When to Take the Bottle Away/start Milk

I would keep her on the bottle for several more months. There is no big rush. My first son(24yrs)went from breast to bottle(with goat's milk-closest thing to breast milk)at 10 months and then to sippy about 18months. My daughter(23yrs)went from breast to sippy at 19 months or so. My grandbaby that I am raising(son's daughter) still has a bottle at 2.5yrs! I hear all the comments from here!!! Every child is different and there is no need to push a baby to "grow up" too soon. I learned that the first children I raised. She drinks from a cup and sippy just fine, but not her goat milk. I started to make issues with it and I decided the fight was not worth it and by three, she will be off it completely.

Toddlers only need a few spoonfuls of food to feel full. Most toddlers are better at "grazing" off good food throughout the day.

I am a mother to two girls 3 years and 14 months. My youngest did fine up until the 3rd foods. She did not like the combination of pureed food with chunks in it. So at around 10 months I started to feed her the Gerber meat sticks..sliced down the middle and then cut into half circles. I also cut up vegetables into bit sized pieces and canned fruit in lite syrup or their own juice because they are softer. Banana's are good sliced the same way as the meat sticks. I don't know whether she wants more substantial food or not. I do instant oatmeal in the morning a lot, my kids seem to like it. And it is something they can start to feed themselves with because it tends to stick to the spoon. I stopped breastfeeding at 1yr and she did pretty well with that, she has whole milk in a sippy cup with a soft spout. Water is good for them, my three year old prefers it to juice a lot of the time...and if it comes from the faucet a lot of towns, cities add fluoride which is good for their new little teeth. I hope some of this helped you!
H.

Hi K., I nursed my son until he was almost 3. I never gave him a bottle and started him on the gerber cereals and yogurt. I worried about nursing and was concerned with my son getting enough to eat. Go see your pediatrician for more advice. It is so hard and I can't imagine having a little one with a gag reflex. I wish you the best of luck. Another great resource is the mom's club in Milford. Tot drop in is at the town hall twice a week. It's in the morning or was. I think you can find it through the town hall. I met a lot of great moms there and found it so helpful when I was at home alone. My son is now 6. Good luck! S.

I switched my son to whole milk starting at 11 months. I did one week of 3/4 formula, 1/3 whole milk, etc. until he was on all whole milk. My son has been eating pretty much whatever we eat at each meal since about a year. I had him completely off of a bottle by 13 months. Good luck!

My son was on milk at around 10 months and off the bottle around 11 months old. By a year old he was eating what we ate. No more baby food. I suggest you talk to your doctor about your concerns about your daughter (may have nutritional suggestions). Although, I would suggest you keep introducing new foods this way your daughter will find foods that she likes.

I am a toddler teacher and have seen my share of picky eaters and even some that gag because of some textures. But not everything gags them. They eat what they like and leave what they don't. : )

it sounds like you are describing my situation. My daughter is now 15 months old. She started drinking milt at about 12 months. you have to wean her off the formula, don't just stop all together. My daughter is still drinking mild out a bottle, I feel that will be a very dificult thing for her to give up. We tried once and she went absolutely crazy, she was so upset that I felt bad and gave her the bottle again. Anyways, like your daughter she only eats cirtain things. SHe just recently stop doing the gagging thing as she got more teeth. But she's still really fussy with the food. She wont drink juice (although someone told me to try and add water to it and see if she will drink it that way)just water, she doesn't like mashed potatoes, and almost any vegetable. She loves mac and cheese,grilled cheese, pizza, chicken tenders, raw carrots and raw peppers, hot dogs, puff puffs, loves apples, bananas, and bread (toast) oh and yougurt and oatmeal, egos too. So I think I just pretty much told you what her diet consists of. One thing to keep in mind is it takes 3 weeks for a human to starve, that's what her doctor has told us. He said that if she doesn't want to eat what you put in front of her, don't try to make her something else. Just take her out of her high chair and put her down. This was very hard for us b/c I always used to just try something diferent if she didn't like what I gave her, but the doctor said not to do that anymore. our biggest strugle right now is getting her off the bottle. She wont drink her milk out of the sippy cup. Next will be the binky.
Good luck!

I threw away bottles on thier first birthday so they weren't seen by them or me so there was no choice. Lots of love and understanding that week. I changed to whole milk when going to cup too and then to skim on their 2nd birthday.

Right now she's getting all her vitamins and minerals from the formula. If you switch her to regular milk, try 2%. Considering she's so picky about the foods make sure you give her a multi-vitamin with iron in it. my son was picky as well and i used this same approach. Now he eats EVERYTHING. Keep trying to give her food even if she takes a few bites. the more food she's exposed to, the better. My son's doctor switched him to 2% milk around 10 months. good luck.

I think it is time for you to switch to milk. I started weening my toddler off the bottle by 1 so you could try to start weening her now. I started by giving her only a bottle when she woke in the morning and at night before bed. I did not give her one at all during the day, but a sippy instead. Eventually, I took the AM one away and then the PM one...this worked well. In my opinion she really is too old for formula. As for food keep trying, the gag reaction is something that will go away with more exposure to different food. Give her really small spoonfuls, that may help with the gagging and give her plenty of time to swallow and get ready for another bite. Good Luck, some things just take time.

Hey K.,

when my twins were born they weere 6 weeks early and they suffered from colic and also stomach sensitivity. Have you asked the doctor about this cause it may be that you just need a simple medicine to help with the gagging. The reflux sometimes can really cause major problems and even some things that are over the counter can be really helpful. My daughter still has to take reflux medicine but its just a tablet a day and she really gets alot of relief by using it. im not a big one on medicine but sometimes you just really need to use it and its not a bad thing. i would really suggest that you ask the doctor about it. i hope this helps. take care

My daughter was the same way when I first started introducing food. I just consistantly tried and retried until she got use to food in general. She is now 18 months and eats a very wide variety of things...still not as much quantity wise as I would like her to (maybe a couple tablespoons of each item I give her), but I've realized after talking with doctors and friends that children are the best judge of how much they actually need. My daughter is still nursing, something that many would disapprove of...however the American Association Of Pediatrics recommends it be continued to at least two years of age because toddlers are such picky eaters. I'm not sure if the same is true with formula, but I do know that it is much more nutritious than basic cows milk. I would not rush to get her off the bottles, many children use the bottle for security just as they do the breast...it doesn't seem right to take it away before they are ready. I would talk to your doctor to make sure the gag issue is not something of concern. Good Luck!
Kat