Well, first and foremost, you should ask your doctor. Generally speaking, though, by one year of age, most babies will be ready to give up formula. My doctor, being the kind man that he is, lets me keep my babies on the bottle--not the formula--for an additional two months. This lets me get them used to drinking whole milk instead of formula before taking away what has been their comfort & food source their entire lives.This, in my most humble of opinions, is a major benefit to bottle feeding: You can ease your child off first his type of food, and then his method of getting food gradually over time instead the all-or-nothing approach. No matter how thin you slice it, you can't give your child whole milk through breastfeeding--but I can put whole milk in my baby's bottle.
Sorry if this irks you. Occasionally, I have to take a small victory when I can. Two babies and almost 4,500 bottles later, it can STILL be a tough world out there for a bottle feeder.
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Schroeder is now weened and the hardest part of the whole process is not whether he has a bottle or sippy cup or whether it's got formula, breastmilk, or whole milk in it. The biggest problem is him learning to hold the cup/bottle up by himself. He doesn't have to tip a breast to get milk out of it so when I gave him a sippy cup he was oh so frustrated that it didn't come out just by sucking.
ReplyDeleteAt what age do you let your little ones drink their bottles on their own?
I am a mother of both types of feeding. I formula fed my little boy and breast fed my little girl. My son Cole was my first I tried the breastfeeding without success so he was fed by bottle all twelve months of his first year of life. When I decided it was time for a sippy and whole milk we started slowly. I only put milk in his sippy and no formula so he would know the difference. With my daughter breastfeeding was a breeze and when it came time for her switch I did the same thing. The key was I didn't stop either method of feeding cold turkey. I continued to give Cole a bottle while weaning him to a sippy and I continued to breastfeed Bethany while I weaned her to a sippy. They weaned the same no more problem with my daughter then my son. They had to both learn how to use a new method of receiving what they wanted and they both had to learn to like something they had never had before. To me with both of my children getting them to like whole milk over formula or breast milk was a challenge and getting used to a sippy cup which flows differently from a sippy or a breast. Everyone has there own opionons on breastfeeding or bottle feeding to me whatever works best more power to you! I obviously have been on both sides of the fence and I don't think it is a war for victories, just what you as a mother are comfortable with and that you do what you believe is best for your child and yourself!
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