How To Wean Baby Off The Bottle! And Nuby Sippy Cup Review!

Babies (and parents) have a steep learning curve in the first few years in nearly every category, drinking included. Breastfeeding is best, no doubt, but even being the most 'natural' way of feeding your baby, that, too, requires a process of learning, practicing, and getting used to before it actually feels 'natural'.

The funny thing about the learning curve, it seems, like with drinking, once the child gets used to one means or method— ie. the routine is mastered— it's time to move onto the next... challenge. Good news is, the more times the child overcome a 'challenge', or stage of development, the quicker they learn and are able to adjust next time around.

Like most (if not all) topics in parenting, there is no one or right way of transitioning your child off the bottle and onto a sippy cup. The process starts around 12 to 16 months old.

To transition, some parents might just do it cold turkey. One day, they'll just take the bottle away and only offer a sippy cup. The child might refuse for a day or two but will quickly take to the sippy cup because, really, there is no other choice. It'll be a rough few days for both parties but, once passed, the tides will calm again.

Alternatively, some parents might do it gradually— perhaps provide the sippy cup only at a certain mealtime(s) and not the bottle; or perhaps offer the sippy cup at every meal and resort to the bottle if needed.

A few things to remember in either case is...

• Look for signs that the child is ready. Biting through the nipple is one example. Seeing like-age kids use sippy cups is another.
• Keep offering the sippy cup even if you 'know' your baby will likely refuse. Like introducing new foods, which sometimes might take 15-20 times (or more!) of offerings before the child will eat and maybe even like the new food, it might take a while and definitely requires repetition and persistence, not to mention patience.
• Remember: There is no right or wrong time/way to transition your child off the bottle. Weaning your baby off the bottle is the same as weaning him/her off the breast— it should depend on both you and your child.

Below is piecesofm's second episode of the mini-series From Baby Bottles To Sippy Cups, where she reviews the very first sippy cup she tried post-baby-bottle— the Nuby Sippy Cup. Have you tried it? What did you think? Or, will you try it? Share your thoughts and experiences below, we'd love to hear! :>

Enjoy and thanks for watching!



Happy Healthy Juicy Transitioning To Sippy Cups!

From Bottles To Sippy Cups! Avent Baby Bottle Review!

There is a lot of baby gear out there and it can be quite overwhelming when it comes to figuring what to buy and what's best for both baby and you. Drinkware for the kiddies is no exception.

Choosing a bottle can be a task in and of itself when baby is kicking around in the womb and you have a million of other things to do research on and purchase. Nonetheless, though, they're pretty standard knowledge. Most, at least, know what bottles are and what they vaguely look like, right? But just wait til you get to the store and there's a wall full of them in all shapes, colors, textures, materials, sizes, and prices.

And, as if that weren't enough, after you choose a bottle, a year later, where do you go from there? Welcome to the land of sippy cups, straw cups, lidded cups, so on and so forth.

In this new mini-series, piecesofm shows you her journey From Baby Bottles To Sippy Cups, reviews the drinkware she tried, what to look for, what she learned and how she helped her daughter transition her way through the land of drinkware to the bowl/cup.

In this first episode, piecesofm starts from the beginning, reviewing the Phillips Avent baby bottle.



Have baby bottle opinions of your own? Share below, we'd love to hear! :> Happy Healthy Juicy Baby's First Drinkware! :>

Top 5 Baby Items You DON'T Need!

Check out the Top 5 Baby Essentials video!

This video is in follow up to that one. Buying stuff for Baby can be a little overwhelming. There are a lot of things out there and lots of marketing to try to get you to buy them. In this video I share with you some things you DON'T need. By no means is this list exhaustive but hopefully it'll help you start to and realize how you can narrow some things down.

Remember, babies grow amazingly fast! Hopefully this will help save you time, money, and space! :>

Enjoy and thanks for watching! And leave a comment below to share other items you think new parents DON'T need, we'd love to hear!

Mama's Milk Does a Baby Good.. and so does Love & Affection

In the late 60s, The Beatles sang the universally-relatable song, All You Need Is Love. Today, researchers are now suggesting the importance of mothers [or primary caretakers] showing it too. They found children who received more warmth and affection in infancy, grow up to have less emotional distress and anxiety in adulthood.

In a recent study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, data was collected from 482 participants born in Providence, RI, tracking them over time from the age of 8 months to an average of 34 years old.

Mothers' interaction and affection toward participating infants were assessed at the start of the study; and then the emotional health, including feelings of anxiety, hostility and general distress levels, of the children as adults were assessed decades later.

In accordance with what has long been popular belief of the positive effects of raising children in a nurturing environment but has limited/lacks sufficient evidence, researchers found that infants who received the highest amount of affection grew up to have the least emotional distress, particularly in terms of anxiety.



Vice versa was also true: those who received the least amount of affection in infancy had greater levels of emotional instability later in life.



Researchers attributed affection toward the development of social skills for healthy relationships and coping mechanisms to deal with stress and anxiety. They concluded, "These findings suggest that early nurturing and warmth have long-lasting positive effects on mental health well into adulthood."

Some strengths of the study were the size of the study's participating population and that it was longitudinal— that is, the same individuals were studied over a long period of time.

Some limitations were the questionable generalizability of the group— are those born in Providence representative of the general population?— and the skewed proportion of affectionate mothers— that is, 85% showed a 'normal' degree of affection, whereas only 6% and 10% showed a very high levels and low levels, respectively.




Nevertheless, one can never argue enough for more love & affection.




Happy Healthy Juicy Show Your Baby A Whole Lotta Love!