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1222635 tn?1366396286

do babies get "too old" for a bottle at some point

ariana is only 6 months old, but i am starting to wonder if she is tired of her bottle and wants to only eat with a spoon.

she just learned to hold her bottle about 3 weeks ago. she can feed herself the entire thing without dropping it. for a few weeks that worked great for us (as you can imagine im sure) but lately she has been acting uninterested in the idea of a bottle. when she is hungry and i feed her, it takes her FOREVER to eat. she'll move the nipple around, play with it, chew on it, talk, smile, etc...she will only suck for like 5 seconds at a time then she starts chewing on it again. sometimes she even cries during the feeding and turns her head away from the bottle. the past few nights this has caused her to not finish more than 2 or 3 ounces out of her bedtime bottle that is usually 7 oz.

however, when i make the bottle and hold it out in front of her she gets very excited and reaches out for it. but as soon as it goes in her mouth and she ***** for a few seconds she either starts playing or crying. its incredibly aggravating and frustrating at times..

she does fine with a spoon, however. i am starting to wonder if she thinks she is too old for the bottle. at what point do they outgrow it? she is only 6months old and i hardly feel like she should be outgrowing it yet. she does stare intently at me or anyone else that drinks from a cup so i definitely think she is interested in using one. but i can't put formula in a sippy cup, can i?
18 Responses
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906115 tn?1344200509
Is she still only getting 15 a day of formula?

She can use a sippy fine if that is what she wants, but I think she is probable just getting interested in her surroundings and wants to take off. Their brains learn so much and I call my little guy a busy body, he stops and starts eating depending on noises he hears and also is teething so that is bothering him and feels different. That is my guess that is happening with her as well.

I did want to say that if she has reflux she probable will have trouble with juice, it is very thin and acidic!!! I have reflux and it burns like fire coming up right away! I can not drinl water either without mixing xomethign in it.
Helpful - 0
293420 tn?1243142938
Geez! My son would chew on them and they lasted until he was 2-2 1/2 (he wouldn't use any other kind). Your kids have some teeth on them! Lol
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
We couldn't use those for our guys. They would bite the tops off. Lol.
Helpful - 0
293420 tn?1243142938
Get the Gerber soft spot starter sippies with the two handles. They have the valve which keeps it from pouring out when child is not sucking...also keeps it from spilling. The whole thing is hard plastic except for the spout, which is soft silicone.

My son LOVED these. They work really well and mine held up for a LONG time.
Helpful - 0
1469264 tn?1286569662
my child is a brat and is 14 months and she will use a sippie but she dont like it and dont drink much from it so she is still on a bottle im still trying to try diff thing out but nothing works but any ways i wanted to say to u my kid would not eat cereal or baby food she went from her formula to real food she has 2 teeth but she eats  any thing and every thing she was trying to eat stake at like 6 months but it did not work for her so she just sucked on it
Helpful - 0
171768 tn?1324230099
how many ounces of formula is she getting a day? 5 oz from a cup in a sitting is pretty good. As long as she is getting the recommended 24-30 ounces of formula a day, it shouldn't matter how she gets it.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
My boys refused to drink from a bottle past 10 months. They love their sippies and big boy cups
Helpful - 0
1222635 tn?1366396286
i need to clarify: if i weaned her off of cereal she would only get one bottle of straight formula a day.
her cereal she eats does has formula in it.
Helpful - 0
1222635 tn?1366396286
well we use a lot of cereal so the nipple is huge. i basically cut a hole in the tops of them.

well we tried to wean her off of cereal after her 4m appt to no avail. it was terrible..im scared to try that again. :/

her ped said she should be getting 3 solid meals a day. right now she only eats 4 times. so if i weaned her off of cereal she would only get one formula bottle a day. she wakes up around 11 30 and eats cereal, then cereal for lunch, veggie/fruit for dinner, and cereal again before bed.  so really she's only getting one extra solid meal a day.

