Bottle vs. Cup

Dear Wynne,
My brother and his wife have an adorable 4-year old daughter. She is very smart and is looking forward to attending kindergarten next year. They are very devoted parents and obviously love their my niece very much, but there is one aspect of how they raise her that has drawn numerous stares and questions from friends and other family members. My niece is still bottle-fed. She can drink out of a cup when prompted to do so, but almost always asks for a bottle instead. She does not have any physical or mental limitations that would prevent her from using cups and just prefers the bottle. Because of that my brother doesn't want to force her into using a device she doesn't feel she is ready to use. I have brought up this topic to my brother and sister-in-law a couple times in the past only to be chastised for not being a parent and thus not knowing anything about how to raise a child. Should I let the subject drop or encourage them to seek out assistance?

Aunt, not Mom
Memphis, TN


Dear Aunt,
Please please please convince your brother that a 4-year old should NOT be drinking out of a bottle. Perhaps you should even write to Intervention on AMC and convince them to let your family on the show. Imagine the horror your niece will face when everyone pulls out their Snoopy lunchboxes at school and cracks open the matching thermos when she sucks on a bottle. Or maybe do nothing. The kids at school will ridicule her into wanting to change. But then again, that bottle story will haunt her all through school...your call.

Wynne