Suri Cruise, drop that baby bottle!
Last year, when a photo surfaced of then 2-year-old Suri Cruise sucking a bottle, the blogosphere went nuts. Kids aren't supposed to still be on the bottle that long, are they?
Apparently, though, Tom and Katie play by their own rules. A photo of Suri and her mom taken Wednesday (sorry folks, can't show it to you, but I can give you the link) shows the now 3-year-old celebutot still hasn't graduated to sippy cups.Yep, she's still hitting the bottle.
C'mon TomKat, three years? Really? Most experts say that a child should be weaned from the bottle by a year old. Letting a child continue sucking on the bottle beyond that age can lead to tooth decay and even ear infections.
Maybe you're rich enough not to worry about paying for the dental bills and other health complications that will afflict your child. But if you don't stop it now, think how much harder it will be to wean her at 4...or 5...or...(shudder). Look, just do it, OK? You'll be glad you did and so will she.
--Sherry Robinson
Sharon Kennedy Wynne has sunscreen in her blood. She may have been born in Buffalo but she got here as fast as she could, in time for kindergarten. She grew up in St. Petersburg, graduated from the University of Florida journalism school, and even got married at Sunken Gardens. She's one of the few adults we know who actually loves taking her kids to the beach. She has two sons and with 10 years of parenting under her belt, she's starting to feel a little less out of her league. She comes from a large family and loves to debate, so brace yourself when the hot topics come up.
Amy Hollyfield is a workaholic mother of two young
daughters, blessed to have a work-at-home husband who makes their life possible. She was born in Detroit and moved around a lot as a kid (read: Air Force brat). She has lived in Florida since the month after she
graduated from Northwestern University. She lives for the yelps, hugs and kisses that greet her on nights that she makes it home before bedtime.
Sherry Robinson was born in the Sunshine State but she feels more comfortable inside a mall than outside at the beach -- thank goodness her husband is the outdoorsy type. He takes their two sons on night hikes, beach runs and bug hunts while Sherry does her best to take care of the homestead -- and find out what is new on the store shelves. A graduate of the University of South Florida in 19noneofyourbusiness, Sherry has been at the Times for nearly 20 years. And with nearly 10 years of parenting experience, Sherry is eager to offer up some great dish on raising kids and keeping your sanity.
Guest blogger Tracey Henry, a.k.a. Suburban Diva, is a frantic, slightly frazzled mother of four. She is a freelance humor writer and author which is the only thing that parenting four children ages 12-1 trains you for, except perhaps court jester and professional bull rider. She and her husband have lived all over the country, but settled in Florida eight years ago because the beachcombing is so much better here than on the banks of the Mississippi. Their family time includes a lot of sport -- both watching and playing -- and fun in the sun and surf. Catch her in Whoa, Momma! and on her site, 
Sherri Day and her husband welcomed their daughter into the world in early 2008. So far, she describes parenthood as exciting, exhausting and exhilarating. A self-described Southern belle with small-town values and big-city idealism, Sherri was born in rural Georgia. She received her bachelor's degree in journalism from Clark Atlanta University and her master's of journalism from the University of California at Berkeley. She is the Brandon bureau chief for the Times. Sherri moved to Tampa from Brooklyn four years ago.
It makes you wonder what her life if really like if she has to keep her bottle as a security blanket. Most kids that are in a secure and stable home, don't have many problems getting rid of the bottle. Shame that such a beautiful little girl has to have such a messed up life.
PS. Don't even get me started on her wearing heels at three years of age!
Posted by: Parent of two | November 09, 2009 at 04:38 PM
Suri will probably have to keep the bottle in her back pack at school. The ridicule from other kids will hurt more than the pain of giving up the bottle. If the child is going to make her own decisions, I hope she is smart enough to make the ones that will 'not' cause her real harm.
Posted by: Ellie | November 09, 2009 at 10:34 AM
Yikes! Whose cleaning those bottles? That's high maintenance. I am good with giving up the bottle by 1.
Posted by: Erin | November 09, 2009 at 10:32 AM
You think that's strange - my (thankfully) ex-sister in law breast fed one of her 4 kids until the kid could actually ask her for it! And it wasn't like she had to because she couldn't afford formula - FAR from it! She just was (and still is) a very sick woman.
Posted by: Mary | November 09, 2009 at 10:01 AM
Who cares? Quit paying attention to and quit worshiping celebrities.
Posted by: Dante | November 08, 2009 at 07:17 PM
They are doing this per the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard and the cult of Scientology. He wrote that the child should make their own decisions and the parent should follow along. This has been documented in several articles over the last 3 yrs of her life. Tom will do anything that the sci-fi writer said.
Posted by: Ted | November 08, 2009 at 01:04 PM
This kid is gonna have much bigger problems than being weaned from the bottle too late
Posted by: Steph | November 07, 2009 at 07:30 AM