we started teaching the sippy cup around 7-8 months with both kids. By a year they were both off the bottle completely. I think 2 is a bit old to still be on a bottle. Hope they have an easy time with Suri.

I personally don't see what the big deal is, I have seen 4 yr olds with bottles (not that thats ok!) and I think she still has a little time before it gets ridiculous. My doctor told me the same thing with the sippy cups but I could not get my daughter to take it at 6,7,8 months. She is 16 months now and is at a 50/50 split - sometimes the kids just don't like the cups, maybe that is Suri's issue?

I'm not quick to criticize other parents, because I know (from personal experience) that we can never know the whole story and that every child is different.

My first child was fully weaned from the bottle by fourteen months, but he only ever drank juice from a cup and never from a bottle. He didn't wean as quickly because I had my second child just days after his first birthday and he was adjusting to the change.

My second child was physically disabled and profoundly developmentally delayed. He was not weaned from the bottle until he was two, but that is because he was not physically able to drink from a sippy cup until that time. (He could receive fluid from a soft nipple, but he was not strong enough to get it from a spill-proof stopper, but a sippy top with no stopper would drown him because it rushed out too quickly.)

His suck and swallow functions did not develop properly. But he was not able to manage solid foods until nearly one year old because he didn't develop the ability to properly chew until then, and he had very a weak swallow. (And that was after several months of Early Intervention and different therapies.)

My third child was my easiest. He was weaned from the bottle before his first birthday. It posed no challenge to him (and we were grateful for that!)

My youngest is only four months and has not started on solids or on juice, so we have not introduced the sippy cup.

So. . . yeah, Suri is getting older, and it is easy for us to criticize her parents and wonder why she still has the bottle, but I don't think we know all the particulars.

I wasnt aware that I should plan on weaning the lil guy by 12 14 months at the latest... I'm sure I would have been advised by our doc, but I think different children have different needs... i think if suri is jet setting along w/her parents all over the world, then some familiarity and comfort which that bottle may provide for her once in awhile, that doesnt seem like a bad thing to me... if on the other hand, she's throwing back the bottle all the time... that's different.

Ummmm, my nephew is six and my sis still gives him a bottle in the morning and right before he goes to bed. When I, sort of intervened, she told me to mind my business. So now i'm quite careful how i'm going to pass judgement on how parents raise their children.

The "baby bottle" tooth decay is if you give it to them at night and it pools in their mouth. Not if they're having it throughout the day, when saliva is constantly flowing and forcing swallowing, or when you're eating and also having swallowing.

Two is nowhere near a "ridiculous" age for a bottle in my opinion. The only part of it that worries me is the possibility that they're giving her the Scientology formula. But I have no idea if they are or not, so their bottle, their business.

My son didn't get off the bottle until he was two and his teeth are perfectly fine.

I wish we could stop the mommy wars of being SO judgmental about everything. Is it time for Suri to stop using the bottle, probably, but that's her parents decision and who knows what's going on. I'm in the process of trying to get my 11 month old off the bottle and it is SO hard. She screams and refuses to drink anything. She's been sick so I don't want her to get dehydrated. All I'm saying is that nothing's as easy as it seems in the baby books and guidelines. I'm sure they are trying to do the best for her. I completely understand the APA guidelines and I'm sure they're correct but I also know that parenting is not easy.

Oh god, this again! She's not that old! It's not killing her! She looks happy and healthy and there's plenty of time for her to give it up - right now it's obviously comforting her. I do a lot of dumb stuff I shouldn't do with my kid, but should I feel superior because she uses a cup? Well, why don't I just feel great about it, and hate all the mothers who can't make the change, that's the best type of parenting of all.

This is such a case by case basis thing. I've been luchy with bottles--my oldest would never take the bottle and the 2nd gave it up voluntarily at 10 months. I can't take credit for it really, the kids made their own choices.
So long as the child is thriving, why judge?

*lucky*

i've been breastfeeding since my bby was born, he's 8 months now and i've been wondering about what it'll be like to try and wean him..i've decided i will let him do it on his own though...but we'll see, i mean, i wouldn't do it past 2 years. hopefully he's one of those kids that stops on his own in a few months..

lol..was that even related to this article?

I'm actually surprised to see how many people who commented are using the live and let live motto. I have seen so many bottle Nazis comment on Suri and I am sick of it too. I think when you are a parent you start to realize that you can't plan how everything will work out in your child's life, they are a person too who sometimes has needs and wishes beyond our rules. Of course there are limits... (Leah Rimini anyone?).

I have to say that my big thrill of having my twins on the sippy cups versus the bottles is that I have my top dishwasher rack back! No more nipples and bottle rings and bottles taking up all the space!

I think every child is different. My son and daughter didn't accept it at the same time, and I just figured they will go for the cup when they are ready. I found they resisted when I pushed them too much. They both relented around 14-15 months old.

"don't dip your child's pacifier in sugar or honey", wonder if 100 proof is okay.