Taking the Bottle Away at 1 Year

Both children watched me on the morning og thier 1st birthday throw thier bottles in the trash. ALL of them!!! They will only be a bear for the firt few days. After that you are home free. And the younger you take it away the less likely they are to steel another child's bottle. And it's better for thier teeth and you don't have to worry about getting dirty looks in public from having a child that it too old to be on the bottle! We used sippy cups, too for the next year. After that both boys used regular cups.

What i did with my son was put milk in a sippy and just cuddled him with in 2 days he didnt need a bottle anymore. i dont know if the milk thing is alright or not but thats what i did and it worked. and by the time he was almost 1 1/2 he would go to bed with nothing. i still would lay with him until he fell asleep though. now he goes to be with the tv on and he is almost 4 now. hope it works out for you.

Yes it will be difficult. I tried to take my son bottle away before a year and it didn't work. One day we went out and we were gone all day and I didn't give him anything but a sippy and that night all he got was a sippy and ever since he was fine with it. IT's going to be hard at first but try to give him a sippy at bed time. My son still takes a sippy at bed time and nap time. He's almost 2 now. If that doesn't work he will let you know when he's ready to be off the bottle. I hope that this helps a little. J.

I was a registered dental assistant for 7 years, did your doctor tell you why he wanted you to take the bottle away? Did your doctor tell you about bottle mouth? Just incase he didn't; bottle mouth (may have a new name now) is when a child goes to the dentist and all or most of their teeth are decayed to the degree that crowns are required. This is not attractive or healthy. Bottle mouth is caused by a child taking a bottle in the afternoon for a nap or at night for bed that has milk, Koolaid, or juice in it.
Either take the bottle away or put water in the bottle for a nap and bed time.

Hi M.- my daughter is now 17 months and I used to give her a bottle when she was having trouble getting to sleep. I would first suggest only offering your son a bottle of water when you are putting him down. That way you won't have to worry about his teeth becoming decayed, and water may also be less appealing as well. Once this has become routine you can try to take the bottle away altogether. With Kaylin I kind of phased it out- we didn't go cold turkey. But again, I believe you doctor's biggest concern is potential tooth damage so if you can make the switch to water only you can take your time with the second step.

Good luck!

Mine just turned one this past weekend and I've got them both (yes, twins) off the bottle for everything except the very last one at bedtime. I would recommend starting with taking one away..the one they least care about. For me, it was the bottle with the morning nap. I still give them the milk, but in a cup with a straw (they took to that much better than the sippy kind you have to tilt back). The important thing is not to back track once you've taken a bottle away. You may need a bigger gap of time before you take the next bottle away, but don't under any circumstance give a bottle at the one you decided to make a cup. Hope that helps.

do what you want my daughter had her bottle until she was a little over 2. and one day she found a sippy at the store she like so we got it and that was the end... as my mother says no one goes to college with a paci or bottle. but if YOU have decided you want him off the bottle try a sippy like a nuby they are soft like bottles... good luck!

I agree that if you think you aren't (or your son is not) ready to take away the bottle then don't feel pressure. We didn't start taking our son off the bottle until he was 15 months, and he wasn't completely off until about 18 months. I think as long as you take care of their teeth, they should be okay. We just made sure to brush his teeth first thing in the morning, and we always took the bottle away when he was a sleep instead of leaving it in the crib.

If cold turkey doesn't work for you (and it didn't for us) then gradually getting rid of it will be easier. First we took it away for naps, then bedtime, and finally mornings. The more he got used to the sippy cup in the beginning the easier it was to replace the bottle in the morning when we got there.

Since you are a SAHM it will be easier, we had trouble with my mother in law continuing to give him the bottle when she would watch him. But once we got past that it was incredibly simple. Good Luck.

start diluting(with water) his milk each time he takes his bottle, every time a little bit more. By the time it is almost all water, it will loose its use. then you can start pulling it at nap etc.etc. worked great for us!! I think cold turkey is always a disaster? You can do this over a couple of months,its not going to ruin him to keep the bottle for a few more months. I remember reading at least by 18months. The hardest part for me was giving up the bond time of giving the bottle!!! Good Luck!

I had the same problem with my twins a long time ago they are 9 years old now. I just went and bought a really good sippy cup one with a good no spill piece in the top and gave them thier water, juice, or milk whatever they went to bed with in it and they were fine with it. Remmeber if he doesnt take to it right away he will it just takes time. Make sure you stick to it and dont give in when he cries or it wont work.

when my son was around 11 months I started gradually increasing the sippy cup and decreasing the bottle. Maybe offer him some milk in it at naptime and see how it goes. Mine still takes a sippy cup to bed with him and he is almost 2. There is sippy cups with softer spouts and he liked those better for bed time....hope this helped and good luck

Give your son an option. Give him a sippy cup of milk or a bottle of water at nap time. If he REALLY wants his milk, then he will drink it from the sippy.

