Pregnancy & Baby Index: Parenting Experts: Child Health: 14 month old still wants a bottle
14 month old still wants a bottle
by Linda Shaw, MD
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The question:My son is 14 months old and still uses a bottle. Will the bottle hurt his teeth? How can I get him to stop using a bottle?
The Pediatrician Answers:
Pediatricians generally advise a child to be off a feeding bottle
completely by 12 months of age. The easiest way to do this is to
never put cow milk into the bottle as they are changing from
artificial baby milks or breast milk to whole cow milk at the end of the first
year.
Continued bottle use tends to decrease food intake and can
cause dental caries and dental arch malformations. You can put
nothing but plain water in his bottle and give all other liquids
by cup as a transition measure. He may fuss transiently, but it
is time to get rid of the bottle.