Does anyone have any thoughts/ideas/suggestions on getting rid of the bottle. It is our 21 month year old daughter's "security." We didn't have any problem with our now 4 year old, but that's also because she used a pacifier, the "baby" doesn't. I know not only is this her security, but also a power play with us. It's not that she doesn't or can't drink from a regular cup, cup with a straw, or sippy cup, but when she wants/needs her comforting or is tired and going to sleep, she wants milk in a bottle. Oh, and she will wake up in the night and ask for one, and I'm talking sitting up screaming (we've tried the "let her cry for a bit tactic.") That's the only thing she wants in the bottle. She will drink milk and water, and very little juice from any other cup, but still asks for a bottle. Before we moved here (we moved in March) she was very close to giving it up, and then with the move, regression. I know this is not good for her teeth, or her digestive system either. She will drink so much milk, she has hard painful bowel movements. We have considered switching to 1% milk since she is just a few months short of 2, but I'm not really sure that will help. Though someone at one time suggested diluting the milk gradually until it was basically water and then she won't want it anymore. My husband thinks we should just toss them all a make it cold turkey. I'm thinking that didn't work when we tried to get rid of the pacifier for the older, so I don't think this will work. Besides, I'm not sure I have the strength to listen to her scream and cry about it. (Trust me she is extremely vocal). When we got rid of the pacifier, we cut the tips and our daughter lost interest in them. So, even though we "tricked" her, it was still her choice. So, after all the rambling, any one have any ideas that may have worked for you? I am sure to be met with some resitance when I bite the bullet and do this, but I just wanted to know if anyone had tricks for being met with the least amout possible! Thank you in advance for any advice. I'm all ears!
My daughters ped said to give her the bottle should she demand it, BUT with water only. Everything else, milk, juice, in zippy cup. Eventually she'll get rid of bottle to get more exciting things to drink! Hope it works! My daughter was just 12 mos when I did that but worked great for her
My daughter was about the same age when she finally gave up the bottle. We told her that the "bottle fairy" was going to come and take her bottles (to give to "little babies" that need them) and leave her presents in their place. She helped me gather all bottles and nipples, we put them in a bag and set them out for the bottle fairy to come and get. Awhile later, we checked and they were gone and in place were presents!!! She understood that she no longer had the bottle. We also did the same thing when we got rid of the pacifier. It was her choice and she wanted the presents instead.
Now I know because of the litter laws you can't do what my sister in law did but it worked. They were going to town one day and she told her daughter that if she threw her bottle out the window she could get a new cup and a book. Of course her daughter thought about it for awhile and all at once she threw the bottle out the window. That was the end of the bottle.
I broke my nephew by putting nothing but water in the bottle. He cried a little but it worked.
My girls didn't use a bottle they were both nursed so I didn't have this problem.
I had one neice that still had her bottle when she was going to school. She would come home and have a bottle. My sister in law refused to make her quit. Of course they had to have all of her teeth pulled out because they were rotten. Finally one day at my Dad's when she wanted her bottle my Dad took the bottle and threw it out. She never said a word or asked for it back.
It really depends on you how you handle it. Everyone handles things differently Personally, I agree with your husband. I would just throw them out and let her cry over it. You just have to consider what's more important to you. Having to put up with her crying or her destroying her teeth.
Hello S.,
Ok this is a tough one, in my case my son was the exact same way. Did NOT want milk in anything but a bottle. I didnt throw them away, but I bought those newbie sippy cups with the soft nipple thingy. At first he wasnt happy about it, but after putting everything he wanted to drink in it all day he didnt fight me that night. I actually didnt get rid of the bottles until about a month after I knew he wouldnt go back, plus I wasnt really ready to let them go. LOL. I did make sure not to let him see I still had them though or he would have asked me for it. Praising him about how nice his new big boy cup was and showing him how it can change colors helped a lot too. Oh the milk thing, I would think 1% is fine because she is so close to being 2 soon.
I would talk to the pediatrician. I could not listen to my child scream either but this is a health issue
S.,
This is a tough one. Everyone does it differently. My daughter had her bottle till she was 2!!! This was my husband's & families fault (both sides). They said let her give it up on her own. Well when my husband & I took her for her 2 yr check up I asked & the ped said she should have given it up a year ago. My husband realized that I was right!! Anyhow. Inlaws were visiting for the holiday (daughter's B-day mid Dec). So new year's while they were on a cruise, I stopped the bottle & gave her chocolate milk in a sippy cup. She would ask for bottle, I would give her choclate milk in a sippy cup. I use whole milk with nesquik. It is cheap, granted it doesn't stay mixed like the choc milk you buy, but it work. over all it wasn't bad. She she was completely broke in 2-3 days. Not much crying over all. Now she demands Choc milk at night, & at times during the day.
Hi S.:
I am a grandma of 6 now but when my daughter was that age I too was trying to do what you are doing and it worked for me but someone came over the house one time and made me feel so bad that I cut my child off so early from the bottle. I gave it back only at night until she no longer wanted it. Now that I look back on that she is too young not to have her bottle for bed. Letting her cry for long periods is not right. This will probably make you feel bad like I once felt but if all she needs to have a good night sleep is a bottle then give it to her. Think about it, it's like you are punishing her for something she has no control over. Remember we are the once that get them into the habit of drinking from out of a bottle. Make her happy now and she will make you happy later. Soon enough she will drop it..MR. I too live in Florida.
if she has what a chiropractor calls a Subluxation- a bone out of place in her neck she could have less nerve supply to the muscles to swallow, and a bottle, with the sucking motion required makes it possible in that case to swallow, also, if she has any misalignment in her cranial bones then sucking relieves that discomfort- so make very sure there isn't an underlying structural reason before you attribute this behavior to a "power struggle"
The International Chiropractic Pediatric Assoc(ICPA) can give you a referral
best of luck-k
