To prevent your baby from developing caries, it is recommended to stop bottle feeding in time . This should be done gradually and even delicately, taking into account the individual characteristics of the child. Weaning a child off drinking and bottle feeding can turn into real stress for the whole family.
Bottle feeding: when to wean
When should you wean your baby off the bottle — before or after one year?
There is no need to wean a child off a bottle until he or she is one year old. Many children are on mixed feeding during this period, receiving both formula and complementary foods, so there is no point in weaning. The transition from the bottle to adult food should occur gradually, when the child’s teeth are actively growing and he begins to chew solid food, learns to chew it. Mixed feeding is replaced by feeding with solid food, then transferred to the general table.
After one year, solid food takes up more and more space in the child’s diet. Breakfast, lunch, dinner – these are already solid food meals. The bottle remains only as some kind of supplementary feeding, for example, during the daytime, when the child goes to bed, and sometimes at night.
Why do we need to wean?
Children who are on mixed feeding, receive formulas, especially at night due to lack of oral hygiene, can develop caries. That is why children over one year old should be gradually weaned off the bottle, especially at night. Because they do not brush their teeth.
At what moments in the life of a family and a child should this process not be started?
Let’s say the child is 1 year old, the mother suddenly stops lactating for one reason or another, or she deliberately interrupts it, and at the same time she has a desire to wean the child off the bottle — in such a situation it is better not to do this. The baby should also not be abruptly weaned off bottles, that is, off formula, if he has been on mixed feeding for a very long time.
Can the time of year have a negative or, on the contrary, positive effect on weaning a child from a bottle? Is there an opinion that summer is the best season for this? There is absolutely no pattern or clear indication that it is better to do this in summer, winter or at another time of the year. Probably, the issue of psychology and the child’s dependence on the bottle is important. Therefore, it is worth starting to do this when it is convenient for your family.
Bottle feeding: what is the best way to wean?
What is the best way to wean a baby off a bottle to avoid stress? How to motivate a child?
As I said, this is a long process and you shouldn’t quickly give up bottle feeding. You need to very smoothly replace the volume of liquid food with solid food. That is, the child should gradually eat more solid food and, accordingly, less formula during the day. It doesn’t matter how many stages this process is divided into. The most important thing is that it is interchangeable. In this way, you can switch to solid food without stress.
It is better to start doing this from the moment when the child starts to receive complementary feeding – first porridge, purees, then soups, and then more solid food. He begins to chew pieces, and as he grows up, he switches to the general table, and accordingly, at this time, parents begin to reduce the total volume of mixtures.
Thus, supplementary feeding is in the form of a mixture, and the main meal is solid food, which he receives for breakfast, lunch and dinner.
Should I pour unpalatable water into the bottle and sweet juice or tea that the baby likes into the sippy cup?
The deception method is not the best way, so pouring a tasteless liquid into a bottle to get the child used to it is not an option. Getting your baby used to a sippy cup instead of a bottle is a good way. But you need to understand that he drinks formula from a bottle – this is a nutritious diet, and from a sippy cup – juices, compotes, teas. That is, he does not receive the same nutrients as from milk formula.
What to do if you missed the right age and the child at two years old still cannot part with the bottle? How to wean him at this age?
You should definitely consult a pediatrician and analyze his diet in detail. At this age, the child should already be eating solid food, mostly. But each case is individual, so you need to understand why the baby stays on formula, why he does not eat solid food, and look for a way out of this situation.
Consequences of long-term bottle use
What consequences can be expected if you don’t wean your baby off the bottle in time?
The first is caries, the second is a violation of digestion and food consumption culture. You need to set an example for the child. For example, seat him at the same table with his parents and eat the same solid food. This is a very important point in terms of psychology.
Is it possible for psychological trauma to occur as a result of late weaning from the bottle?
In my opinion, a child who has been bottle-feeding for a long time will not have any psychological or behavioral problems. It is more of a physiological issue.
Bottle feeding: what does the psychologist say?
Family and child psychologist Natalia Pilyavskaya
Any sudden changes in a child’s life, a transition from the familiar to the new, especially at an early age – be it a change in daily routine, feeding or a change in the environment of close people – can lead to the emergence of anxiety states and affect behavior. He may become restless, capricious, whiny. A child’s health problems also affect his mental state, but we are not talking about serious psychological trauma.
Therefore, I agree with the pediatrician: the main thing is a gradual transition from a bottle to solid food. It is worth doing this in parallel. Up to 1 year, a child can be on formula, but from 5-6 months, he or she can already receive complementary feeding in the form of solid food (for example, special baby cookies).
