One Of Those Mornings!

[Unregistered]

I've had a bit of a rough morning between a new potty trainer and "babies" who are a handful. I am literally sweating right now!

1) At what age do babies usually start holding their own bottle? My last one started at 6 months and my current DCG is almost 8 months and I feel like I have to feed her like a little calf. She will not drink if you hold her, she wants to sit in her high chair and I hold the bottle up for her. She's very nosey and drinks for a few seconds, looks around, then comes back for more. It takes forever to feed her and is super annoying! I don't have time to sit there for that long when I have other kids to take care of. She has no interest in holding it herself. Any suggestions?

2) I have two new potty trainers. 2 1/2 & 2 3/4. Both decided to start at home this weekend and both girls are doing great! Problem is, the older DCG is very competitive and loves praise so she wants to sit on the potty every 10 min. She only goes 9 out of 10 times. Is it OK to tell a potty trainer, no, they're not allowed to sit on the potty? I'm afraid she'll lose interest and the process will drag out.

[midaycare]

I've had a bit of a rough morning between a new potty trainer and "babies" who are a handful. I am literally sweating right now!

1) At what age do babies usually start holding their own bottle? My last one started at 6 months and my current DCG is almost 8 months and I feel like I have to feed her like a little calf. She will not drink if you hold her, she wants to sit in her high chair and I hold the bottle up for her. She's very nosey and drinks for a few seconds, looks around, then comes back for more. It takes forever to feed her and is super annoying! I don't have time to sit there for that long when I have other kids to take care of. She has no interest in holding it herself. Any suggestions?

2) I have two new potty trainers. 2 1/2 & 2 3/4. Both decided to start at home this weekend and both girls are doing great! Problem is, the older DCG is very competitive and loves praise so she wants to sit on the potty every 10 min. She only goes 9 out of 10 times. Is it OK to tell a potty trainer, no, they're not allowed to sit on the potty? I'm afraid she'll lose interest and the process will drag out.

:hug:

I have a 10.5 month old that still won't hold a bottle. Even when they can hold a bottle, I still try to spend a little time feeding them until they reach 1 year, just for bonding sake. But yes, my dcg at 10.5 takes a ridiculous amount of time to eat. 3 oz is her normal, and she can take an hour to drink that. We just take breaks and come back to it. As soon as she shows she's not interested, I stop. Then I will come back. After an hour, the bottle is no good and I'm done trying for a little while. Of course, keep in mind my dcg can go all day without drinking from me. She likes to wait for dcm if she can, since she would rather BF.

2) Did you say 9 times out of 10 she goes? That's great! I would watch for cues as to how often she really, truly needs to go. Then I would start limiting potty breaks to every half hour or hour, whatever works.

[storybookending]

:hug:

I have a 10.5 month old that still won't hold a bottle. Even when they can hold a bottle, I still try to spend a little time feeding them until they reach 1 year, just for bonding sake. But yes, my dcg at 10.5 takes a ridiculous amount of time to eat. 3 oz is her normal, and she can take an hour to drink that. We just take breaks and come back to it. As soon as she shows she's not interested, I stop. Then I will come back. After an hour, the bottle is no good and I'm done trying for a little while. Of course, keep in mind my dcg can go all day without drinking from me. She likes to wait for dcm if she can, since she would rather BF.

2) Did you say 9 times out of 10 she goes? That's great! I would watch for cues as to how often she really, truly needs to go. Then I would start limiting potty breaks to every half hour or hour, whatever works.

Literally everything that was said here is my life. My 10.5 month old just started caring enough to hold his own bottle and finish it in one sitting in the last week or two. He wouldn’t drink much if I made him do it himself, he would maybe take some and then come back to it. If I held it though he would drink the whole bottle.

And 9 times out of 10 actually going it great for a new potty trainer. I wouldn’t be running to the bathroom that much, and won’t with any child. They need to be able to do it all themselves. If she can do it herself then great she can go as much as she wants but if she needs my help we’d be in a pull up. Im that provider that will point out that I am not a child’s parent and that stuff needs to be learned at home.

[Unregistered]

:hug:

I have a 10.5 month old that still won't hold a bottle. Even when they can hold a bottle, I still try to spend a little time feeding them until they reach 1 year, just for bonding sake. But yes, my dcg at 10.5 takes a ridiculous amount of time to eat. 3 oz is her normal, and she can take an hour to drink that. We just take breaks and come back to it. As soon as she shows she's not interested, I stop. Then I will come back. After an hour, the bottle is no good and I'm done trying for a little while. Of course, keep in mind my dcg can go all day without drinking from me. She likes to wait for dcm if she can, since she would rather BF.

2) Did you say 9 times out of 10 she goes? That's great! I would watch for cues as to how often she really, truly needs to go. Then I would start limiting potty breaks to every half hour or hour, whatever works.

Oops! That was supposed to be 9 out of 10 times she does not go!

[Unregistered]

1) At what age do babies usually start holding their own bottle? My last one started at 6 months and my current DCG is almost 8 months and I feel like I have to feed her like a little calf. She will not drink if you hold her, she wants to sit in her high chair and I hold the bottle up for her. She's very nosey and drinks for a few seconds, looks around, then comes back for more. It takes forever to feed her and is super annoying! I don't have time to sit there for that long when I have other kids to take care of. She has no interest in holding it herself. Any suggestions?

I’ve had two young ones start at different times (7 months and 6 months) who would not hold their bottles the first day. That wasn’t going to work for me when I know they are capable. I leaned them back on a boppy pillow and just braced the end of the bottle with one finger while the nipple was in the mouth. Slowly let the bottle drop towards baby’s chest to where they are not getting any milk. Keep it there. Both of mine reached up and VOILA! miraculously they could hold their own bottles after all! Two feedings this way and both were pros. They are more than capable at 8 months.

*If they don’t reach up, move their hands up and drop it down again the same way while their hands are on it.

Let us know how it goes! Good luck!

[Pestle]

I’ve had two young ones start at different times (7 months and 6 months) who would not hold their bottles the first day. That wasn’t going to work for me when I know they are capable. I leaned them back on a boppy pillow and just braced the end of the bottle with one finger while the nipple was in the mouth. Slowly let the bottle drop towards baby’s chest to where they are not getting any milk. Keep it there. Both of mine reached up and VOILA! miraculously they could hold their own bottles after all! Two feedings this way and both were pros. They are more than capable at 8 months.

*If they don’t reach up, move their hands up and drop it down again the same way while their hands are on it.

Let us know how it goes! Good luck!

Exactly--I've had a couple of babies who were perfectly capable of holding their bottles, but didn't, because the parents didn't know they could. They both also liked to roll and scream when their bottles fell out of their hands. I just kept flipping them onto their backs on the mat I was using, handing them the bottle back, and waiting for them to figure it out. Took a few days, but they gave in eventually.

[TheMisplacedMidwestMom]

So I've always held all my dc babies for bottles, even when they could hold it themselves I hold them while they drink. I'm still pretty new to dc stuff, but I did not realize it so common not to.

[Unregistered]

So I've always held all my dc babies for bottles, even when they could hold it themselves I hold them while they drink. I'm still pretty new to dc stuff, but I did not realize it so common not to.

Would be nice but I have 5 under one year so would not be feasible. I would spend all day bottle feeding and listening to screaming from the ones waiting their turn.

That’s great if you want to do that though!

[Cat Herder]

Would be nice but I have 5 under one year so would not be feasible. I would spend all day bottle feeding and listening to screaming from the ones waiting their turn.

That’s great if you want to do that though!

That is actually a regulation, here, for all under 1.

Where are you that 5 under 1 is allowed? We can only have 3, it is very limiting. I can easily manage 4, and did for many years before the new regs.

[TheMisplacedMidwestMom]

Would be nice but I have 5 under one year so would not be feasible. I would spend all day bottle feeding and listening to screaming from the ones waiting their turn.

That’s great if you want to do that though!

I'm not going to stop doing it, but... I may take opportunity to set them down from time to time. I just didn't realize it was an "accepted" thing. There are definitely those chaotic times when it would be helpful.

[storybookending]

That is actually a regulation, here, for all under 1.

Where are you that 5 under 1 is allowed? We can only have 3, it is very limiting. I can easily manage 4, and did for many years before the new regs.

It’s in our regs that bottle propping is not allowed but once they can hold it themselves it is okay.

I don’t know anywhere that 5 under 1 is allowed. This sounds crazy and illegal to me (could be wrong, not an expert on all states/countries rules). In my state the limit is 4 under the age of 2. And that is with no older kids. I had two under 1 for just a few months this past year and that was quite enough for me! I prefer only 1 be under 1. I love the babies more than one when you have older children as well is an art form that I don’t wish to master haha.

[LysesKids]

It’s in our regs that bottle propping is not allowed but once they can hold it themselves it is okay.

I don’t know anywhere that 5 under 1 is allowed. This sounds crazy and illegal to me (could be wrong, not an expert on all states/countries rules). In my state the limit is 4 under the age of 2. And that is with no older kids. I had two under 1 for just a few months this past year and that was quite enough for me! I prefer only 1 be under 1. I love the babies more than one when you have older children as well is an art form that I don’t wish to master haha.

Bottle propping is not allowed in any state I know of & I've worked several; I am limited to 4 under 24 months regardless of being licensed or licensed exempt & I always have one that is at least 15 months or older while the other 3 are under 12 months... 5 under 1 year old? I've done 5 kids before but they weren't all tiny tiny under a year

[LysesKids]

Would be nice but I have 5 under one year so would not be feasible. I would spend all day bottle feeding and listening to screaming from the ones waiting their turn.

That’s great if you want to do that though!

Curious on what state it is because even in South Dakota where you can take up to 12 (Voluntary Registered or not), only 4 kids allowed under 2 with 2 under 12 months ( I looked up the regs); No offense, but as an INFANT only provider for many years, that scares the daylights out of me because it's not right & illegal in every place I know