1 year old won't hold bottle

[cillybean83]

I babysit a little boy who will turn 1 next weekend. He will only hold his bottle if he is lying flat down in the crib. If he puts the bottle down he will NOT pick it back up. He will scream at the top of his lungs until you put it back in his mouth for him. He won't hold it when he's sitting up at all.

I don't want to be mean like "if you don't hold it you don't get it" when it's meal time, but I was thinking of making him a bottle of juice between meals and using that to teach him to hold his own bottle because that way if he abandons it, it won't really matter.

I've just never heard of a child not holding their own bottle by age 1!!! My mom TOOK my bottle on my first birthday! lol

 

[Wombat]

He might be just a lazy chops

My LO who will be 2 soon still prefers to be fed to eat himself (he perfectly well knows how to do it). You LO might be the same.

Wait a few months and I bet he will not let YOU to hold the bottle anymore

 

[Vickie]

I wouldn't put juice in a bottle without the parents consent. It can cause tooth decay. Does he take sippy cups? to be honest Hannah never held her own bottles but she does hold her sippy cups. When she turned one we took bottles away completely and she gets her milk out of the cup. Of course his parents may not be ready for him to give up the bottle yet.....

 

[asacia]

Have you spoken to his parents about this issue? He may always be fed his bottle, which is why he doesn't do it himself well. Personally, while my LO is still having milk (breast or bottle) I will give it to him. I wouldn't want him to feed himself with a bottle. Do his parents feel the same?

 

[embo216]

My little girl can hold her bottle but to be honest we both still enjoy me giving it to her- I see nothing wrong with it in my opinion. She feeds herself great and has used her sippy cup from an early age. She has her bottle in the morning and bedtimes and I think it's more of a comfort thing

 

[dali]

my lo didnt even try to hold a bottle until i got him a beaker that didnt have handles once he got that hang of that he was happy to hold the bottle ( that said he was off the bottle a few weeks later anyway)
before that he would happily hold a beaker with handles but i had never really given him a bottle to hold himself, we always had a cuddle with the bottle last thing at night. could you not just give him a cuddle and hold it for him till he feels ready to hold it himself ?

 

[cillybean83]

His dad isn't involved and to be totally honest, his mother doesn't deal with him. He is here from 6am til 6pm and she takes him home, puts him in the bed, and doesn't get him up until she brings him back to my house. I've watched him for over 60 hours a week since he was 4 weeks old. She gives him a bottle in the morning and other than that, i give him all his feedings. She gives me money to buy his food, juice, diapers, wipes etc and doesn't really care how he's fed. Check my posts in 2nd tri...she's a joke of a mother.

Anyway, I don't let him have juice in his bottle normally but I thought I'd try it to get him interested in holding his own bottle...maybe I'll try a bit of formula instead because it is true that juice can rot their teeth.

She's moving in the next month and is taking him to a "regular" daycare, not a home run daycare, and I'm just afraid they won't take the time to hold his bottle for him so I want him to learn to do it for himself.

 

[Hope22]

Wow, sounds like his parents don't even like him, how sad! I think if you're willing to take the time to try and teach him that he can hold his own bottle it's worth it - if he's not ready you'll find out soon enough. If it's just that he's never had the opportunity or needed to learn, he will probably get the idea fairly quickly.

I feel so sorry for the poor little guy - I'm glad he has a caregiver that wants to look after him, hopefully the next daycare will also give him love & personal attention. Sounds like the parents have issues, it's really sad that they're missing out on the experience of being parents and their LO isn't getting the love he deserves.

 

[MoonMuffin]

Maybe try a transition cup with handles and a soft spout, might be easier for him to hold then a bottle. Kathryn Loves her nuk one, still uses it at night https://www.drugstore.com/qxp165750_333181_sespider/gerber_nuk/learner_cup.htm