Weaning 2 Year Old from Bottle

Stop giving in to her. If she knows that if she pitches a fit she'll get her way, what do you think she's gonna do. If you just take them away and give her no other option she'll give up. This is a test of the wills, yours needs to be stronger then hers. Eventually she'll give up and use the cup. Don't give her the bottle and she has no other options.

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OMG! I thought I was reading a blog from my life last year at this time. We had the same issue except it was around 20-21 months with my daughter. She is also allergic to milk and peanuts (OK with eggs) and she was drinking soy milk. She refused to drink it in a cup only in her bottle. She had been throwing a fit about it too but at the time I had just had our 3rd child last June and I thought maybe it was a security thing with a new baby-she was only 18 months old when the baby was born. So I gave it time. she started chewing the nipples so as they broke and tore where they were no longer safe to use, I stood her at the garbage can and we threw them away. She understood that it was broke. As the nipples dwindled down to the last one I told her that was it- there were no more. When that one broke no more bottles..It happened we threw the last one away and that was that. She asked a few times after that but no tantrums or anything. This took a month or so to happen so she was just about 21-22 months old. I think seeing it go somewhere worked for her..maybe not for all kids. With my son (who is now 6) i just took it away one day when he was 14-15 months old and that was it too. Now my 3rd is just turning 14 months old and all she drinks from a bottle is milk so I am preparing to do that with her soon too. I think if you get it before they get "attached" works the best. Good luck.

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Hi M.. My suggestion would be to stop explaining. It may make you feel better, but she isn't your peer, she is 2 and can't reason. You have a decision to make - either continue to allow her to take a bottle, or simply make the bottles disappear, do not give in and continue to offer her milk in a cup til she is ready to drink it, while increasing the other sources of calcium in her diet to make up for the lack of milk. But don't go this route if you are going to give in and give her the bottles back. I wouldn't wean her from the bottles, either let her have them or make them disappear completely. Good luck

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Hi,
There are actually tons of other sources of calcium that your daughter could have that are probably even better since they are whole foods based. You can check out a chart here:
http://www.soystache.com/calcium.htm
I would drop the bottle issue for now, and see if she misses the milk if she's getting her other drinks from the cup.
Good luck!

we went thru that as well. just pick one cup and stick with it. imo, the nuby is the best to start with, maybe even the sport top one. then what we did, was everytime she asked give her a choice of a bottle of water or the milk in the cup. she cried and got all upset but she ended up choosing the milk. it was hard in the beginning and the first days she didnt drink much and cried but it worked. just stick with one cup rather than going from one the next, and whatever you do, if you arent 100% sure of following thru, dont do it yet, as going back and forth will let her think you will change your mind.
we found the choice of her making the decision was helpful and seemed to give her a little more power than just us giving her one or the other. good luck!!!

Hi M.,
I know you already posted an update but I just went through that. My daughter turned 2 01/12/08. I have to tell you I had a real big problem with her so I decided to wait alittle longer. So around march, april I told her santa clause took her bottle to give it to the other kids. Yeah she always asked "mommy santa clause took my bottle and I said yes". It worked she never cried for her bottle again. I did use the nubby when she wanted milk at night. That worked, it was like a bottle and did not leak. It was wonderful. I believed that two was alittle early and I went with my instinct. I do also believe that she wanted to give it up. I did try before she turned two and we only did sippy cups during the day and bottle at night.

Good luck

Throw out the bottles and let her see you do it. Don't make a big deal about it and when she starts to cry, just ignore the behavior. Eventually after she sees that you mean business, she will start to take it. I'm not sure if she can have soy, but you can buy soy milk, yogurt, soy cheese and calcium-fortified juice as well as maybe just sneaking some rice milk in with her foods- you can cook with it. Other foods w/calcium include some cereals, breads, some other dried beans, and some leafy greens (collard and turnip greens, kale, bok choy). Here is a list of calcium sources and their contents:
http://www.health.gov/dietaryguidelines/dga2005/document/...

It took my daughter two weeks to get over the bottle. We did it when she was 14 months old. She did not drink milk for a few days. I did give her some chocolate milk..she'd drink some of that...she eventually drank it from the nuby sippy cup. Good luck.

My daughter will not drink milk in a sippy cup either...unless I mix it with a Chocolate Pediasure drink. I was a little worried about the chocolate because I thought chocolate took out the calcium and was worried about the hightened energy chocolate gives. Her doctor says it's fine and Pediasure is made with stuff to keep the calcium in...if I'm wrong, let me know.

Nanc

M.,
I don't have any experience with a bottle and my own son, but I'm shooting from the hip here:

Any chance she might just be objecting because her little brother has a bottle?

Also, what about socializing with other children who are drinking from these other cups? She might enjoy making a friend or two, and you might enjoy her learning more about non-bottle options.

Not sure what other experts are going to say, but possibly switch her bottle to nighttime, and while you are counting on her getting all her calcium from rice milk, offer her the sippy cup only during the day, bottle at night. Simply put it away from sight. It might be softer transition than cold turkey.

Good Luck, hope this helps!
M.

Don't give in. She knows you'll give in. Just keep giving her the cup and tell her that her bottle is broken. My daughter went off the bottle at 21 months because she bit the nipple. I told her you broke the bottles - and she said OH - and was OK. My other got sick and couldn't suck out of the bottle so I just never gave it back to her and she was only like 18 months. Anyway - you can do it - just tell her no bottle and stick to it. She'll take it.

I don't have much weaning advice, but after reading your post thought I would pass along some related thoughts. I have an 18 month old son who has milk, soy, and peanut allergies. I nursed him for over a year and then felt at a loss for a good source of nutrition for him, being very food limited. He wouldn't take Alimentum or Nutramigen at that point, but I now order unflavored Neocate Jr. powder formula and mix three scoops into a sippy cup of orange juice. I started adding it in little amounts so he would take it, and it gives me the reassurance that he is getting a lot of the vitamins and minerals he might otherwise be missing. The formula is covered by insurance if medically necessary (just need to send insurance a dr. note), and I was even able to get a very generous sample by calling 1-800-NEOCATE. It comes flavored as well, but mixing it in juice worked best for us. Since you didn't mention a soy allergy, you might even be able to do this with a soy formula and not have to order anything! Good luck with the weaning, and hope this might be of interest to you!

Don't worry about the calcium. my experience with my grandchildren who were breast fed is that they don't like the taste of milk. Therefore they drank juice and water. They are very healthy pre-teens and drink milk now. There are juices with calcium supplements.