Weaning from Bottle - Clarks Summit, PA

Two things from a mom who has four kids, much older than all of yours.....20 yrs.(college sophomore) down to 9 (third grade). Plus my college degree is in nursing and I've had a serious interest in holistic health ever since becoming a mother.

We are the only mammal who gives another animal's milk to our offspring after breastfeeding/weaning. There are other nutritional avenues for our children to receive what they receive from milk/dairy. If you do feed your children dairy, please make sure it is organic!!

Also, I have yet to see a bride or groom walk down the aisle with a bottle or pacifier attached to them, so don't sweat the small stuff.

Your children have an inherent sense of what they need and as parents, we need to trust that. Just love them and enjoy them.

1 mom found this helpful

my now 2yr old had trouble weanning from the bottle at that age. What worked for us is they have a soft spout sippy cup we used for his milk and once he is ok with that you can try to go from the soft spout to a regular sippy cup.

Hi S.. My son is also 1 year old. What kind of sippy cup are you using? It is the regular spout kind or the straw kind? My son will only take the straw kind and I find that he is doing fairly well with drinking milk from it. We are starting out with only the daytime and morning milk to go into the cup and keeping the evening bottle. Eventually I will make the transition with the evening bottle as well. So far, he seems to be doing pretty good. He doesn't drink as much milk during the day as he used to, but he does make up for it at night. I think that once he gets more comfortable with using the cup all day long, he will spread his drinking out throughout the day again. I hope that this helps you.

HI!
I had similar problems with my two younger kids. I found these Nubby soft top sippy cups and my son wasn't too excited but would still drink from them. And my daughter liked the playtex soft top with the handles on the sides. She'll be two in a few months and still loves to use them!!
GOOD LUCK!

I'm no professional, but one piece of advice I remember hearing about children's feeding habits is... "Don't stress over your child's diet each day. Look at what they eat over an entire week to gauge their diet." Maybe if you stick to your guns with only offering the milk in a sippy, after a day or two, he may give in. I wouldn't worry if he doesn't get "enough" milk for a day or two...

Hi S.~
When my breastfed daughter was a little over one, I told the pediatrician that she wasn't interested in drinking cow's milk. She asked if she liked to eat cheese and yogurt. Since the answer is "definitely yes," the doc said she's fine. Plus, in many other countries, people don't even drink cow's milk; they get their calcium, etc. from other sources. Nowadays, though, my 20-mo.-old loves cow's milk. It just took some getting-used-to.
~C.

When you switch from formula to whole milk...that is the best time to make the switch from bottle to sippy cup with the milk. Most babies prefer the whole milk to the formula, so often it helps encourage the swap. That is the way that we did it. Friends have told me not to offer whole milk in a bottle at all. Won't necessarily work for everyone, but that was what we did.

I would try not giving him the bottle any more in the morning or at night and put them away so he can't see them. If he knows it's an option, it will be harder to wean him. You could ask your doctor but I'd try it for a week and see what happens. Good luck!

You may want to try a STRAW cup...(in case the cold liquid bothers his teeth) At two, my son still rejects cold milk - but I will keep trying until he fully accepts it. He does like DIPPING cookies in MILK... so we're taking steps to drinking the real deal. He also likes "trying" my (cold milk) cereal. Instead of thinking daily "dairy" - think instead of the particular nutrients. CALCIUM is also in green vegetables - like broccoli. Vitamin D & Vitamin A are also present in yogurt. My son loves the "go gurt" sticks FROZEN. In time toddlers will accept cold milk, until then, think "outside of the carton"!

