Does your baby always go for bottle feeding? Why you should stop bottle feeding? When to stop bottle feeding? I know all these questions must be popping up in your mind. Just relax!!
It’s very important for parents to start weaning babies from bottles around when the baby attains the age of one and start getting them comfortable drinking milk from cups or glasses. The more you delay, the more the kids will take time to ditch the bottle.
By the end of this article, you will opt to know or have an awareness of the various ways to get rid of bottle-feeding for the baby.
Why Should You Stop Bottle Feeding?
Let’s have a look at some of the reasons to wean toddler off bottle feeding-
1. Prolonged Usage of Bottles Can Lead to Tooth Decay.
The prolonged usage of bottles leads to dental issues in babies. This probably happens due to the fact that the baby might sleep after drinking the milk at night and sleep off without brushing. The continuous sipping of milk leads to tooth decay. It creates an acidic layer on the teeth enamel, resulting in cavities as the milk get accumulated on the teeth.
2. It Can Lead to Faulty Dental Development.
The major reason why it is important to stop the bottle feeding at an earlier age is that it can lead to faulty dental development in babies. This happens due to continuous and prolonged sucking from the bottle nipple. The sucking of milk from the bottle has a direct impact on the position of their teeth and the development of facial muscles (R) in the child. It can make their teeth come forward also.
3. Excessive Usage Results in Pediatric Obesity.
There are many studies that have shown that excessive drinking of bottle milk leads to obesity in babies. As the toddler drinks more milk than the required amount of milk, the higher intake of calories leads to obesity. As per paediatrics, the baby needs to drink about two cups of milk a day and more than that leads to excess weight and obesity.
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4. Lying Down and Drinking from a Bottle Can Lead to Infections.
As per studies, it is believed that lying down and drinking from a bottle can lead to infection. The milk that pools at the base of your toddler’s throat when they are busy sucking, becomes the home ground for breeding bacteria, resulting in a probable ear or throat infection.
5. The Toddler Needs More Solid Foods.
If you are late in stopping the bottle feeding for the babies, then the baby’s appetite will increase. The nutrition requirements increases, which cannot be met with just dairy intake for the babies. Solid and semi-solid foods such as cereals and pureed vegetables are essential for your child’s growth and development.
6. Your Child is Prone to Become Anemic.
Too much of cow’s milk with prolonged bottle usage can block the absorption of iron which can make your toddler anemic. This happens when you give an excess amount of cow’s milk than the formula milk.
When to Stop Bottle Feeding?
As per most of the doctors and paediatrician, it is wiser to stop the bottle feeding as early as you can, even best at 6 months. The baby might face difficulties in holding the bottle at such a tender age, but it is for their own good in the long run.
Maximum to maximum by the end of the first year, the baby should stop bottle feeding. The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) recommends starting weaning from the bottle by 12 months of age and for bottles to be completely phased out by 18 months.
How to Stop Bottle Feeding:
Here are some tips for ditching bottle-feeding in your baby.
1. Gradual Weaning:
This is a superb way to stop bottle feeding. Within a little course of time, the baby gets rid of bottle feeding. If the baby drinks milk twice in a day, then reduce it one by one at a time. Make sure you do it gradually so that the child gets used to it.
2. Attraction Towards The Cup:
Cups can attract your kids. This can lead the babies to drink milk in cups than from the bottle. So, you can purchase a cup as attractive you can. Choose the cups as per the kids choice of a cartoon, coloured cups, etc.
3. Encourage Your Child:
When nothing works, this works great in order to wean toddler off bottle feeding. Praise the effort of the child while they are drinking from the cup. You can also show appreciation to your kids. This will make the kids happy, which in turn will attract them towards the cup rather than bottle feeding.
4. Smart Tactics:
Sometimes simple tactics work great. Certain tactics such as throwing or keeping the bottles out of the children rich, diluting some bitter taste of milk in the bottle will gradually lower down the amount of bottle feeding in babies.
5. Know when your child is ready to shift to a cup:
Before you stop bottle feeding, it is important for the mother to figure out the stage or time frame to know when the child is ready to shift to a cup. When the baby develops the fine motor skill to hold certain things, then you can try to give the milk in the cup.
6. Reduce the number of feeding time:
Bottle attachment is often a habit rather than a need for the toddlers. So, it is necessary and important to reduce bottle-feeding frequency by introducing solids food. Solid food will keep the baby full for a longer time, thus cutting down on the use of a bottle.
7. Introduce sippy cups.
The Sippy cups are great alternatives to feeding bottles. They are hassle-free, spill-proof and are easy to get used to. Also, the baby can hold the cup handles with both the hands.
8. Dilute the milk in the bottle.
This age-old trick is still useful in today’s world. Keep diluting the milk progressively when you give your child a bottle and offer them whole milk in a cup. Gradually, they will realize that the milk in the cup is tastier than that in the bottle.
This is just a changing phase in a baby’s life. So, the mothers need to be very careful and should use smart and simple tricks that can help to wean toddler off bottle feeding. I hope this article has given you an overall idea on how to get your child to let go off of their feeding bottle.
