Weaning a Child from a Bottle and Weaning Him from Going to Sleep Without Milk

I think it's just a habit you will have to break. I let my 2 year old have milk in a sippy before PJs. Then we put on PJs and brush his teeth (try to at least!). His bottle is his comfort, and it will be hard. I might try to find something else to comfort him - blanket, toy, nightlight etc. Also, you can help him through the transition, sit with him and rub his back etc... .to comfort him. He will be very upset and scream... but I do think it's time to stop. It really isn't good for his teeth. Good luck!

Throw the bottles away. Perhaps have a ceremony during which he passes the bottles on to babies who need them. If there are no bottles there is no issue. He'll get used to drinking milk out of a sippy cup. He may refuse at first. Accept his refusal and keep giving him a sippy cup with milk. Stop putting energy into the issue.

Is it possible that the tension between yourself and your husband is adding to your son's insistence to drink milk only from a bottle? Are the two of you able to work together on getting rid of the bottles? Find a way to let go of yur irritation with your husband.

My grandkids made the switch at night from a bottle of milk to a bottle of water and from a bottle of water to a sippy cup of water. By the time they were 2 or so they took a sippy cup of water to bed with them because they would be thirsty after they got into bed. This eliminated the one more drink of water request. I noticed that they sometimes picked up the sippy cup during the night and took a few sips. I think this helped them stay asleep or get back to sleep. Perhaps I understand this because I keep water on my bedside table and sometimes wake up thristy.

I suggest getting rid of the bottles and give him milk in a sippy cup. Give him water in a sippy cup when he goes to bed. It may help to include him in getting rid of the bottles. You can do it over a few days time by saying that in 3 days the bottles are going away because he's a big boy. Or you can have him help gather up the bottles, put them in a gift bag, and talk about giving the bottles to little babies who need them and how he's a big boy now and can use his sippy cup.

He may protest. That's OK. You are asking him to make a big change. It's normal to want to stay the same. However, changing is going to happen to him all of his life. You do not want to protect him from change. You want to help him learn how to deal with change. It's important to let him express his feelings without judgment while encouraging him towards success with the new way of doing this.

Another suggestion for getting him to drink the milk out of the sippy cup is to take him to the store to get his "milk sippy cup" and let him pick out one or two sippy cups from the store that can be his special sippy cups for milk. And, you have to get your husband on board - you guys have to be in agreement to stick it out no matter how tough it gets.
As far as the milk at night, i agree you probably need to let him scream it out a few nights. I try not to give my daughter anything to drink within an hour or so of bedtime except a few sips of water when she brushes her teeth. This not only helps with her teeth, but it also really helps with potty training. She's never wet the bed at night.
Good luck! I know it's no fun having to fight them out with things - but it will help you in the long run for you to set the tone now that what you says goes.

He most likely is going to have to scream it out. Take the bottle away, tell him he is a big boy, that he can have milk before bed but out of a cup, and before brushing those teeth.

what i did with my daughter when i weaned her from her bed time bottle was i would gradually reduce the ounces by 2 till there was none left. as for nixing the bottle only offer cups and toss the bottles. he will come around eventually. also like another mom said give other forms of dairy- cheese yogurt etc...

Take away the bottles, and give other dairy to make up the difference until he starts to take milk again (Cheese and yogurt are wonderful). As for sleeping, yes I would let him CIO, you should never put an infant or toddler to bed with a milk.

I just went thru something similar with my 2 girls. Except my daughter was almost 3!! We went to the dentist, she had 3 cavaties. She was drinking milk from a bottle all day and all night.(half gallon a day) That's how I got her to sleep! So after the TORTURE she went thru at the dentist having 3 fillings I had every intention of continuing the bottle until the dentist got a hold of me. He said I was lucky she only had 3 cavaties and not a whole mouthful. That if she continues to drink from bottle the cavaties he just filled will surely come back and she will need root canals!!!! That day I let her have her last bottle! She went to bed with water in a sippy cup. Of course she had a few tantrums but not as bad as I was anticipating. I just kept telling her that she is turning 3 and that big girls don't drink out of bottles. It worked! But your son is only 2 so it is harder to explain things that they will understand and accept. I know some parents let their kids CIO but I never did. And it cost me $632.00. Now my younger daughter was 17 mos old and I tried like hell to get her off the bottle. She will drink anything but milk out of a sippy cup. I tried and she didn't drink a sip of milk for a month! Of course she eats yogurt and cheese but certainly not the amounts of calcium she was getting with the milk....so I put her back on the bottle. She only drinks 12 oz a day, but they are 6 oz each for nap and bedtime. I took her to the dentist last week and her teeth are perfect, so I will be more diligent with brushing her teeth than I was with my first and she doesnt drink the massive amounts of milk that my first did either. If I were you I would take him to the dentist and see if there are any issues with his teeth. It was easier for me to get my first off the bottle after witnessing what she had to go thru because of it. Honestly if she hadn't had those cavaties I would have let her stay on the bottle til she gave it up herself. Good luck!

Throw out the bottles and never send him to bed with anything but water. He will get baby bottle rot this doesn't just come from a bottle but also a sippy cup or a glass. Let him cry he will get over it.
My advice comes from 10 years in a dental office

I'm awful at the scream-it-out... Maybe slowly sabotage his milk bottle by adding more and more water until he doesn't want it at night? Liked the idea of his special hand-picked cup, but would then never be allowed in his room? Maybe 10-min Mommy-Lap time with the special cup of milk downstairs before bed or is he a Daddy-Lap boy? Does he take a pacifier? Can you replace one with the other for nighttime needs? Does he like build-a-bear and you can put his bottle's nipple into the bear? Maybe get your husband to brainstorm as well? Then husband's a now part of the solution and no longer just a part of this situation?:)

Good luck Mama!

My friend told her son that if he wants it at night, he has to go get it himself. Which the fridge was downstairs. She had the milk in the bottle already. But after telling her son that, he stopped.
It worked for her.

Or, water down the milk in his bottle... but don't tell him. Then he may think the 'night-time' milk is not worth it.

all the best,
Susan