When should I stop bottle-feeding? I have a two-year-old boy who drinks from a cup, but still asks for his “baba” (bottle) at least twice a day. My first baby relinquished her “baba” shortly after she turned one. She just handed it to me one day, said “no,” and wouldn’t take it again. However, my son doesn’t show signs of giving it up so easily. Is there a suggested age when toddlers should be completely off the bottle?
Feeding from a bottle is appropriate for infants who have not yet mastered drinking from a cup. Once an infant is skilled in drinking from a cup, the bottle can and should be discarded. Most children can and should give up the bottle at around a year of age or so. Toddlers don’t need bottles.
Furthermore, most two-year-olds are far less flexible in their behavior than are most one-year-olds; the longer the toddler hangs on to the bottle habit, the harder it is to break!
Given the multitude of non-spill sipper cups, cups with straws, travel cups, sports water bottles and other colorful paraphernalia on the market, providing easy access to fluids for young children on the go has never been easier!
