is it wrong of me?

Question

i am trying to train my five month old to drink from a sippy cup
his father thinks he is too young but it is working i just would prefer if his transitional object is something other than something he puts in his mouth....keep in mind he has taken to the sippy cup well and i had a terrible time ripping the bottle away from my two other children who both still chew on random objects to satisfy there oral fixation because i let them have the bottle for so long.i am just trying to learn from my mistakes am i wrong

when i say transitional object i dont mean to fall asleep i still give him the bottle before bed to comfort him i mean i dont want him to get used to going to bed with a bottle by himself ...i dont want him to be so attached to the bottle for dear life like my two others did i am also concerned fo tooth decay plus i am a little traumatised my one of mt nieces who is obseessed with her bottle at six years old anyway he likes the sippy cup and he sits up on his own a holds it by himself ...oh forget it i honnestly didnt think i would be judged so harshly because as far as i am concerned it is downright ugly to see a six year old take a fit in the middle of the mall for their bottle jeez

Answer 1

Wow.......people on here are harsh. Don't you just LOVE how rather than answer your question, then bombard you with unwanted advice..........sheesh.

Anyway, I think what you are doing is fine. There is nothing wrong with getting a baby off the bottle early. Mine was started on a cup at 6 months. the only thing she has ever had from a bottle is formula (expect one time when she was sick, but that was only for like 2 days). The earlier you start the cup, the better.
Another good tip is to only let him have the cup with meals or when he is actually drinking from it. Don't let him carry it around with him. If he seems thirsty, give him a drink by all means, but then take the cup away. The less he can freely carry it around, the less chance of him getting totally attached to it.
Good luck!! And ignore the rude responses........some people think this is Yahoo Overbearing Opinions, not Yahoo Answers.......

Answer 2

A five month old should be just starting cereal not be introduced to a sippy cup. We already know that you had trouble with your other two because you gave them the bottle to long. Now that you know you had so much trouble with them because you let them have the bottle to long, lets try and not do that again, but at the same time intrduce the sippy at the correct time. Not early. About 13 or 14 months is when you should start thinking about the sippy. A 5 month old still sees his or her bottle as a comfort. Don't take that away. Feeding your child a bottle is also one of the best times to bond with one another!! Im not sure what you were saying about him putting things in his mouth, but that is obviously a normal thing for a 5 month old to be doing. Im not sure how old your other children are but if they are young there oral fixation is not due to the fact you let them have the bottle to long, it's a matter of they are in this stage of exploring items oraly.

Answer 3

I do not think, he is too young. Specially if he takes it well. You as a mother know, what is best for your child. If he is not crying or having any other trouble with the sippy cup, keep on doing this. Your baby will chew on anythinge else you give him, objects, food, etc. Also bottles are only recommended to give children water or food, not to suck on all the time, this is not to recommend because of their teeth. With 5 month he is old enough to slowly replace bottles, etc.

Answer 4

My son started taking a sippy cup at 6 months, but he was still exclusively breastfed. He mostly sucks the water out of the cup and then spits it out down his front.

Realistically though 6 months is too young to be exclusively on a sippy cup. Bottles are very carefully designed to have minimal impact on tooth and jaw development. Sippy cups are not. Sippy cups are meant to be a temporary transitional step and most dentists will tell you to use them for as short a time possible.

If by transitional object you are referring to sleep. You just need to feed THEN place him in his crib with some other transitional object. However most transitional objects are a SIDS risk -stuffed toys, blankets by the face, etc. But that is for you to weigh the pros and cons of. Really though you shouldn't leave a baby alone with a bottle, ever.

------------------------ Above is factual, below is my personal opinion:

I am a very strong believer that PEOPLE should be the source of comfort NOT things. This may not work for you, and it may not work for me once I have more than one child. I think the best transitional object of all is mom or dad. I believe that if a baby learns to get comfort from a person it is easier for them to learn comfort comes from themselves. Rather than some thing.

Now I know a bunch of you are going to say kids need to learn to put themselves to sleep. But really if they will only sleep with their blankie/lovie/pacifier/bottle they are NOT self-soothing either. It just means they are taking up less of your time and relying on an object instead of you.

These are just my beliefs, I have no evidence that a child with a lovie is more or less likely to have an oral fixation, or need a thing to comfort them rather than just being able to comfort themselves.

Answer 5

If he likes the sippy give it to him in the day. But you still should let him have the bottle. And chewing on random objects is not from having a bottle, cause my daughter never had one and i catch her with stuff in her mouth all the time. So just don't worry about it.

Answer 6

at only five months old, he is too young to be taking his bottle away from him. at about five or six months is when they actually start learning to hold their bottle by themselves. and he probably wants to put everything in his little mouth because he's teething, or about to.
I know you're trying to do the right thing, but in this case and at his age, it's the wrong thing to do.
please do what's right for your baby, and give him his bottle back. he's still just a tiny little guy, and he still has a long way to go before you need to start him on a sippy cup.

Answer 7

You know what, I think its great that you are working with your son. My son will be 6 months next week and I have also intruduced him to the sippy cup..... He uses it when he eats his jar foods. I put either water or water/apple juice in it and he also seems to have taken to it. The earlier they are introduced I think the better they adjust. My son also drinks all of his formula with a bottle. He enjoys his sippy! Good for you!

Answer 8

You are 100% right. 5-6 months is the ideal time to try and get your baby on a sippy cup. It depends on the baby if it works tho. If your baby sips from the cup just fine..then let him have it.

Answer 9

u are not wrong at all my 5 year old niece still uses a bottle her mom was never ever able to sepperate her from it so now she gave up and let her use it she even sleeps with one still she will suffer for her whole life now u did a good thing and if his father thinks he is to young when i was a baby i only drank from a bottle till after i was one month old then i stopped right away i just wouldn't take to it anymore and January 5th an exact month after i was born i started drinking from a sippy cup

Answer 10

my son took the sippy sup at 5 months also and he either goes to sleep w/ it or or falls asleep on his own and he's about to be 9 months (he never took the bottle) but my opinion is that your your doing good!!! but they are going put things in there mouth and it's usually stuff we don't' want them to lol