1 Y/o LUVS His Bottle

yes its realistic. i will say your habits for getting him to bed are setting him up to not be a good sleeper. im not saying this in a mean way im saying this b/c i did this wish my daughter and now shes in bed with us every night! i never get a good night sleep... shes 5! you shouldnt give him a bottle while hes laying flat that causes pain in the ears. also make him fall asleep in his bed you will be a much happier momma in a few years! as for the bottle dont offer it UNTIL he has eaten and tried the sippy. he will learn that he eats and that fills him up. not take a bottle then eat whatever he wants. and yes he will thin out now that he is walking my daughter was a chuncker before she got mobile now she looks like a normal little girl... hope this helps!

All kids are different. I had 3 kids and all but 1 stopped before they were 1. The other I was prying it out of her hand when she was 2. It was a big fight. I believe it was because of her little brother still being on the bottle. They dont need a reason though. Some kids need that security longer. If he is a little chunky monkey I would change to 2%. I would get rid of the formula. Even whole milk would be better for him then infant formula. There are a lot of calories because it is for when they are not eating table food. It is not the bottle that I think is the enemy. Different kids use different things as their security.

My 4 y/o was the same way; would drink anything from a cup except milk, but I was OK with that, he eventually gave it up on his own at 2y, 5 months. Same with my youngest, just turned 2, still drinks milk from a bottle, but drinks everything else from a regular cup, not even a sippy cup. I wouldn't worry about it, I think most kids find comfort in the bottle past 15 months, and will eventually want to move past the bottle. I also used the "next-step" formula, which is milk-based and good for him, just expensive. One thing that helped my oldest make the switch was offering him "magic milk" during mealtimes, but ONLY in a cup. We mixed the Magic Milk mix or a product like that with milk and only gave it to him in a cup. He loved it so much that he was willing to make the switch for the sweet milk, and then little by little I added less of the nutriet mix and more of the whole milk. works like a charm and still gives them vitamins they need. good luck.

Hi T.,

My little boy is 19 months, and he still gets 3 bottles per day. He will drink ANYTHING out of a sippy cup, but MILK. There will come a day when he will willing give up his bottle. Our goal is 2 for his bottle and 3 for his passy. My son is a very "comfort" driven little guy. For him, the bottle is a something that comforts him, and I'm ok with that. I don't think it will hurt his teeth. He drinks 6 to 7 ounces in about 5 minutes flat, so the bottle is in his mouth a very short amount of time. You may want to think of giving him his milk/formula a little earlier than his bedtime, then brush his teeth before he goes to bed. Maybe you could rock him to sleep instead of him falling asleep right after the bottle, or put water in the bottle instead. Protecting those teeth is the only thing I would suggest that you change with your routine!

Also, we still rock our son to sleep as well (and again, he is 19 months old). Within 5 to 10 minuites he's asleep. We lay him in his crib and he sleep for 10 to 10.5 hours. So comforting a baby to sleep (rocking, singing, laying with him) isn't necessarily setting him up for sleeping problems, as some people would suggest. That certainly isn't that way it happens at my house!!

I firmly believe that every child is different, and it's best to work off of what they are ready for within reason. Of course a 4 y/o with a bottle is not within reason. Doctor's are wonderful to give medical advise, but I think when it comes to parenting advice, they overstep their bounds too often!!

I followed all of the rules with my first and pretty much with my second. They were on a sippy cup at 6 months or so. My third wouldn't let go of the bottle. We narrowed it down to morning and night as you have. When the weather warmed up, I told her we weren't warming the milk anymore. Then I set a deadline and told her we were going to switch to big girl cups. Maybe explain to him that he's growing up and that he can pick out his own cup at the store. Make sure he knows you'll still stay with him on the couch at milktime. Having him on formula at this age is fine. Do what you think is best for his nutrition.

In Europe, I've been told by a former neighbor who was European, that they just don't worry about bottles there, and if the kids aren't nursing well into toddlerhood, they certainly still have their bottles then. I let my oldest have his bottle until he was 3, and just didn't worry about it. Who cares what anyone thinks, when it is such a comfort to him, and doesn't hurt anything, really. When I decided it was time to be done, I put whole milk in his sippy cups, and watered down milk in the bottles, until it was plain water in the bottles, and he made the switch before long. Now my current three year old sucks his thumb, and someday we'll have to stop him, but when he's having a melt down, and then puts the thumb in his mouth, said meltdown is over and he is able to comfort himself, which is nice.