Hi S.,
My son, now 2 1/2 yrs, did the same thing. As soon as I offered the milk in a sippy cup he refused it, and I tried ALL the sippy cups. I too was worried that he'd only be drinking watered down juice and water. What worked for me was mkaing the milk chocolate milk. It was different and really yummy so he drank it. They have a lot of healthy options for chocolate milk, skinny cow if the one we like the best, but there is also an organic soy milk that is good mixed with regular milk. Or there is always the good old chocolate syrup in white milk. I liked using the skinny cow, b/c its really chocolatey so I would mix it with white milk and over time made the mix less chocolate and more white milk. Also, if he doesn't already add some yogurts to his diet. My son loves yogurts and its also a great source of dairy, at least until you get the milk drinking on track! My kids really liked the Yo Baby ones at that age. Oh and the most liked sippy cup with my son was the Nuby cups. I find them at Walmart the cheapest. They held up the best in the dishwasher and rarely leak, unless bitten through the nipple. Hope that is helpful, good luck, Jennifer

Hi S.,
I too have a 1 year old son who will not take a nap or go down for the night without his bottle. If I put milk in a sippy cup he will drink out of it, no problem, at meal or snack times but when it comes to nap or sleep time he will not drink more than two-three sips before realizing that this is not what he wants. I am thinking that maybe we should just be patient and wait for their cues. I don't really understand the harm in giving them a bottle at sleep times or in the morning. I mean they aren't going to be taking their bottles off to college with them, right?! So long as you just wipe out his mouth with a soft damp cloth or softly brush his teeth after he finishes drinking his bottle to prevent decaying.
I don't think that I have been helpful in anyway but just wanted to let you know that I decided not to stress out about it.
I too am a new mom and will be 32 in May. I have been married for almost 5 years and I too never knew motherhood would be so wonderful :)

We had a similar schedule as yours and focused first on the morning bottle. After he was totally weaned from the breast at 14 months, we gave our son a small morning bottle for a month or two. After that we quickly brought him downstairs for breakfast (and a cup of milk). He actually doesn't like to drink milk in the morning but drinks a lot after his nap and in the evenings. After he wasn't missing the morning bottle anymore, we moved to the nighttime one by replacing it with a sippy. He was more resistant to that but caught on eventually. We took the nighttime one very slow and he wasn't totally off of it until he was 19 months old! He is now almost 22 months and is a well adjusted little boy already! (Next step, nighttime pacifier use!) GOOD LUCK!

I had had this same concern last year when my one year old was refusing milk from the sippy cup but my pediatrician assured me to pack up the bottles (it would be easy to give up and use them) and only offer the sippy cup. He also said that if my son didn't get milk for a couple days that it wouldn't hurt him as long as he was eating cheese, yogurt, etc. It only took 2 days and my son started using the sippy cup. Glad I packed those bottles away....Out of sight out of mind too!

The Nuby worked well for this transition since it has a softer nipple.

Personally, I believe in letting children do things on their own schedule. It hasn't been that long since he gave up breastfeeding. So if wants the bottle for a while, why not let him have it? He may need that extra bit of comfort.

Your son may not be ready to give up the bottle just yet, and I have heard that they can stay on it up until 2. My daughter has the same issue with not drinking milk from a sippy; but I try to supplement with cereal and milk in the morning, yogurt, cheese, and foods high in calcium throughout the day so she gets her recommended daily allowance. I read a lot of labels to see calcium percentage. My daughter still takes a bottle before bed. I also try to make drinking milk from a sippy fun for her, but naming it a milkshake or putting it in a special cup; sometimes it works, sometimes not. I have also tried PediaSure, which she does not like, but that gives them their nutrients in another form. Hope I have helped you!

I was lucky and both of my kids didn't care about stopping the bottle. I'd get rid of the morning bottle and offer milk in the sippy cup. You can give him yogurt and other dairy products to help meet the dairy qouta. I do have a friend whose daughter refused to drink milk from a sippy, she is now almost 4 and still won't drink milk since it's not in a bottle. I'd also move the bedtime bottle earlier so he doesn't associate it with bedtime.

