Hello, my daughter is 16 mo old and I finally decided to take her off her bottle. She loves it so much that I just went cold turkey and took them all away last weekend. She really won't drink but an ounce here or there of milk/water/juice- and I have several different kinds of sippies and have tried regular cups too. I don't know what to do. Did anyone else have this happen to them? Will she eventually give in? I sure thought she would have by now. I don't want her to get dehydrated. I am worried. Any ideas? Thanks so much.
You were right to take away the bottle, it should be done around 12 months. Have you tried the Nubby cups? Either the tippy cups or the straw type? They would be more like a bottle that the rigid type.
I don't have any other advice:( Feed her high-liquid foods for a while so she's getting at least some water (apples, applesauce, well, fruit in general...soups...stuff like that).
Good Luck!
Drinking an ounce at a time is just fine. Try not to worry about it much. Remember that nutrition is no longer primarily from liquids but rather from regular food now so it is normal for them to not drink as much as they did before. I would offer milk at mealtimes and then have a water cup always available throughout the day. So long as it's available, a healthy child won't dehydrate herself. Be careful not to do a lot of juice, though tempting when you want them to drink more...often causes kids not to like water (since they'd prefer the sugary flavored stuff :) and water is what is healthy and doesn't hurt the teeth...the nutrients in juice are far better to gain from the actual fruit itself. We still drink it sometimes but consider it a treat in our house on the same level as a candy treat. It helped a lot with potty training since it was an incentive for him to sit on the potty and gave ammunition for him to go. Drinking an ounce at a time sounds like she CAN do the sippy just fine, but a child typically will not drink from a sippy for prolonged times like a bottle, just like we don't keep drinking from a cup for prolonged times, but rather take a drink here and there. So to me it sounds like she's right on track adjusting in a typical way. Hope this helps!
Don't worry about it. I had the same thing with my son when we took away his bottle. He did a total fluid strike. Eventually, she'll give in. Stay strong, because if you give in, she'll know if she whines enough, she'll get her way.
my son took himself off the bottle shortly before his 1st birthday and he uses a sippy cup. his cup has the soft silicone spout, like the nipples on a bottle are made out of. i forget what brand it is but its the kind that is spill proof and has the soft silicone spout, i got them at walmart. maybe u should them, they might work for u. shell think shes using a bottle but shes really using a sippy cup. my son loves them,i tried several other sippy cups and he wont use any but those.
Hi there, I just wanted to add that Nuby have just come out with a cup that is especially made for transition from bottle to cup that comes with 3 interchangeable spouts. The first is very close to a bottle nipple the last is just like a straw, the middle one is somewhere in between. It helps to get them use to moving from a bottle to a sippy cup gradually. Go check it out at
http://www.nuby.platformtwo.com/index.php?option=com_cont...
It is all available at
I think what the other post is talking about is the Nuby cups, at walmart.
We stopped my daughter cold turkey too. For a few weeks she only drank a sip of fluid here and there, but after a while she began to drink more. Still to this day, she doesn't drink much milk like she used to when she was on the bottle.
However, children know when they are thirsty, and she will drink. Keep offering her different fluids. A sip here and there will add up by the end of the day. As long as she is active and healthy, she will not starve or dehydrate herself to the brink.
A sign of dehydration: How many wet diapers per day?
Another tip is, give her popsicles or jello. Freeze juice into popsicles and give it to her like that.
Don't worry, she will eventually drink more and more. As long as she is healthy and active, that is the bottom line. Call her pediatrician to reassure yourself, it never hurts. Good luck.
When we had problems with this, we ended up trying everything and a cup with a straw worked for us.
Hi there,
Another tip is to be sure and give her foods that have a lot of fluid...fruits (especially watermelons) and other foods with water...otameal, (watert is half of the ingredients!), soup, frozen treats, etc. This gave me a little more piece of mind when my son did this.
Good luck,
Denise
T.,
My daughter had a hard time figuring out the sippy cups as well. I also got the NUBY at Kroger.
From there, I got the Nuby sports cup which is a combination of sippy/straw and I hope to put her on the nuby straws next.
Anyway ;) Nuby cups have a nipple or spout that is very similar to a bottle, it is much easier for the kids to figure out how to suction it.
She transitioned into it so nicely, I was really struggling with other sippy cups, my pediatrician originally recommended them.
Hope it works for you!
Amy
Looks like I'm the only one responding this way... but I'd say give her the bottle back. She may just not be ready for the transition. We tried cold turkey per our pediatrician's advice around 17 months, and it was a disaster and a complete battle of the wills. We went back on the bottle after about 5 days.
We then tried a more graduated transition- eventually over a period of weeks to sippy cups and cups only throughout the day and still a bottle at night. He loved the comfort of the night-time bottle but quickly understood it was only at night. Then we moved the bottle earlier and earlier, until it was a glass of milk at dinner, and no more bottle. It was much less traumatic for everyone and hasn't 'hurt' him at all to stay on the bottle longer than would typically be advised...
Good luck - I hope you find what works for you and your daughter. Every kid is different!