Don't worry too much about it and you don't always have to follow the regimen set by doctors. Kids ARE all different and what you're doing isn't hurting him. The biggest concern with the bottle is teeth, but if he isn't falling asleep with it, them that is less worrisome. Bottles allow the liquid to sit in the mouth longer, making the baby teeth more exposed to the sugars and not-so-tooth-friendly elements, and also the way the bottle sits in the mouth and is used can cause a gap in the front two teeth. With him not taking a bottle all the time and still only being one, that's okay for now. I will add that you shouldn't put your child on 2% or reduced fat milk, though. Kids need the fat in whole milk for brain development. I switched my kids to whole milk before they were one, actually, but they started everything early when it came to food. AND they aren't picky eaters AT ALL. My kids will eat just about anything. I have only found two things my oldest wont eat (red beans w/ rice and chicken salad). But I digress...

The point is, you know your baby best. Don't ever just take the doctor's word for anything. Find out the reasons WHY it is suggested you do something at a certain time and then make a well-informed decision using your motherly knowledge. Your son is healthy, that's what's important.

If you haven't, you might want to try the no-spill cups with the straws? My kids always really like those. I hope this helps and good luck!

What I did to get my boys off the bottle..before a year.I let them only have the bottle at nap/bedtime and ONLY water..nothing else.After awhile I slowly started giving them less and less in the bottle.They eventually gave up the bottle on their own by 15mnths..good luck..
S. B

You will get lots of opinions on this one. My mom is a dietician and she told me to switch to whole milk at age 1. The baby is still small and will get enough nutrients from table food and whole milk. She said that skim milk does not have enough fat in it and babies need the fat in milk for brain development.

As for the bottle I would take that slow if your little one still wants the bottle. There is no hard and fast rule on when you should take the bottle away. All kids are different and it is not the end of the world if your little one is still taking a bottle at 18 months. Eventually you may have to play "the bottle is lost" game to get rid of the bottle. But I would wait until your child is a little older to do that.

What you do is take one bottle at a time and put it away. Then when you get down to the last bottle look all over the house for the bottle and say things like, "Is the bottle in the living room. No the bottle is not in the living room. Is the bottle in your crib. No the bottle is not in your crib." Go all over the house and make a big production out of looking for the bottle. "I guess the bottle is lost. What are we going to do? Could you drink out of a sippy cup? Yes. Let's get you some milk in a sippy cup." Kids love to hunt for the bottle and at the end they figure out that the bottle is lost and accept the sippy cup. Kids understand the concept that something is "lost." They lose toys, favorite blankies, etc. That worked for all 4 of my kids.

First of all chill out. Is it going to hurt for that baby to have a bottle longer than a yr? I had the same problem, believe it or not. The pediatrician kept telling me to not let her have it any longer (at her 1 yr check up). She liked it... she enjoyed her bottle at night... that was the only time she got it. She would lay back in her daddy's arms and look up at him and drink her milk. What was so bad about that? She would ask for it. Well this is the way that I handled it. I decided that I was her mother... not the pediatrician, not other people but ME. I decided that it isn't causing any harm and as long as she asked for it and she seemed to enjoy it, she was going to get it. Well she is 2 yrs old now and she hasn't asked for her bottle at night for about 4 or 5 months now. It started out that she didin't ask for it one night and I didn't offer it on purpose. She did, however, ask for a drink of something else before bed. The next night she ask for it. From then she began to ask for it less and less, till she never asked for it again.
Look, all of the books you read and the psychs you hear talk about raising children, you are supposed to be so careful and not do anything that can devastate them. WEll isn't taking away something that is "safe" to them, ultimately harming them in a way. So give it to him/her. She won't take it for ever and while she enjoys it... what is it going to hurt.
Don't let the others sucker you into taking that bottle from that baby. You do what you feel is right and only what you feel. Don't let others make you feel like you are a bad mother. That baby will wean himself when he gets ready to do so.

