Please help me!!!

[Melbelle]

Is my son lazy or what. He is 13months old and will not sit up and drink his bottel. How can we teach him to do this, he has to lay down and hold it. Please help me...

 

[Why?]

I think maybe he's just used to laying down to be fed his bottle.

I would suggest laying a couple pillows on the floor, propped against the couch or something, and try getting him to start laying on those when he drinks his bottle. That will get him used to a more reclined position rather than full-on laying down.

 

[selune]

Also, think about how you have to hold a bottle to keep it from giving so much air. Now think of the position your neck would be in to hold the bottle that way while sitting and drinking. Not very comfy. If he's drinking from a bottle I would let him have those laying down. Try working with a cup with leak proof lid for sitting up drinking.

 

[BeanMak]

I agree with Selune. It is really hard to drink a bottle sitting up. At that age I did sippy cups for the table and bottles for naps and bed time.

 

[Melbelle]

Well he gets 2 bottels aday and the rest of the time sippy cups and even sippy cups he want sit up and drink.

 

[LynnMcG]

Have you tried cups yet? My pediatrician had me wean Sean off of bottles by the time he was 12 months old. Is Seth taking regular milk or formula? I put a little chocolate syrup (Dr. OKd it) in some milk and put that in the cup. It helped him transition very quickly from bottles to cups.

If you're really concerned about this, call the doctor. Seth is your son, so you know better than we do. I've learned that if your gut is telling you to look into this, you might be right. I'm sure it's nothing serious though. I remember we used to joke around about putting velcro on our daughter's hands to make her hold her own bottle. Both my kids need to be pushed with just about everything.

 

[selune]

It's really probably habit more than anything with the sippy cups. Maybe have him buckled into his highchair when using them, he can't lay back then and he will get used to them that way. He'll learn, don't worry.

 

[lucypevensie]

I agree with the above posters. He'd probably really enjoy the ease and efficiency of a cup if he knew how to use one properly. He doesn't know what he's missing out on. I'd try to wean off the bottle. Not take it away directly but just nudge him in that general direction and pretty soon the bottle will seem pretty lame. Start by giving him drinks of milk in his highchair at mealtimes out of a cup. Really make the cup a glamorous and fun thing and a big privilege for such a big boy!

 

[BeanMak]

Plus, I remember reading a study that kids that drank chocolate milk had less cavities than kids that drank white. Now i don't know how good the study was, but the article postulated that the chocolate milk kids drank more milk

 

[okiemommy26]

I think its just a habit of him used to drinking it laying down, try to break him from the bottle

 

[Melbelle]

I give him the bottle the first time he wakes in the morning and the last thing he gets before he goes to bed. He drinks a sippy cup the rest the time during the day, when in his highchair he throws a fit, he will not sit there and drink his cup he throws it but yet he loves his sippy cup just he gives up on trying I try to make him do it but you know how it is you can't "MAKE" them do anything.

 

[andiesmama]

You know what? Andie hated her sippy cup....so I tried one of those cups that have the straws that flip up, and she went for it! So that's all she drinks out of now....maybe get one of those & try it just to see what happens. They have all different kinds, let Seth pick out one he likes. But as for him laying down to drink his bottle...yea, he's probably just used to it plus it would be easier for him that way. I kept the nighttime bottle for a few months after Andie turned one, maybe let him try a sippy cup or straw cup in the morning instead of his bottle....

PS...I used the chocolate milk trick, too....it works!! But I made it REALLY weak chocolate milk...just enough to flavor it a little bit.

Good luck!! He'll get there, it'll just take some time...

 

[forgivenmuch]

great idea ... the straw cups are really great.. try to get him use to that ..and i bet it might just work~

 

[Kelly]

Well he gets 2 bottels aday and the rest of the time sippy cups and even sippy cups he want sit up and drink.

I think that's your answer right there. Do you like to have your morning cup of coffee in your jammies? He's equated a bottle with relaxation, since you probably gave him a bottle to get him to go down to sleep. He's in chill mode. I wouldn't worry about it, especially as you fade out bottles and go all sippy cups.

 

[Andy Broadley]

Melissa - please forgive and ignore me for being flippant about this, but I've got a 13 year old son, and it takes him all his time to drag himself off the sofa into an upright position to eat and drink. He has a serious condition called idle-itess!!

 

[Melbelle]

Now the problem is that he will not sit up and drink his sippy cup he thinks he needs to lay down for it and I will not give it to him laying down I want him to learn.

 

[lucypevensie]

I give him the bottle the first time he wakes in the morning and the last thing he gets before he goes to bed. He drinks a sippy cup the rest the time during the day, when in his highchair he throws a fit, he will not sit there and drink his cup he throws it but yet he loves his sippy cup just he gives up on trying I try to make him do it but you know how it is you can't "MAKE" them do anything.

Pick your battles wisely. Actually, his lying down while drinking his cup is not that big a deal in the scheme of things. He just doesn't get the whole concept yet, but he will. One battle I would pick though is the cup-throwing in the highchair tantrum. No, we don't throw cups. And if you choose to throw the cup on the floor it's going bye-bye for awhile in the fridge . Maybe both of you need to let up on each other some. Let him lie down at least for the morning and evening bottles - and he needs to learn to respect you and what you're trying to teach him.

 

[AmposGirl]

I'd try sippy cups all the time if you are worried. My daughter was completely off bottle at 12 1/2 months, and drinking from a cup or a sippy at nap time.