Suri Cruise STILL sporting a baby bottle

by Jennifer Jordan (Subscribe to Jennifer Jordan's posts) Aug 19th 2008 10:00AM

Categories: Toddlers, Eating & Nutrition, Development, Celeb Kids, Life & Style, Celeb Parenting, In The News, That's Entertainment, Mealtime, Extreme Childhood

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Suri Cruise is nearly two and a half years old. Heaven knows you couldn't forget that if you tried. And while she has more fashion sense than pretty much any other tot on the planet, there is one thing that seems to still give us all pause. No, it's not how her celebrity parents could have actually spawned her, nor is it how much is spent keeping her best-dressed and -tressed. Nah--it's that thing where she's still carrying around a baby bottle.

Yes, still. It seems like this first made the news when Suri was more than a year old and still using a bottle. Like sippy cups are so great. Now she's making headlines again for still sporting the baby bottle--when she's not even really a baby. My question is this: what is the big deal? My kid is nearly seventeen months old and he still occasionally uses a bottle. We've tried really hard to break him of the habit, but, for a while, he simply eschewed the sippy cup. He could use one, sure, but he couldn't get the same amount of milk from the sippy as from the bottle. So, we let him roll with it. Eventually, he switched over to predominantly using the sippy.

I know there are standards and practices for how we're supposed to raise our children. I know that guidelines have been set to help us make our way through this crazy maze called parenthood. But with issues as large as world hunger, violence, abuse and immunizations out there for us to tackle, why does anyone give a rat's butt about whether or not Suri Cruise still uses her baby bottle? I feel sorry for Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes--they're busy people who are trying to raise a kid and have full-time jobs too. it ain't easy. And not every kid fits the model she's supposed to. Is it really the end of the world if Suri still uses a bottle?

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Comments (16)

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

ame s 8-19-2008 @ 10:29AM

If it causes problems with her teeth, it's not like her parents can't afford to fix 'em.

Jenn D 8-19-2008 @ 10:40AM

The whole, "OMG! Suri still uses a baby bottle!" thing has really puzzled me from the very beginning. I mean, who cares? Seriously, what is it to me, what is it to you (meaning the people freaking out about it) if she does? We finally weaned my daughter off her bedtime bottle when she was about 28 months old - is she irreparably damaged? Nope. Did puppies die every time she drank from her bottle? Nope again.

So what's the big deal anyways? I think that it's just another opportunity for parents to judge other parents. Unfortunately for celebrities, they are always in the spotlight, so they are easier than most to judge. I really feel bad for them, and I try my hardest not to fall into the easy, judgy trap.

Deedee 8-19-2008 @ 10:53AM

When my aunt was a kid she used to come home from first grade of primary school and recommended to sip cocoa from a bottle.
She nixed the bottle till second grade. She just needed the comfort and is now grown up with three kids of whom none has used a bottle beyond the age of two ;-)

jen 8-19-2008 @ 11:16AM

At first I was taken aback by the whole bottle over the age of 1 issue. Then I started thinking about it and couldn't decide what the big deal was. Don't many moms nurse past the age of 1? Wouldn't having a bottle past the age of 1 be similar?

Joy 8-19-2008 @ 11:30AM

This has nothing to do with bottles. I feel that is up to them and is none of my business. Yesterday Rumor Willis was referred to as “spawn” and now today Suri. This term is very offensive to me. They are children. Is this a new term that I’m not aware of? I would never refer to my children as spawn nor anyone else’s. Am I missing something?

the goddess anna 8-19-2008 @ 6:30PM

I refer to my kids as spawn (usually demon spawn), and usually only then when they've done something bad (digital camera in the cat water) or when they're acting like me. Basically, as a family joke. I'd never refer to other people's children as spawn, though, because it is kinda offensive to others.

Of course, I really find it bothersome that we are looking towards these 'famous' kids and their parents as some sort of example, good or bad.

