This just infuriates me..

Hey I'm 34 and I still drink from the bottle! heehee.

Ok in all seriousness, that is crazy! So we know who runs that house - the kids. My kids were all done with the bottle by the age of 1.5.

I HAVE to AGREE with you on this. What other parts of their lives are they abusing? A child this old has NO business being fed from a bottle. Talk about damaging a child for life!! This is outrageous behavior from a parent. Are they really that lazy that they can't teach their own children how to drink from a cup? It really makes you WONDER what the parents are busy doing that they can't properly take care of their children. This is abuse, plain & simple!!Lori

Agreed! I made sure my daughter was drinking out of a sippy cup by the time she was 1 and a half, by the time she was 3, it was out of a plastic cup. Letting your children drink out of a bottle at any age over 3 is disgusting, neglectful and yes abusive. Like you said, who knows what else they are slacking on. Are these kids even potty trained? Do they know how to read? You cannot always give into what your children want. Just giving the child a bottle because they are having a fit and that shuts them up is not good parenting. You have to stay persistant and those few days of crying while being weined off is not half as bad as seeing an 8YR OLD drinking out of a baby bottle. Think of the harassment this child must get at school or from friends that he/she is still acting like a baby. By the time my daughter was 3, I had her weined from the bottle, her passifire, she was potty trained, could write all her ABC's, count to 100 and spell simple words. This is poor parenting and where I live, these children could be taken into child services for neglect. This is absolutely disgusting!

Well..I would be more concerned about the tooth development of a child drinking from a bottle at that age? but I would not call it child abuse. Just possibly a need for some dental and medical education that a good peadiatrition could supply.
I think attacking or yelling is the worst thing a person can do here? Better to be calm and provide rational and caring advice to parrents that may not be aware of the nutritional needs of kids and the fact that this can cause tooth protrusions that may lead later to braces or cavities.
I believe these moms and dads love their children and are afraid that, when they take the bottles away, that the crying of their child means they are bad parents. They may have concerns that taking the emotional security of the bottle from the child could harm them emotionally.
I couldn't call them abusive. I wuld call them uneducated in this one area and encourage them to have a talk wiht a good child dental specialist and their child's doctor, who can both help the parents realise that the bottles can safely go now.
It is true that parents give milk after age 2, although it is not needed after that age. BUT calcium IS still important, and these parents may be educated wiht caregivers to understand that kids can also get calcium form sheese, brocali, yogurt and a variety of other surces? And they can be given a list to help them out this way, instead of giving no information to help...know what I mean?
Simple information and guidance here is the key. Not judgement or blame..both of which do no good to resolve the situation.
Frankly..if this is not going on with your own children, it's not your concern. There are medical professionals that are there to help this family. If you are not one..then take care of your children well and let the professionals do their work wiht these families. If we were all to take care well of our own, the world would be a less judgemental and nicer place?

I saw the title of that discussion, but never read it to see what the real meat of the story was, so I don't know if there's an underlying reason or not.

If the child is clinging to the bottle at that age and has seriously not been weaned, then I agree there is a problem.

If it's something that the child does just once in a while as a comfort, like sleeping with a stuffed toy, then I don't see a real issue with it.

I am not sure what the other thread was about. However you never know when you maybe jumping to conclusions. My 6 yr old son has autism and is only now begining to potty train-am I a bad parent. There are a couple of children in his school with some special needs that are still bottle fed at 4-5 years old. You never know what is necessarily going on behind the scenes and shouldn't judge someelse parenting decision.

My daughter was drinking from a sippy cup before she turned 1 and my son was the same way. They didn't want to be associated with the baby bottle. They wanted to drink out of regular cups just like Mom and Dad do. My daughter even made sure to put her sippy cup on a coaster!

I guess since Suri Cruise does it, everybody thinks it's ok? You have such a great point there about if the parents can't get a child off a bottle what else are they slacking on. That really does make you wonder, doesn't it?

Don't you wonder what Suri Cruise is going to be like when she gets older? The tantrums and fits that girl is going to be having? She'll make Paris Hilton look like Mother Theresa.

I saw that discussion but didn't respond to it. I have to agree with you though. That parent should have put a stop to that a long time ago. If the child pitched a fit then the parent should have just let her. The child would have eventually gotten the message. My kids were trying to drink from a glass if I was drinking from it when they were about five or six months old. I remember when my daughter would sit in my lap if I was drinking something she would beg for a drink and I would certainly let her have it, little sips at a time.

Sounds like lazy parenting to me, parents should be pushing their child to get away from nappies, bottles and all the trappings of babyhood at the appropriate ages. We all know little Jonny and Jane don't want to give up their dummy (comforter), bottle and nappies, but we have a responsibility to bring our children into adulthood little by little and each step is important. My guess is the same kids also still have nappies (diapers) and probably don't read books or play with anything that isn't electronic and does all the work for you.
Ultimately these kids won't be relying on their parents for guidance they will look elsewhere - good luck with that!

hehe I saw that discussion yesturday and almost responded
I had to walk away though because my mom taught me that if you have nothing nice to say dont say anything at all
I couldnt beleive that a parent would allow their 6 year old child to have a baby bottle
That is just insane
i dont know if its abuse, neglect or what but it sure is hell is STUPID!

minus me please, thanks