hi S.. i had the same problem with my little girl who is now 15 months. she was used to the playtex sippy cups with the softer rubber spout. she began drinking very watered down juice from them at an early age. but i always used bottles for the formula. at 11 months, i had slowly added whole milk little by little to the formula so that she was used to the taste of just only milk by 12 months. she would drink the plain milk fine from a bottle. but once she was a year old, i started putting the milk in her "juice sippy cup". she was used to the juice coming out of that type of cup and would just scream and push it away. and she wanted the milk though, so she would try it again, and then push it away again just confused and upset. i too was worried about her dairy intake those first few days and eventually caved and gave her a bottle a few times just to suplement her. my pediatrician advised against this and said when shes thirsy enough she will take the sippy cup??? yea, whatever. they are sitting at home with a baby that wont go to sleep at night b/c she used to having warm milk from a bottle. but what worked for me, and it only took a few frustrating days... i just held her, really close, and really tight, just how i would when bottle feeding her. and she screamed, but i just told her it was ok and remained calm and sang to her and rocked her and just held the cup there in her mouth as gently as i could with her squirming in my arms. i know it doesnt sound pleasant, but once i would hold her like this after about a minute she would drink! and i just praised her and sang and made it fun. she would push it away from time to time but she got over it pretty quickly. i hope you find something that works for you and your son! im sure you will. dont beat yourself up about it though. you know him best, and you know what he needs. just do that you feel is best. good luck!

My son does the same thing with regular sippy cups. Then I tried the kind with the straw, and I've found that he will drink so much more out of those. Worth a shot!

I had the same problem with my son. When he turned 1, he would not take milk from a cup. I tried every cup under the sun, and he didn't like any of them. At my wit's end because I was worried about the milk intake, I ended up putting the slightest bit of strawberry syrup in his milk (I'm talking you could barely tell it was pink). I did that for about 6 months, and kept decreasing the amount of syrup until he was drinking straight milk. I know adding the sugar is a no-no, but it wasn't that much, really, and it worked out fine. Now he's 2 1/2 and loves milk!

My son does not always want to eat his bottle with milk or from his sippy cup. can he suck through a straw? Try it and see if he likes that. I feed my son baby yogurt by stonyfield farms and it is called yobaby. you can buy it in the grocery store but i found it cheaper in walmart.
Another thing that you can try is soymilk-that make vanilla flavor and it tastes pretty good and he will still get his intake of calcium that way also. if he still eats baby cereal like the baby oatmeal put a couple scoops of formula in his cereal and then mix it with water.

It is great that he will drink from a sippy cup, that is the first step. My daughter continued to drink her bottle before bed until 14 months old. It was just more comforting to her. I would try to fade back the morning bottle first, then the bedtime one.
One thing that worked for me was to give the bottle earlier than usual-- instead of after the bath right before bed, we started giving it about 1/2 hour before bed. That made it easier to fade out, and she started to "forget" about it and didn't depend on a bottle to fall asleep. What eventually really worked was just putting all of the bottles away and only offering the sippy. If he is really thirsty, he will drink from the cup!

He will take it eventually. Just get rid of the bottles and go cold turkey.

Sharon,
When I was weaning my son off the bottle I stuck to my guns and he started using the sippy cup. He is 3 now and he is now using regular cups he refuses to use sippy cups anymore. It takes time be patient. Just keep trying to get him to use the sippy cup.

Hey, S.. If you are ready to take the bottle away completely, the best way I found to do it is to get rid of all the bottles in the house and go cold turkey. If your little guy doesn't see the bottle and only sees the cup he's going to get the picture pretty quick. I don't think you have to rush into getting rid of the bottle just yet, though. Watch him over the next couple of weeks and keep trying the milk in the cup, offer the bottle when necessary. You might be surprised if he starts leaving the bottle half full around after a while. This might be your clue that the bottle is more of a comfort than a drinking device, and its time to get rid of it.

Good luck!

Best,

C.

STAY consistent if you're really ready to wean him. Don't worry about the dairy intake, you can supplement that with yogurt, cheese etc.

S. ~ I know when I weaned my two children I remember using the same sippy cup. For instance when I am weaning I always use playtex cups and only playtex especially for the milk. I think they are easier to drink out of and after they get used to it then you can add other kinds. Hope that helps!

