A lot of people on forums actually give an indication that their babies hold their bottle after 2 or 3 months. Well, mine is 103 days and today, he decided to grab the bottle and drink it himself. All I had to do was to prop him on my arms and watch TV. I caught the little fler watching as well, while drinking, which wasn’t a good habit, even if I do it all the time.
But here’s the deal: parents have waaay too much overestimation of their kids’ abilities and intelligence. Now I know Jet is holding his bottle, but that’s just grabbing reflexes. There’s no way his developing brain is functioning and saying, look, let me tilt it this way and i can get the flow I want…if it’s too much, I’m gonna throttle back. It takes coordination between the brain and muscle. I’m not saying he’s dumb…in fact, I’ll have to admit, this guy’s intelligence is guaranteed way more advanced that I was when I was 3 months…i didnt start talking till 23 months, and my parents thought I was a little slow in development.
I’m saying is that, Jet is grabbing. It’s still instinctive. He might process a little, but once he gets the milk, that’s all he’s focused on. He’s not processing yet and coordinating with his muscle to tilt at certain degrees to control the flow. He’s not going to burp himself. He’s not going to wink at me and say, “Thanks Paps, I’m gonna take it from here. I’ll be driving by tomorrow.”
My experience as a parent: We are always overstating our kid’s intelligence and development by a mile. The fact is this: We’re parents. That’s our right. That’s our indulgence. Every parent thinks his/her kid is the smartest, handsomest, most well developed kid in the block. That’s natural. And I’m proud of it.
