Giving up the Bottle

I have 22 month old twins and they still drink out of the bottle but only for a nap and at bedtime. They have their sippy cups and eat well but it's just something about their bottle when it's time to go to sleep that they have to have it. I hate it when doctors tell me to take my kids off the bottle, i'll do it when I get ready. I'm the parent and that's my choice.

From my experience it is reasonable. My daughter was off the binky, breast, and bottle by the time she was a year old. We introduced sippy cups of water when she was about 6 months just so she would get used to holding them and trying to drink from them. We did have to go through a number of different cup styles though before we found one she liked! She started out the same way, we held the cup for her, but now she takes it all on her own and hands me the cup when she is done. Good luck!

I am not a fan of completely giving up the bottle by 1 year. She still needs most of her nutrition at this age from formula or breast milk and that amount decreases greatly after moving to a cup. I would start giving her a sippy with a little water in it at meal times so she gets the hang of what to do with it. After she figures it out, start the process of putting milk into it. Hope this is helpful.

Hi R.:
I actually got lots of great advice about this same topic here in the last few months. I was considering stopping the bottle at 12mo., but my doc said that we shouldn't stop the formula until she drinks milk instead (in a sippy cup), so she still gets the nutrition she needs. Well, my daugther has always been a great eater, but she HATED milk!
So, at 12 mo., we reduced our bottles to two a day (one morning/one night/and sometimes one in the middle of the night) and then waited until she started to like milk, which didn't happen until around 16mo. Then, we cut back to one formula bottle before bed, for a few weeks, before we cut it out altogether! It was only a day or two of whining and then she didn't seem to notice it was gone. And it's amazing the money you save on formula. wow. But, I agree with the other ladies - you need to wait until the time is right for your baby and don't try to force it! Be sure she's good with using her sippy and will drink milk out of it. Good luck!

Of course, it's reasonable to expect her to be off the bottle by one year. That's what has been recommended for at least 10 years, since my oldest was born. 3 of my four kids were off the bottle by 1 year, the baby took about a month longer, and was much more difficult than his siblings. He refused to drink anything unless it was in a bottle! We didn't know what to do! With the older ones, we just replaced 1 bottle a week with a cup, finishing up on the week before the 1st birthday. I'm sure my baby had a few dry days, but he eventually started accepting the cups, and only a month later than we had hoped!

Good Luck!

All 3 of my sons were off of the bottle by 1. In fact, by the time they were 11 1/2 months old we started to give them a sippy cup of whole milk instead of formula. By the time they turned 1 they were off of the bottle and never looked back. When we started the sippy cup we would leave the spill proof valve out of the cup so that the milk would come out easier and they would know that something was in there. Then when they got the idea that something was in there they would start to suck on the cup to get the milk out and we would put the valve back in. I liked to have my kids off of the bottle by the time that they were 1 anyway because I didn't like the look of toddlers walking around with a bottle. But that is just me. None of my kids ever asked for the bottle or cried when I gave them a cup.

We have a now 9 month old little girl and the plan is to do the same thing with her. She is also still on stage 2 food and makes gaging sounds on a lot of food. Even now she gets a sippy cup of water to play with. She doesn't get anything out of it but she likes to hold it and shake it. I figure one of these days she may actually figure it out on her own before 1 but if not we will start changing her over to the cup at 11 1/2 months.

It's much easier to take the bottle away when they are 1 then to wait until they are older and they get to attached to the idea of the bottle.

Good luck!

I gave my son a sippy cup with water in it starting at 6 months. At first he just played with it. I took the rubber stopper thing out of it one time just to show him water was in it. It took awhile, but he finally got the hang of it. Don't push it-it will just make them frustrated. When he turned one I switched his morning bottle to a sippy cup with formula in it(that one was easy)...the nap time was a little harder. He still takes a bedtime bottle-we're planning to break that real soon. Good luck.

my daughter was off the bottle by 1, but she did have a difficult transition. she did not like juice or water, so we had to put milk with ovaltine in it and then we had no issues what so ever.

my son was done with the bottle at 11 months...he just had no intrest in it anymore.
We started the sippy cup at 6 months and he did very well with it....we held it at first and then he got the hang of it. You can try the nuby sippy cups....these have that same silicone nipple that the bottle has and my son did well with these because it was kinda like his bottle. so we would give him the nuby at night and I think it would remind him of his bottle....but we would make him hold it himself...but we would still rock and hold him while he was drinking this:-)
I hope this helps!

dont sweat it no one goes to college with a bottle. if shes ready to give it up she will start taking it less... offer the sippy dont force it tho. i always give a sippy to my 10 month old when she eats her "real food" but other than that she gets a bottle. if shes happy and healthy why fix something that isnt broken?? (ps) my daughter was on the bottle til she was 2 and shes fine

I don't think that's realistic at all. Maybe in the doctor's head it is....but I have a 4 year old and a 1 year old. And my 1 year old is still taking her milk from a bottle. She'll drink out of a sippy cup -- but she just figured out how it works. My 4 year old took a bottle (w/ milk) until she was at least 15 or 16 months old.

