Pacifiers and Bottles 13 Month Old

I'm one of those 'lazy moms' who let her children use sippy cups. it's a shame we're not all perfect, but I let my kids have bottles and pacifiers and sippy cups until at least two years, or until they were ready to get rid of them. I don't know how it happened but they are all healthy, happy, well adjusted little men.

Like one of the other posts, now is about the time to eliminate both. I would do the bottle first, then the pacifier. I think both at the same time may be too much change at once. I replaced my son's pacifier with a stuffed animal and it really helped the transition. A good transition for the bottle is eliminate one bottle, then two bottles, then all three within about a 3 week time frame. I found with both my boys that the night bottle was the hardest and the am and afternoon were pretty easy, so I would start with those and do the night one last, especially since you are thinking about the pacifier too. Good luck

My son took a bottle of water with him to bed until well after he was 2 - after he had transitioned to sippy cups in fact.

He loved his pacifier also. He stopped having one out in public at about 2, but I let him keep them at home if he wanted them.

He is 14 now, and not stunted in any way, by being allowed to give up these comfort items at his own pace.

Do what works for you and your family.
Don't worry about what any one else thinks.

God Bless

People are going to say that you need to do it by 1, or you need to do it by 2. Let's be real for a minute. Chances are- he is not going to graduate high school wanting to suck on his pacifier, or walk down the isle right after a bottle (well, it might be a different bottle at least!). He will stop using them when he is ready. Sure, it might be awesome to slowly get him off the bottle now, but what if you don't? He won't have mental illnesses because he was on the bottle until he was 3 or used his pacifier to fall asleep. Sorry, just how I feel =)

Someone pointed something out to me once that I was so greatful for. Pediatricians often reccommend things like ages to get rid of bottles or pacifiers, and how a baby should fall asleep. But really, a pediatrician is a medical professional trained to find and treat serious medical conditions; not a psychologist, not a physical or occupational therapist, and not a member of your family.
Letting your child keep a bottle or paci beyond the "reccommended age" is fine as long as it isn't interfering with their development. Quite frankly, I think they actually help some children develop, as they are used as security items that help a child receive a good nights sleep, or feel safe enough to explore their world.
If it were my child, I would get rid of one bottle at a time until they were all gone, but keep the paci for another year. You should follow your son's lead and do what is best for all of you :)

Eliminate them whenever you're ready and don't let anyone tell you that you need to do it at a certain age. It's just silly that all bottles must be gone by one year old... it's not based on science or anything, just an arbitrary age that someone came up with ages ago. Even on here, people who forced their kids to give up all bottles by one talk about "rough days" and "crying". Why the heck would you do that to your kid? Why not let him stay on bottles for a few more months until he's ready to give them up? My girls still had three bottles a day until 18 months, two until 22 months, and then we eliminated the last bottle when they turned two. Each bottle we dropped was absolutely no big deal - no crying, no fuss, no worries that they weren't drinking enough out of a cup.

If the pacifiers work to help your son sleep, I say keep them up until he doesn't need them anymore, or try to eliminate them by three-ish so they don't impact his teeth. A good friend of mine is a dentist and her three year old son still sleeps with a paci - she said it's no big deal.

I'm with Beth. One of the many 'rules' I broke, letting kids have bottles til they were done with it (and they were all nursed too). I'm pleased to announce that they are 18, 16, and 14 now, have not had any dental problems, ear problems, or whatever else the 'rule' dictates.

That's just my experience of course. I'm sure the experts are right about their 'rules' and I just got lucky, right?

:)

Best idea for the bottles is to get rid of them cold turkey and really the paci also. It will be a rough few days but after that it will be no big deal.

You're going to get a ton of the 'already should've given it up' answers.

I've always been the 'they'll give it up when they're good and ready' type of mom's. People cringe and hate it, but I don't really care what others think. I was 4 when I gave up my paci. My daughter was 4 when she gave up her paci. My husband was almost 4 when he gave up his paci and over 3 when he gave up his bottle. I only had braces because of TMJ. My husband never had braces.

ETA- We tried having our son give his up (he'll be 3 in July) and it was 4.5 days of pure hell. As soon as he got one back. He was just fine. He only has it for naps and bed... I will never understand the big problem.

I think now is a good time to do it. Have a party to toss them and give him a gift of a new bedtime lovie for a replacement object. So if you want him to nap with a certain blankie or stuffed toy or something like that then that would be the gift .. and yes do a party, invite gma, gpa, aunts, uncles etc.

Hi, A.:

Now.
D.

when they turn 1 is when you need to try and eliminate both of them. Really at 6 months they want you to try the sippy cup. On my daughters 1st birthday she was done with the bottle and on sippy cups. I havent had to go through the pacifier stage since my daughter did not want one. But now is a good time. Just get rid of them and he will cry for a couple days probably but then he wont cry for it anymore. I have a friend who's daughter is fixing to turn 2 and still on a pacifier and it kills me. Just rock him to sleep with out a pacifier until he finally falls a sleep. Good luck:)

They should have been gone a long time ago. He should have gotten used to soothing himself with a stuffed animal or something rather than a pacifier. Not good for the teeth and it's much harder to break from than anything else.

Bottles are just a tool until a child can hold and tip it themselves. Once they can hold and tip a bottle on their own it's time to transition to an open cup. Sippy cups were originally made for travel but too many lazy moms use them for every day. They don't know better because they've been conditioned to believe that they have to use them. Nope. Get disposable cups with lids with no inserts that drain out (make holes bigger if necessary) to train the child to drink and not suck the liquid out.

At this age they do not need drinks except at meals and snacks both of which are used at the table/high chair only.

Take both away immediately. Replace both with something more appropriate. The longer you wait, the harder it will be. Stay consistent.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets

I got rid of bottles a week after he turned one. He drinks from sippy cups with straws only. I got rid of the pacifier at 13 months. He was getting a consistent rash around his mouth, so I figured it was the pacifier that was causing it. so far its been 2 months pacifier free. I went with the cold turkey method. It was rough for a few days, but eventually he forgot all about it. It is really up to you when you decide to remove these things. Some kids are more dependent than others. I'm sure whenever you decide to do it, the transition won't be that difficult. Good luck!

Eliminating the bottle and the pacifier is recommended by the age of 1 because of tooth development and speech development. Proper tooth placement helps with being able to speak clearly and tooth and mouth health are important overall.

After going through three children, here is my recommendation.

Get rid of the bottles now. He is old enough to drink exclusively from a sippy cup. As for the pacifier, he can still keep it for now. However, once he turns two, it's gotta go.

both of my sons' drs recommended eliminating the bottle at 1 year. I hit that benchmark with both sons without any stress. Unfortunately, the pacifier was harder.....lasting until age 2 for both of them.

My pediatrician also recommended getting rid of bottles by age 1. The transition from bottles to sippy only was really easy (like you guessed). The paci was a little harder, (DD also only used them at nap and bedtime) but we got rid of it at 1 year as well (once she was completely off of bottles). It wasn't as hard as everyone says (or maybe she was just ready). Good luck!