we tried putting her formula/cereal mix in a sippy cup last night and she ate about 5 oz before bed...thats about 3 more then she has eaten the past few nights, so not bad. i fed her breakfast with a spoon today and im going to try spoon feeding her all of her meals, with the exception of her bedtime meal. maybe if she spoon feeds everything throughout the day she will be more inclined to lay down and eat a bottle before bedtime.
Helpful - 0
171768 tn?1324230099
sounds like what kids do when the flow gets too slow for them. I imagine you are already using a pretty fast flow to accommodate the cereal, but is there a faster flow in that style?
Also, since she is 6 months, try a bottle with less cereal or no cereal and see how she does. If she's eating solids well, the cereal in the formula may just seem too heavy to her. Many babies outgrow reflux by this age, so you can start to experiment with that. If you see a flare-up, just go back to what you were doing. The solids she is getting by spoon may be enough to control the reflux.
Helpful - 0
1035252 tn?1427227833
Yeah it takes awhile for them to get the hang of it, but I think it's absolutely fine too :). We switched Kahlan to a sippy cup during the day whens he was able to use one and she used her bottle to go to sleep at night and maybe once at night but not always...and she LOVED having a "big girl cup" during the day. it did take maybe a week or two before she was really good at it...I mean she could use it, but it was odd in her mouth because it's so different from a nipple...Ariana will get it!
Helpful - 0
1222635 tn?1366396286
yeah im going to check out whats at the store..i have some olddd fashioned ones and i just gave her some juice in one but she spit a lot out. she seemed eager to try it (idk if it was the juice or the cup) but it seemed to be too fast...will it take awhile to get used to it?
Helpful - 0
676912 tn?1332812551
I say give her a sippy. I've never seen anything that says not to give formula in a sippy cup. I started Elijah on one when he was able to hold it. NUK I think makes ones that have the two handles on the sides, and they have a soft rubber kinda like the nipple on the bottles...
Helpful - 0
1222635 tn?1366396286
i normally mix formula and cereal due to her reflux..perhaps i can still make it a good enough thickness for her to get it out of a sippy cup.. i think i have a few that are wider than the others
Helpful - 0
1512722 tn?1313697879
I have a niece and when she was bout 6 months it became kind of a hand her the bottle let her drink it when she wants thing. By 8 months she only used sippy cups and now at 15 months all she uses are big girl cups.

I think she's pry bored. And I don't see y you couldn't give her milk in a sippy my sister always did. She wil pry enjoy it more.
Helpful - 0
1222635 tn?1366396286
yeah i have a couple of different nipples that ive used... we've been using parents choice as our main bottle but she tends to favor just a standard (no fanciness) nipple...which i can put a standard nipple on just about anything.
Helpful - 0
1493843 tn?1309256719
i say get  a sippy cup that has the two handles on the side  they say 6months and up   i weaned my son from the bottle at 5 months   she may be bored with the bottle  and if shes eating from a spoon this is more exciting for her .  she may also be teething and biting on the nipple is soothing      before she goes to bed give her some cereal  and then let her drink however much milk she wants .  this should help keep her full.  some babies dont like bottles others will be on the bottle until there 4 yrs!!!   yes you can put formula in a sippy cup   i always put it in the bottle first to shake it so theres no lumps then i put it in cup
Helpful - 0
1124862 tn?1303850973
I dont see why you couldnt... but im no expert... i would def bring this up with her ped, I find it very strange that a 6 month old wouldnt be interested in the bottle.. i work at a daycare and recently moved to the infant room, and i have an 11 month old that will not drink from the sippy cup unless its jiuce.. if its milk he wants it from a bottle.. and all my other younger ones 8, 7, 5, and 3 months old... all love their bottles.. so i really dont see why she wouldnt other that like u said shes bored of it.. have u tried a different bottle?? what kind do u currently use?
Helpful - 0
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