Hello! When I took my son off of his bottle-just about a month ago-I did it cold turkey too! I know your ped. will probably tell you 12 months is a good time to do it, but I actually waited until my little man was 18 months. He doesn't use a "binky" and I just wanted him to still have that comfort before bedtime. You see kids age 2 and up still using their binky for bedtime and naptime, so I figured it wouldn't hurt him to have his bottle a little longer. The first 3 nights were a little difficult, and make you feel terrible because they won't know why, but it really wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. Good Luck!

I'm so happy you asked this question because I'm going through the same thing with my son! I swear, he doesn't like the taste of whole milk. It sounds dumb, I know. I've tried watering down the milk, warming it up, putting it in a bottle. I might try a little strawberry syrup like someone else suggested... I am trying to give it time, but the fear that he's not getting enough dairy is still in the back of my mind. My current solution, while I keep trying the sippy cup of milk, is to give him some cheese with dinner or some yogurt for dessert. He loves Yo Baby, so it's never a hard sell to get him to eat yogurt. Even the Go-gurts, which probably have lots more sugar than the Yo Baby, are like a special treat to him after dinner. Go-gurt comes in all sorts of wild colors and they come in that weird tube (like a popsicle), so it seems like a special treat when he eats them.

Try the Nuby bottles. They're a great transition between the bottle and sippy cup. My son hated sippy cups and loved his bottles. We constantly switched between regular bottles and the Nuby ones and then between Nuby and sippy cups. Now my son doesn't have a problem drinking milk out of the sippys. Take your time. It won't hurt him to still be drinking out of a bottle for awhile yet. He's not going to be unpacking it from his lunch box in 1st grade : )

BTW, we could only find our Nuby bottles at CVS, but I think they're more widely available now.

Good luck, T.

Hi!
My daughter is exactly the same! Just doesn't want milk in the sippy cup! In the last month I've done away with the night time bottle. I give her yogurt with her lunch and then offer cubed cheeses often. Cheddar seems to be a favorite!
She doesn't always want to sit for yogurt so all natural go-gurts work perfect (with my help of course)
She will drink choc milk from the cup. So just a few drops to slightly change the taste and at least I know she still gets her needed dairy.
Hope I helped if even just a little!
God bless and have fun!
S. B.

I think you should stick to your guns and just give him a sippy cup. Eventually he'll learn that's the only way he's going to get it. Also, maybe try giving him a different sippy cup for his milk rather than using the same one that you use for water/juice. And like a previous reply said, give him yogurts and cheeses so that he's not losing out on the dairy if you're concerned about that.

With both my kids I went sippy cup cold turkey the day after thier 1st b-day. They won't starve, they won't dehydrate, they get it after a day or two. You have to get rid of all the bottles so you don't cave. You don't want to have to do the weaning more than once. It will be harder each time because they know they just have to get upset enough to make you cave. Good Luck!

Hi, I think everyone pretty much already said what I wanted to, but....

1st. I held off from pulling the bottle at your son's age & why is because it's more of a comfort thing, the sucking, which was fine.....both for my kids AND myself, actually. I'm talking, me & my baby quiet time, which I believe is very much ok & needed still at this age.

2nd. I also used both strawberry & chocolate mix to put in the milk....just a wee bit, but enough to make it an "mmm, mmm goodie" from a sippy cup & all 3 of my kids went for it. Weaning them from that wasn't even an issue because they did it themselves. They get old enough & they know... The cup was offered at meal times & for when they were thirsty. The bottle (after breastfeeding) was for comfort only at certain times of the day, so it held a different meaning/msg. (at night, just waking up, to sooth, etc.) Does this make sense..?

I had 3 children & 3 different situations with bottles, binkies & thumbsucking. I'd listen to your baby & see what he needs. At 12 mos., fighting over bottle or no bottle (in my world) shouldn't be an issue because they may need the simple comfort of sucking & your holding him in that way.

Good luck!