffed animal or blanket - but she always had to have a book in her hand! Even as a toddler she wouldn't settle without a book.

[rideaway]

My sister sucked her thumb so hard that it is flat now...

[mtwildflower]

Now there was this time though that I saw this kid that WAS kindergarten aged that was still in a diaper (and the conversation between he and his mom suggested he didn't have any issues that would cause delay.) If I had come across her with my first I probably would have freaked out. I have seen how people who have trouble getting pregnant can lengthen that "infant stage" as long as possible (they may not get a chance again) so I figured she had her reasons for doing what she did.


Consider that there may have been a birth defect involved.

Congenital Heart defects are the number one birth defect in infants today. Roughly 1 child in 115 to 150 will have one of roughly 40 different CHDs.

Congenital defects involving the bowel, bladder and reproductive systems run a very close second. My daughter who is now 13 months old, was born with a sacrococcygeal teratoma....basically a super tumor attached to her tailbone. While my daughter was very very lucky and her SCT was quite small, these teratomas are often the size of tennis balls, cantaloupes and some as large as a soccer ball. The damage that is done by the removal of some of these kind of things, often times damages the bowel and bladder and many of these kids are left with colostomies, cecostomies and must be cathed every 3 hours or have a vesi line that runs directly into a diaper. While an SCT is a rare occurrence, there are many many more problems that many kids can have that keep them from being "potty trained." And for the people affected, who wants to have to explain to others what's going on when all anyone butting in can think is that a parent or child is too lazy to potty train?

It's worth considering and withholding judgement.