Parenting Toddlers

I love Katie Holmes. I think she’s the cutest little thing - I want to look like her when I grow up. And Suri is a gorgeous little baby. (I dislike Tom Cruise immensely, though). Anyway, I saw pictures of Suri with a baby bottle. This is one of my pet peeves. I try not to be judgmental about other people’s parenting, but I had to make an exception. When you’re in the public eye, I think a lot of people look at you and what you do with your children. With such a high profile kid, people may think it’s ok to let their two year old have a bottle. It’s not! It is so bad for their teeth. My little sister had a bottle for the longest time, and it caused her to have serious issues with her teeth. It’s called bottle rot and it occurs when children are given a bottle - it can happen to babies too, which is why you should never put your baby to bed with a bottle. Constant exposure to the milk or whatever is in the bottle is damaging to the litle teeth. It just really really bugs me! Don’t let your two year old have a bottle! Not only is it unnecessary, it is not good at all for their teeth. It can be hard to wean your baby off a bottle, but it is harder to have to sit with her while she endures trip after trip to the dentist or oral surgeon. I’m not exaggerating. My sister had to have oral surgery when she was about three or four. My parents were loving parents, but they overindulged her a bit too much, and couldn’t take away her “baba.” Take it away!! When Peanut turned one, I was going to rip it out of her hands! I didn’t but we weaned her away so she was bottle free shortly after she was one.
If your toddler still has a bottle, try to wean her off right away. You’ll save yourself a lot of money in dental bills and your child will be spared a lot of pain. You can try having her go cold turkey - she’ll cry for a while and put up a fuss, but toddlers are resiliant. Otherwise, you can gradually reduce the number of times she gets a bottle a day - don’t let her carry it around with her at all. Buy her a cool drinking cup or water bottle. Toddlers like to be “big kids,” so this may work to help her ditch the bottle. Ask your doctor or dentist for more ideas, but get started on it now. It is really really really bad for toddler’s teeth!!