Forum home Babies Baby

Told off for giving bottle at 9 months?

Just been to get Sam weighed and got stuck with the HV I don't like... Anyway, I told her I'd stopped breastfeeding but that he seemed very happy to have a bottle of formula now, and she told me I should have gone straight onto a cup instead of bottle. (The way she said it is another matter altogether - she seriously has no social skills, but anyway....) Sam has water out of a sippy cup with his meals but I am quite happy for him still to have his wake up and bedtime feeds in a bottle. Am I wrong? Should he be on just cup now?

Replies

  • I really dont know the answer but sometimes I feel sorry for our LO's, they are learning soooo much at the min with moving and speaking and exploring that changing something like that is unnecessary right now IMO. If its not broken dont fix it in my eyes. As u say he drinks from a sippy cup now so knows the skill so when u swap over to cows milk then maybe it is a good time for the transistion?

    interesting to see what others think x
  • I would say what you are doing is fine! as far as i was aware you should start weaning them off a bottle at a year old but never put juice in a bottle. you can use a bottle for water or milk for upto a year x
  • If you and Sam are happy then what is the problem its not like he's 5 and your still giving him one. The bottle was prob the easiest transition for you both and with a big move coming up he may need the comfort of the bottle.

    TBH if was to stop BFing I'd give a bottle because Elana won't take a sippy cup and will only drink out of a beaker. So hoping I can transition her to cows milk from this around 12 months.

    Xxx
  • hi, i think what she probably meant was that it may have been easier for u to have put him straight to cup rather than now have to wean him off the bottle in a few montsh time, iyswim? however, its not a problem and most guidelines state that by one yr old they should jsut be having most milk feeds/water/juice out of a cup with perhaps the exception of a bedtime milk feed, but to be fair, most bottle fed babies ur son's age will still eb ahving a couple of bottles a day, so ur not doing anything wrong in the lsightest, so don't worry, but i think thats what she meant was as ur swapping from breast to bottle and then from bottle to cuip, it may have been eaiser ofr u to go from breast staright to cup, but here is nothing wrong in waht ru doing at all. hth xx
  • your HV would hate me! My DS3 who will be 2 on Saturday, still has a bottle before bed! Its deffo a comfort thing but he can drink out of an adults cup and has his own toddler cups though the day so i know hes more than capeable. Do what feels right for you & your LO. xxx
  • If you and Sam are happy with him having a bottle, I don't see a problem with it, he's still very young. There is a thinking that if a baby has been breastfed and not had a bottle, there is no point introducing a bottle late on that you then need to wean them off, which I do sort of see the point of - however, when I introduced formula at 6 months I intended to skip bottles, then got a reality check! My son hated formula at first, so I went with any way of getting it into him, and no way would he take it from a beaker, although he was happily taking water from a beaker. He was off bottles at 11 months without too many problems though - and I do think that for babies a bottle is more comforting than a beaker.

    No you are not wrong - and I don't suppose you got a 'well done for breastfeeding for so long' either - that did annoy me when I stopped, I really struggled and persevered and it was still 'well don't you think you could express' when I went back to work! So well done for breastfeeding for so long!
  • when Isaac started dropping bf at 9m I didn't bother introducing bottles. I used sippy cups. I followed my mum's advice really as she did that will all 3 of us. She never had bottles in the house.

    However you have to do what is right for you and Sam. He may need the comfort especially at bedtime.

    Don't put yourself down, you did a fab job bf for so long and made a really brave decision to stop. Well done you! I'm going to hate having to stop!

    xxx
  • My dd is 20 months old and still loves her morning and bedtime bottle! I don't see the problem as long as they are not walking around with it all day long or going to actual bed with it.. other than that its not going to hurt them at all. There is far too much pressure for our babys to grow up too soon! xx
  • we have just weaned to a bottle too coco and we give her her milk in a bottle and juice in a cup/sippy cup.

    they cant honestly say your doing wrong by giving sam a bottle now!? ignore her and do whats best for you! image

  • Some HVs make me so angry... they live by the 'rule book' and see no grey areas, only black and white.

    Everything I've heard suggests weaning them off the bottle by a year old so at 9 months it is not really a problem. And to be honest I can't see much harm in giving milk in a bottle even past one year old. As long as you're not giving juice in a bottle I can't see the problem.

    As lucyah said, do what is best for you... HVs can only advise you on what to do... they don't get to make the decisions, and giving a 9 month old a bottle is hardly child cruelty!
  • What a daft bint!

    They might be capable of drinking directly from a cup at that age, but no way is Lily having her milk in anything she can tip all over herself and the floor if I take my eye off the ball for a second - and she's twice Sam's age. Granted they then have to be weaned off bottles, but would rather have that battle at a later date than spend my life mopping up milk.
Sign In or Register to comment.

Featured Discussions