Bottle Vs. Sippy Cup

I have to say that I don't see anything wrong with it. Especially since you are ONLY giving him water in it. I imagine he's not drinking a whole lot of water. The potential for his mouth to develop improperly is there with the use of a pacifier and a bottle, but if his use is minimal I would not worry about it. You can look at the roof of his mouth and see if it is malformed or not. It will look narrowed if it is being affected by the bottle. He will decide he doesn't want it some day.

oh, L., life is too short to get so stressed out about something as shortlived as this.
set the worry free.
so the kid has water in a bottle - it's not the end of the world and your worth as a person isn't found in your kid's ability to drink from a sippy cup.

our little boy had a hard time letting go of his nighttime bottle.
we didn't really push it, just offered it less and less often.
don't stress about it, just give it time.
if, at the times you don't give it - or the times he takes water from something else (straws are helpful), tell him how proud of him you are for taking the big boy cup. ignore the times he refuses it. when there's no bottle, he's likely not to miss it.
we did use these juice bottles we found at target (still do).
we took out the apple juice in them and put in water.
he still loves them.
i like them bc they're no spill and can go anywhwere.
they have character heads on them - curious george, clifford, bob the builder...
i think they're called thirst quenchers of something like that - they're on the aisle with the apple juice.
usually down low.
you can get them other places too, but i've found target to pretty reliably have them.

we took out the juice, put in water and took off the label.
they are fun and don't leak.

best of luck.
just follow your intuition and no worries...it's not the end of the world.
now, go love on those babies while they're still little :).
s

I don't know all the reasons, but our feeding specialist said that by age two our son needs to be using something spill proof only when in the car, etc. Sounds like you're kind of already there. She did say there is really no difference because the way of drinking is still sucking and not just plain drinking. GL

My mom let me stay on the bottle too long and as a result my two front teeth had decay. I had to get them removed as a toddler, which was kind of traumatic. I remember them giving me the laughing gas to put me out for the surgery and I remember being scared and crying. So while it obviously doesn't happen to every child--your daughter is proof of that--it does pose a real risk, hence the reason the doctors and dentists discourage it.

I don't think it's a huge deal, if your son is ONLY drinking water from it, but I don't see why he would really need this if he has adjusted to a sippy cup. I know that the bottle nipples can mis-shape their teeth, and it can become a problem with speech if he's constantly got a bottle in his mouth, but that doesn't seem to be the case. I also know that sucking on a bottle nipple is much easier than a sippy cup nipple, and so sippy cups help your son ease to using regular cups by the time he is 3. If you're okay with letting your son using a bottle I don't see the harm in it, it just might take some time to break the habit as he gets older.

The dentist will tell you that the bottle allows them to suck harder and with their teeth and mouth growing and forming it can cause bad overbites, teeth issues. I will say right now is the time to break bad habits. No 2 year old should have a bottle. Tell him it is time to be a big boy. I can say too that sippy cups are bad too, as they put the liquids that can cause decay on their teeth right there. Try getting the strawed cups as both my kids went straight to that after 2. They are a lot better for their teeth and forming mouth. Make a HUGE deal out of him being a big boy now, just throw the bottles out and don't make it a big deal. If theey aren't there he will get over it. You are lucky your daughter didn't have issues, however it is a risk and your Dr telling you not to mention all the pediatric dentists telling you then they know too that it can cause problems. The longer you allow a habit to continue especially heading into 3 years of age, the harder it will be to break it! Promise.
Sippy cups are a tad better because they don't have to suck as hard however, I didn't care for either. The strawed cups were my kids favorite and they have such a cool variety (ones the keep liquids cold and all sorts of colors and characters).

L., If there's a potential for dental/speech problems, why not just chuck the bottles? It is a pain when they learn to drink from (and spill!) a cup, as you know with your 4 year old, but they catch on quickly.

I agree about using straw cups. I wish I had jumped straight to these, instead of sippy cups. We switched to Nuby and other sippies at 1 year, and off the sippies after 2 year old. She does great with a regular cup. We use straw cups or water bottles in the car or other situations.

I think bottles can cause ear infections because when the child sucks a bottle the suction can pull fluid into the ear. (Don't ask me how). My friend's daughter had multiple ear infections until she threw the bottles out.