Until what age do you hold your baby/toddler when they drink their milk?

[Anonymous]

DD is close to 13 months and still uses a bottle when drinking milk. As she doesn’t yet know how to take it sitting up (despite several attempts), I usually hold her so she is comfortably reclining in my arms. I enjoy giving it to her that way but I’d like to know until what age it is reasonable to do so. (She takes only two bottles a day.) TIA.

[Anonymous]

She's old enough that you can stop holding her. You can transition her to a sippy cup now.

[Anonymous]

I don't think you ever need her to take a bottle not in your lap.

However, at least per my pediatrician, you should be weaning her off the bottles and onto a cup of some kind. My ped said to start that process at a year or so, and try to have him off bottles by 15-18 months. So I wouldn't worry about the lap thing, but instead would focus on transitioning to a cup.

[Anonymous]

reasonable? I have 3 kids and I don't understand the question.

No drinking laying down. High chair is fine.

[Anonymous]

I would say when you switch to a cup, which you should start doing. None of my three children ever held their own bottle, but I started weaning them to cups at 12 months.

[Anonymous]

Mine just turned 16 months and drinks from a cup but still has a bottle too. She won’t drink the bottle without me holding it but is fine with a cup. I think it’s habit and comfort, but she’s a little skinny so I’m not inclined to be too strict on stopping bottles if she likes them. It took her a little bit to not get too much liquid from the cup, but we just kept giving it to her and she figured it out.

[Anonymous]

It will happen naturally and I think the average age varies between kids. I wouldn’t worry about being unreasonable yet!

My DS is 12 months and feeds himself water in a sippy cup all day without help but he also takes milk in a bottle before sleeping and I still feed him cradled in my arms in his darkened bedroom. ZERO plans to end this routine anytime soon!

My older child was still breastfeeding at this age—also just before naps and bed—and self-weaned by 18 months. I figure as my younger child drops down to one nap and becomes more vocal and busy that pre-sleep snuggles with milk will naturally stop.

[Anonymous]

As long as you want. Keep going.

[Anonymous]

I held my DD until she was over three (straw cup of warm cows milk since weaning at 16 months). DS couldn’t be less interested in milk at two (also weaned at 15 months).

[Anonymous]

Mine is 11 months and drinks water in a sippy just fine on her own. But I still hold her bottle because I use that time as bonding. So to answer your question, when we give up the bottle.

[Anonymous]

Stop the bottle before 16 to 18 months. Hold, cuddle, but transition your child to straw cups of warm milk. Bottles are bad for their teeth. They don’t need comfort sucking.

[Anonymous]

Dc1 was like this. Didn't hold her bottle till about 18months, and that was when we were transitioning her off it.

Dc2 was drinking from sippy cups on his own by 10 months

Dc3 we were just too busy to hold him all the time, but he did like to sit in our laps and drink, but he would do it on his own too.

[Anonymous]

Mine was about 15m and not only with her parents, at daycare they also had to hold her bottle for her.

[Anonymous]

Until we stopped bottles, which was 12 months.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As long as you want. Keep going.

This
If it works for you both keep holding her. If not, then you need to switch it up.
At 13 mos she needs to be transitioning to a cup.

Does she sit in a highchair and drink water our of a cup? Or never sits up and drinks at the same time?