Personally, I think it is up to the parents when to stop using a bottle and completely relying on sippy cups. Age 9 months is not the time to do it.

[And the stage 3 foods....my 1 year old finally stopped gagging on them about 3 weeks ago. They are rather chunky..especially the "meals"].

Good luck!

Hi R.,

No, actually I think that is weird advice from your doc. I wouldn't pressure your little one to give it up at one year. What is his reasoning behind it?? I let mine go until way beyond that.... and she is thriving!!!!

I would just make sure and offer her plenty of solids and just enjoy her, I miss my baby's bottle days!!

My son was off the bottle at a year. Up until then I only gave formula in the bottle, with water and juice through out the day in a sippy cup to get use to it. When he turned one, literally the day of, I took all the formula and bottles out of the house and replaced them with sippy cups and Vitimin D milk. To help this transition, he ALWAYS had a sippy cup of water with him. The spill proof ones are great. I would leave it by him when he was playing. Not that he needed water to drink, but to get use to drinking from the sippy cup. I had an easy transition though b/c he was breastfed half the time, therefore the bottle wasn't like a "lifeline" to him. He wasn't attached to it at all, so it was an easy thing to make disappear. So, yes, totally possible. Best of luck!

i don't think so. my son was 16 months when he went off it. i started to offer a cup at one and he slowly did it him self. you just have to follow you thoughts on your own child.

I know just about everyone is told that, but I don't know a lot that are successful by exactly one year.
We got down to just a morning bottle and night-time bottle by one year, but it was another 3 months or so before we were totally off the bottle.
I wouldn't worry about it taking a little over one year.

Absolutely! We were able to get our twins off the bottle by their first birthday. Patience, consistancy, and lots of love will help this transition period. Good luck!!

I think its more of a generalization for the most part like "most babies are off the bottle by one year" but if she's not ready, then she's not ready. My son is almost exactly the same way, we just had his 9 mos. appointment on Monday and our doctor didn't say anything about his bottles. I told him how many he has a day and he says that's a good amount and I am in no rush to change things around for him. It sounds like your little one and my little one eat about the same amount of food, more baby food than bottles...so I wouldn't stress about it. If you want to have her off the bottle, then I would try working w/her more w/the sippy cup and see how that goes. Otherwise, as long as she's healthy and happy, I wouldn't stress! :)

Absolutely! Don't worry, it's a natural progression that your daughter will take on her own. Try a 2 handles sippy cup at lunch. Then offer it to her mid-morning and so on. Pretty soon she won't want the bottle because she can "do it herself" I took the bottle away from both by kids at 1 and they were fine with it. Keep practicing with the sippy cup. Kids are amazing and they learn quickly.

it is wise to get them off the bottle as close to 1 yr as possible. but some kids just don't ransition as easily as others. i was able to get my daughter to use a sippy all day long with milk, juice, water, but she still wanted her "bobble" at bedtime. so we jsut waited a little longer to take her bed time bottle away. it didn't take long though, just a few weeks then she didn't care.

Hi R.!

I have three kids and all my children were off the bottle by 12- 14 months. Around 9 months, I just started taking them off a bottle one at a time. I think I started with that mid-afternoon one, the took away the morning and lastly the evening. That is the hardest one to let go of. I do not think there is anything magical about getting off the bottle at 12 months, but I do think it should be shortly after that. If she is eating food, she really doesn't need the bottle. As far as the sippy cup goes, try putting her formula or breastmilk in there first before switching over to another liquid. Also, she will learn to take it when she is thristy which might not happen unitl one bottle is taken away. Ok, I hope this helps. I will admit that it is never easy to say goodbye to that night time bottle.

This issue drove me nuts for awhile. I started giving my daughter a sippy cup at 6 months but she wouldn't drink out of it. She is very stubborn and takes her sweet time doing things when she feels like it. She wouldn't even drink out of her cup until she was like 17 months. Her pediatrician said that as long as I wasn't putting her to bed with it, it was ok. I think it all depends on your child. If she's resistant like mine, she just won't do it until she wants to. You'll know when to take that bottle. Try not to pay attention to what everyone else says your child should be doing. You're the mommy and you know best :)

i don't agree w/ what the dr said, i know many toddlers still carrying around a bottle. some just don't get the concept of a sippy cup. i bought our son this one with a soft plastic/silicon straw and he will use it a little so you can try that. the sippy cup spouts seem too big fom their little mouths.