Hi M.,

I bought the nuby - I think its spelled - sippy cups at kroger after my pedi recommended it.
They are great, she didn't object at all.
She drinks her AM and PM milk in it and also her lunch time water.
I highly recommend those. I also bought the ones with the straw since my pedi says they're so much better to prevent dental issues but she doesn't "get" the straw suction yet, soon enough..
Let me know how it works. The avent sippy didn't work.

Amy

I strongly agree with Heather L's statement and Lori made a great point as well. My daughter is 15 months and all I have to say is GOOD LUCK! LOL Really, I think you should "phase" it out one at a time (take away one a week). I still give my daughter formula b/c of all the hormones in whole milk. (I will be switching her soon to organic whole milk.) I also agree that you should do what is best for you and your son. I have researched so many ideas on how to get her off the bottle. So, I will tell you everything I have read:
1) Put something that tastes nasty on the nipple and they won't want it anymore. Well, this lady said she put jalepeno juice on the nipple. How cruel! I don't like this idea at all.
2) Dilute the milk with water... add more water each week until they lose interest b/c the milk taste isn't as strong. While doing this make sure he is still getting all the calcium he needs--such as 1/2 cup shredded cheese at lunch, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc.
3) Go cold turkey. This is near impossible for me. I tried actually. I didn't like hearing my daughter (who sleeps through the night every night) cry out every hour b/c of hunger.
4) Tell him/her they are a big boy/girl and have them throw their bottle away (or do it infront of them). Tell them "no more bottle". All I have to say to this one is: Yea, right... maybe if he/she were 2 years old.

Oh, and quite frankly, I am not concerned about my daugther's teeth. I brush her teeth and gums every night and she drinks plenty of water after the bottle to rinse well.

Good luck to you and take your time. YOU are the mom--like another lady said--YOU make your own decisions that fit best in your life and in the needs of your child. Take care.

I'm gonna go out on a limb here and point out the obvious; he's your baby, not the doctors. If you are ok with the bottle, you tell the doctor whatever he wants to hear and do your own thing.I'll tell you the same thing my mom told me; does the doctor put your baby to sleep every night? Does he wake up with him in the middle of the night? No. So you do what's best for you and your baby and tell the doctor whatever it is he wants to hear. It's up to you! It's not like he's going to start kindergarten still drinkin off a bottle so what's the big deal?

Now if YOU want the bottle gone, I suggest you try cold turkey. If you haven't yet you might be surprised, he might not mind. Some kids do, but he might not. Also my son, on his first birthday, decided the bottle was no longer good and just stopped drinking them. So he might just quit on his own. Do what YOU want to do!

Personally, I'd follow your baby's lead. If your son does not object too much to the bottle going away, great! Go with all sippy cups, all the time. If it disrupts his routine too much, gradually reduce the bottles, beginning with the one he needs the least. Sleep and eating are two separate things. If he is sleep trained without taking a bottle to bed, this is good. If he takes a bottle to bed, that's when you have to worry about tooth decay. That would be the first habit to break, IMO. Hey, if moms can nurse past one year, why can't a baby have a bottle past one year? I'd rather allow a bottle and a pacifier than to have an "orally fixated" adult (smoking, chewing, overeating, etc.)

Only for a few days. In my opinion, it's better to get it over with now then to wait until they get more attached to it. You'll put up with some major fussing, but in the end you'll be better for it. Potty training will go easier on you as well as you won't have as many wet nights!!

Yes it will be difficult to get him to go to sleep.

You'll have to let him cry it out. He's certainly old enough at a year. It took my son one night for an hour when he was six months. It won't be fun to listen to, but be consistent and remember that even though it sounds like someone's killing him, he's actually fine and just trying to demand what he wants - not knowing that mommy's trying to do what's best for him.

Jenny P. is right on target. Outta sight, outta mind. When it came time to break the bottle from my oldest son, we just took it. No problems whatsoever. He not once fussed or cried. He had completly forgot about them. Especially since I had gone out and got him a bunch of new sippys the day before. Got him some reg. one but also some with the flxible straw. Of course, every child is different so it may not be that easy for you, but then it may be just as easy. I would give going cold turkey a try though. GL! :)

My doctor told me that when our youngest was a year that i should just get rid of all bottles in the house and she wouldnt miss them after maybe a day...i put the bottles away..outta sight outta mind(but not totally out of the house.just in case) i bought the nuby sippy cup..like someone else on here mentioned as well.....my daughter seeemed ok with it by the second night...she really liked to hold onto the cup for comfort more than anything and all i ever gave her at night or sleep time was water....it wont be as hard as u might think but i think you should do this when you are both ready...but having gone through it 3 times i know usually the 1 year old is ready long before the parents!!! I wish you the best!!

My doctor said the same thing, I still give my 20 month old a bottle at nap and bed time, sippy cups the rest of the day. I also took all of her pacies away from her, which was not as hard as I thought it would be, she only got upset when I took one out of her mouth today when she found the stash of pacies. She has been pacie free for 15 days now! Do what your motherly instincs tell you, but also listen to the doctors. I hope this helped you!