Darius had been drinking his milk from the MagMag Level 2 Spout Bottle since 8 months old. It is a good bottle to use but the soft spout often gets moldy after a while. The inner edges would also get yellowish from the milk. This is despite the fact that we washed the bottle immediately with bottle detergent and dry it with a cloth, leaving it out to ‘air’ in a tub. No matter what we did, it still turned moldy after a few weeks and we need to change the tip. So far, we had change countless since he started using it and it’s not cost-effective.
Lately, I decided that this cannot go on and we NEED to change the bottle to something else. The thing is, we had bought and tried other bottles before with tips that are hard but he protested greatly and didn’t want to drink it. He could drink from straw bottle but in those early morning, it’s not possible to let him drink from the straw lying down.
The day before, we finally took out the Avent Magic Cup (had bought it many months ago) from the wardrobe and tested him with it before bedtime. He wailed and pushed and screamed in anger. It was something really horrible to him. I tried again the next afternoon and he protested again. I told him firmly that he would not be able to drink his precious milk if he doesn’t drink from this bottle. In the end, he held the bottle while I told him a story. During the 20mins, I wondered whether he was really sipping from it because there seemed to be no movement. The milk would only flow from the bottle when he sips, therefore it would not spill out. Everytime I started telling him to drink with a firm tone, he would start to cry silently with tears in his eyes. Sigh. After the story was done, I took up the bottle and the amount was STILL the same! Not much difference meaning he only drank a few sips.
In the end, he just slept without finishing the milk.
We really do not want to use back the Magmag as the tip is turning moldy yet again.
So we would have to change to something else. Otherwise, it would be tough later on when he needs to go full-day childcare. The teachers would not want to use the bottle once they see slight yellowish tints and probably we would need to change very frequently. Alternative, he could use straw but he would need to sit up to finish his milk. He would have to do without the comfort of lying down. Maybe it’s good also that he does not associate sippy bottle with comfort? From information I searched, westerners usually weaned their toddlers directly from bottle into a cup. They only drink milk during mealtimes.
However, the CC seemed to give children milk just before their nap lying down so they can sleep immediately after that. I also started giving him milk after coming back from the CC and just before taking his nap because he does not always finish his lunch in the CC. Seeing him getting so thin is making me heartpain. After his milk, I would give him a sip of plain water to ‘wash’ a bit before letting him nap.
So anybody could share how they got their child to transit to a hard spout bottle? And what bottles are you using for your child? I saw that some parents are still using normal milk bottles for their toddlers up til 3 years old but we had already weaned him to a spout bottle since he was 8.5 months old so we certainly can’t go back. (see ‘Feed & Sleep at 8.5months old‘). The reason why we did so was because it is not good for his teeth if he keep doing the sucking action with milk pooling around.
Some interesting articles:
1. A look at Different brands of sippy bottles
2. A mom sharing how her child got milk caries from breastfeeding. (Didn’t know this could happen!)
Related posts:
- Tips to Prevent MagMag’s Spout from Moulding Early last month, we shared our problem with the MagMag...
- Darius holding his milk bottle Darius started holding his own milk bottle recently at 7.5...
Written by Dreamycat
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Dreamycat co-write this blog, documenting Darius' developments and happy moments with him.Categories
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Hi both mine are still using normal milk bottles to drink milk. The trick is to brush their teeth after milk. I have been brushing since they are 6 mths old. I use first teeth and orajel when they still don’t know how to spit. My thoughts are even if u use a sprout bottle, you would still need to brush teeth.
Thanks for sharing, Jaime. It’s good practise you are doing.
Yes, brushing teeth is so important! Never let milk teeth decay and check often. We brush his teeth twice and sometimes, three times. Once after breakfast, once after lunch and before bed after his milk feed at night.
For us, we tended to go out for the whole day and it wasn’t convenient to brush his teeth. He also sometimes fall asleep outside after milk so we thought it wasn’t too good. Sippy cups would ‘lessen’ the pooling of milk because they only flow when the boy sips.
Just read this ARTICLE: The best training cup is one with NO valve. Some no-spill cups are nothing more than baby bottles in disguise. “No-spill” cups have valves beneath the spout which stops spills but they do not allow your child to sip. The only way your child can get liquid from a cup with valve is by sucking. (as from a baby bottle). This defeat the purpose as it prevents your child from learning to sip.
This sounds really like the Avent bottle. Hmm!!! I tried sipping from it myself and you need to suck the tip a little harder to get the milk out. MAYBE that’s why he doesn’t like it? The MagMag spout has a big cross in it and it’s easier for the milk to flow. He can finish drinking in minutes.
So I think I’ll stick to straw or try to find a better training cup.
I face the same problem as you and ended up using bottles instead of the mag mag cup. Have a munchkin bottle that has a sprout similar to the mag mag but it’s too small to contain the volume he is drinking. The avent one – yes, u need to use strength to suck and hence, I didn’t use it after trying out twice. As for cup, I bought a Diody cup which is meant to help them drink.. but Dylan is perhaps too young with that for now. He is not receptive to it and spills more than he drinks.
erm but he doesn’t have problem using the soft spout of the MagMag. Instead he loves drinking milk from it. Just that the spout always develop black spots or get yellowish deposit after three weeks of use and we had to keep changing it. Very costly. (see post for updated picture of it)
So now my problem is getting him to switch to a hard spout of another sippy cup, spouts that have three holes and give a direct flow. As part of the cup, surely they will not turn moldy.
hehe.. think I wasn’t clear in my comment. Same prob as in having probs with mouldy, stained magmag sprout. Dylan drinks fine from it since 8 months but the sprout is just too troublesome and costly. That’s why I am still using bottles for him.
Just remembered that I tried sippy cup (hard sprout) without the non-drip valve. Think it’s too advanced for him 2 months ago when I was trying to find replacement for the mag mag sprout. Perhaps I should try that again. However, even if he is comfortable, the cup is too small to hold the volume of milk he is drinking.
Hi, I’m also trying to wean my boy off the bottle, though it’s from a milk bottle to a straw bottle but to no avail. He would absolutely refused to drink, even forgoing his meal once. Do keep us posted. And have an enjoyable trip!