Just as mothers who breastfeed wean babies, artificial mothers are forced to wean babies from bottles. The habit of sucking on the nipple and falling asleep with a bottle in the mouth is very well developed among artificial people. Nevertheless, it is simply necessary to wean the child from the bottle at a certain moment, because the mixture does not satisfy the grown-up baby's need for nutrients, and in order to fully eat, it is very important for him to learn how to eat "adult" food and drink from a cup. Making the baby part with the bottle is not an easy process, and during this process, children are capricious and tearfully demand their favorite accessory, because sucking from a bottle not only satisfies hunger, but gives the child pleasure, calms and lulls him to sleep.
When to start
It is impossible to name a specific age when it is necessary to start weaning from the bottle. From the point of view of psychology and physiology, we can say that there is a period of readiness to say goodbye to this attribute of infancy, but in all children it occurs at different times. Mothers should only record the presence of signs of readiness in their child and decide according to the situation.
- From the point of view of physiology, if the baby sits confidently, can hold a cup and a spoon - you can refuse the bottle. Usually all these skills are formed by 10 months or the first birthday.
- From a psychological point of view, sucking is necessary for the baby as a way to calm down. If the baby does not breastfeed, he sucks on a pacifier and a bottle. In this sense, it is worth removing the bottle from everyday life when the child has mastered more advanced ways of coping with anxiety and stress. This usually happens by 1.5 - 2 years. This, of course, does not mean that up to 1.5 years old, the child will receive food only through a bottle. By this age, only night sucking remains.
Sometimes circumstances develop in such a way that it is necessary to wean the child from the bottle, without waiting for full readiness on all fronts. For example, if you have a journey in which it is impossible to take care of the sterility of the bottles and the dilution of the mixture.
Some mothers even believe that the child does not need to take the bottle: the time will come - and he will refuse himself. Perhaps there is some common sense in this, but, as we said, it is better to weigh all the arguments. It should be convenient for everyone not to separate the baby from the bottle until he refuses. At the same time, mother will have to withstand public pressure, since the sight of a two-year-old with a bottle (as, by the way, with a breast) often causes condemnation and disapproval.
How to wean - practical advice
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- Don't wean off abruptly. Give your child the opportunity to calmly and smoothly go through this stage of growing up. Contrary to the opinion of some mothers and even doctors, to throw away the bottle, say that Babayka took the bottle, hide it and not give it under any circumstances - these are advice from the series “how not to do it”;
- Choose the right moment. The period of parting with the bottle should not coincide with any significant changes in life and stresses (divorce of parents, moving, the appearance of a brother or sister);
- Do not give or bottle-feed at lunchtime. For lunch we eat from a cup, we drink from a mug. Last but not least, nocturnal bottle sucking goes;
- For drinking, use an intermediate option between the bottle and the cup - a sippy cup.
In shape, it resembles a favorite bottle, and in terms of the extraction principle, it resembles an ordinary cup. There are many options for drinking cups: with and without handles, with a plastic "spout" and with a rubber one (here is an article on the topic of drinking cups); - Encourage your child to eat from their dishes and drink from a cup. For this, firstly, all these items must appear in the house and be always in sight. When choosing your baby's first dishes, do not overdo it: a cup and a plate should certainly attract the attention of the crumbs, but they should not be associated with play, so there should not be an excess of maneuvers in the dishes that distract from eating. Keep the baby dishes in sight, regularly offer the baby a drink from your mug. Some mothers go for tricks and pour a deliberately more pleasant drink into a cup, and vice versa into a bottle (for example, they sweeten the drink in a cup, or add some salt to the liquid in a bottle). The intentions of this technique are good, but the technique itself is questionable. It is much better when the child consciously grows up to a new way of drinking, without any deception;
- When the baby is ready to completely abandon the bottle, a kind of rejection ritual can be performed. The meaning of these actions is to "officially" admit together with the child: you have grown, the bottle is a thing of the past. You can solemnly give a bottle to Lala, take it to the forest for little squirrels, or simply put it away on a high shelf. The main thing is that all this should be on a positive note.
In shape, it resembles a favorite bottle, and in terms of the extraction principle, it resembles an ordinary cup. There are many options for drinking cups: with and without handles, with a plastic "spout" and with a rubber one (here is an article on the topic of drinking cups);When weaning a child off a bottle, a mother should be flexible and be guided not only by her goals, but also by the baby himself. If any attempts to part with the bottle cause hysterics, it is better to postpone them for a week or two. Children grow up very quickly: yesterday he screamed until hoarse, not wanting to change a bottle for a cup, and tomorrow he will easily do it himself.
Opinion. If you are ready for several days to calmly react to the crying of a child, whims and tantrums, to a request to return the bottle, then you can simply say that the dog ate the bottle 🙂 In fact, each child is individual, and there are simply no correct ways and advice on this issue. You yourself should feel when the time has come and how to do it right! Remember! Difficult - only the first one or two days, then the child will forget about the bottle himself. But if you constantly return the bottle to the child, indulge in whims, then the child will quickly feel it and begin to intuitively manipulate you. Those. then the weaning process can take a long time. Children 2 - 3 years old are the same ages when children check how far adults allow them to go, so sometimes you don't let the little manipulator get the best of you.
We read more about how:
How to stop sucking fingers - https://razvitie-krohi.ru/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/kak-otuchit-rebenka-sosat-paltsyi.html
How to wean from hands - https://razvitie-krohi.ru/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/otuchaem-rebenka-ot-ruk.html
How to wean from a nipple - https://razvitie-krohi.ru/razvitie-rebenka-do-goda/kak-otuchit-rebyonka-ot-pustyishki.html
How to wean from diapers - https://razvitie-krohi.ru/eto-polezno-znat/kak-otuchit-rebenka-ot-pampersov.html
“The daughter is 2 years old and she still sucks the bottle. My nerves are not enough to wean her. What do you advise? Can she wait and she will give it up herself? "
Psychologist-teacher Ekaterina Krivosheeva answers:
