Bottle Drama
Get Suri a sippy cup, doctors say.
The 2-year-old — who was spotted sucking away on Monday in NYC — is too old for a bottle.
“Most pediatricians recommend a bottle should be given up by age 1 — almost certainly by 18 months,” Dr. Charlotte Cowan, author of the Dr. Hippo book series, tells Usmagazine.com.
Suri’s constant traveling could play a factor.
“When babies are challenged, their diet is upset, their sleep is upset,” Cowan says. “They will regress back to previous habits … lingering with a bottle is comforting. You could argue that her parents have decided that this is not the time to try to wean her off if they’re traveling frequently.”
Cowan advises Tom and Katie try to “distract [her] with something that might be more appealing, like a sippy cup.”
(Parents should start their children on sippy cups between 9 and 11 months, Cowan says.)
Still, Tom and Katie shouldn’t freak that Suri’s still glued to her bottle.
“We panic and feel as if we have to break a child of that habit before it’s really necessary to do so,” psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow, who has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show, tells Us.
“We don’t have a wealth of experience that suggests from a psychological point of view children are harmed by using a bottle for too long,” he says.
Jokes Cowan: “Parents are always worried about getting their children off of bottles. I have never seen a child go to college with a bottle!”
May 7th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
There may not be any psychological defeceits from still using a bottle after the age of two but what about the medical and dental problems associated with it? That girl is way to old to be on a bottle, point blank.
May 7th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
LEAVE THESE PEOPLE ALONE FOR GOD SAKES. LET THEM RAISE HER THE WAY THEY WANT TO AND EVERYONE ELSE STOP WORRYING ABOUT THEM.
NOBODY WILL BE HAPPY TIL THERE IS A DEATH INVOLVED.
May 7th, 2008 at 1:56 pm
does it really matter…im sure when the time comes her parents will fix her teeth
May 7th, 2008 at 4:23 pm
Kids have been drinking a bottle past the age of two for many moons now, and I dare say 90% of them have great teeth. I agree…leave them the hell alone!!
May 7th, 2008 at 5:15 pm
Nothing wrong with having the bottle longer. I don’t think it really messes up their teeth (unless she’s drinking sugary drinks at bedtime).
People do need to learn to butt the f out! My friend was just told by some know-it-all betch that her son shouldn’t still be in a car-seat (he’s in a booster seat) when it’s required by LAW here due to his age and weight. *eyeroll*
When I have kids, anyone offering “advice” will likely get a free knuckle sandwich.
May 8th, 2008 at 6:07 am
All you have to do is step inside the dental world and book up a book. The evidence of what prolonged bottle use does to your teeth is plain. Last time I checked, milk (which is what it looked like she was drinking in another picture I saw) does have sugar in it. Not telling them how to raise their kid, just stating my opinion.