I didn't push it with my son. He eventually gave up the bottle on his own around 14 mos. It was around that time that we changed his bedtime routine to reading fun books instead of doing the bottle right before lights out, and he just forgot about the bottle. Good luck!

Hi T. S.
My little one turned 1 in October! His doctor told me that I should throw out all his bottles and give him only a cup and that if he had not taken to it in four days to call her. Now don't get me wrong, I'm sure that this works for some, but I had to keep from telling her she was crazy. This is my first and last child for health reasons, and I don't think I have a clue about what I am doing, but it seems crazy to me to say they have to be off the bottle at this age. We are like you, he never carrys the bottle around, he never takes it to sleep with him. It is just a method of getting the milk. Mine will not take it (maybe a few sips only) from a cup, but will juice and water. He also does well drinking from a straw, so I bought the cups with straws, but he still will not do the milk. My guy also is healthy, but is very picky about food and hates to go to sleep. I have to go down with him or he will fight it to no end. I can't do the cry it out method.
Saying all that I guess I want to know, Why is it ok for people to breastfeed forever (it seems) and our babies have to be off the bottle by one year, no later that 15 months?
Hope some one gives you good advice on this and if they do please pass it on. It helps me to know that others are out there going through the same thing and worrying themselves sick. I think we should just do what seems right to us and pretend we live in the day when no one went to the doctor for everything. Those people must have done something right, the human race goes on!!
Good Luck J. S

Hi Tonya,

My daughter loved her bottle too. She kept having ear infections and for five months I was in the doctors office every week. When she was 11 months old, he said, "You aren't letting her go to bed with a bottle, are you". I said reluctantly, "she goes to bed with four bottles." She won't sleep through the night unless she is sucking on one. This was 24 years ago. He said this Friday stop giving her the bottle totally. He said let her cry and in a few days she will stop. It took four days. That was the awfuless sleep I think I ever got. My husband wore ear plugs because he worked all the time. She didn't have any more ear or sinus problems. He explained to me that the baby's sinus and ear's have no downward drainage until they are about three or four. So all the milk was going into her sinus and ears when she was laying flat and sucking on the bottles. Problem was solved and we all survived.

Hi, T.~

Sounds as if you're doing fine!

I'm Mom to 4 adults & 'Mom-Mom' to 3 little 'Grands', (all breastfed), and they all quit at different ages. Girls usually are done before boys are. There are NO 'hard & fast' rules!

My opinion, tho, is that they should recline or sit to drink a bottle (not lay to reduce incidence of ear infection), not carry a bottle around with them to sip & suck (as a 'security' item); and they shouldn't go to sleep with a bottle in the crib unless it contains only water (causes dental caries). It should be a 'meal' (or at least 'all-at-once'). If possible, you should hold them (just as you would if breastfeeding) or lay with them (as you said you do).

Only go by rules that make sense to YOU! One of our kids had a terrible rash off & on for a year (he'll be 29 next week), and we had him to probably 6 different doctors (fam dr, ped's, skin spec). They ALL had differing opinions as to what it was & what to do. If someone had EVER told me about waiting later to start foods & juices & to add them 1 at a time for a week, each, I think that would've made sense to me (and most likely would've eliminated the problem; but we were told to introduce cereals & juices at 6 WEEKS back then -- not 6 months!!

My 1 yr old still gets 3 bottles- at bed and at both nap times, although his are whole milk not formula. If you're not comfortable with milk yet then don't do it. My guy eats everything in site so I'm not worried about him, even though he weighs in on the thin side. THey have those transition formulas now for babies who aren't ready for milk, so use one of those instead. Just keep in mind that at 2yrs you can switch them to reduced fat milk, like 2%, so you don't want to put off the switch too long. My oldest started weaning from the bottle around 13-14 mths if I remember correctly. My baby will be 14 months on Christmas day and I can't even begin to get him off the bottle. He refuses the cup unless it has his diluted juice, will not drink water or milk from a cup. So I'm with you or that issue, just don't know what to do about it. When we weaned my oldest from the bottle I still let him take a bottle at sleep time but it had water instead of milk. After a while he quit drinking the water so I quit giving it to him. He drank milk from a cup fine during the day. I don't know what to do about my baby though since he won't drink milk from a cup.