Joy 8-19-2008 @ 8:16PM

LOL Goddess. I guess it's different if they're your own!! Hey, could you give me an email? I'd like to ask you something.

joysofeen57@yahoo.com

Mya 8-19-2008 @ 11:33AM

My daughter is 16 months old, and she refused the sippy cup. My mom found the Rubbermaid Litterless Juice boxes after my daughter learned to use a straw, and now she refuses the bottle. I think it is a great step in the right direction. She'll drink out of a regular cup if we hold it, too.

Jennifer 8-19-2008 @ 11:42AM

Yes, who cares? I'm sure they're watching out for the side effects of prolonged bottle use any way. They should be able to let Suri use a bottle if they want to. Children are different. Just let her be.

c_rousseau05 8-19-2008 @ 11:50AM

Yeah I agree, what's the big deal and since when do you HAVE to stop using a bottle completely at the age of 1? She's only two or so, I mean, it would be one thing if she was four or five years old and still using a bottle but for a little 2 year old? They still need the comfort of it, that's why two and three year olds sometimes still nurse. They get attatched to stuff like that. That doesn't magically go away at one year old. Besides, Mom and Suri are out in public. Even my daughter gets a bottle in public, she just turned one and even though she can and does use a sippy at home there's NO WAY i'm letting her get her dress dirty or wet and having to change clothes like five times while we're out just so she can use a sippy cup. She still nurses and uses a bottle occasionally too, I don't see the big deal. I've seen three year olds with pacifiers, I think that's more of a crime than a silly bottle that a little 2 year old is drinking from.

Kristen DeDeyn Kirk 8-19-2008 @ 3:06PM

I'm sure if Suri's parents were spotted taking her bottle away they'd be called abusive -- or at the very least, uncaring and harsh.

The little cutie is probably under a lot of pressure already to look and act a certain way -- let's give her a break!

Kristen Kirk
www.thefamilythatreadstogether.blogspot.com

LolliUK 8-19-2008 @ 5:02PM

My son (2yrs 5m) still drinks from a bottle. And he only has milk from a bottle which has to be warmed (his requests!!). Its not that he cant drink from a cup as he is quite willing to drink his water or juice from a sippy cup. I believe its just his little way of differentiating what goes in his mouth and how but primarily a comfort thing. Its all hes known from when I stopped nursing him so to just stop him using a cup must be quite confusing and upsetting. Who makes these rules of when a baby/toddler must do such things at such and such a time in their lives anyway? My son is still in nappies too but as long as he isnt in them when hes 30 I doesnt bother me in the slightest. Same with bottles. I certainly wouldnt condemn a 2 year old child for drinking from a bottle. Live and let live I say!

luckysdaisy 8-19-2008 @ 7:52PM

if it is for comfort, who needs it more than a celebrity's child. aren't they constantly in the spot light and have people that they don't know always around, taking their picture? that would be enough for them to grab their bottles, blankies, favorite toys, and cling onto mom or dad!

jennings 8-19-2008 @ 8:08PM

With a much moving around as they do, it's no wonder she still wants a bottle. My son used a bottle for milk only for a long time, maybe til 3 - he had even bitten the ends of the nipples off, but still wouldn't drink milk from anything else. He finally "gave his bottles" to a friend's new baby, and that was that!

Rosslynn Carpenter 8-20-2008 @ 12:30AM

I have to say that I am pleasently surprised by the tone of these comments. I really expected to see a lot of Tom/Katie bashing, and I am happy that that is not the case.

As for the mom who uses the term "spawn"....I'm sorry but I my kids are the demon spawn so please refrain from using that term...lol. Its nice to hear other people think the way I do (not sure if that was a compliment) :)

You guys are right. Poor Suri is constantly in the media glare and if the bottle gives her comfort then who cares. Let the kid (baby really) still be a baby, why does she have to grow up so soon?

Marcia 8-20-2008 @ 11:45AM

My daughter will be 2 next month and she just rather have a bottle when she's tired. She's been potty trained for about 6 months now, she talks very clearly and has a huge vocabulary already, so the bottle thing doesn't bother me much. I do encourage her to use a cup, but if she just downright refuses, I'm not going to worry about it yet.

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