Weaning off the Bottle

Hi JL, I had the same problem with my son who is now 14 months old. He refused to drink milk from anything but his bottle until a couple of weeks ago he just pushed his evening bottle away and refused to drink from it. I poured his milk into a straw cup (after having tried every sippy cup on the market) and he loves it. I do add a little choc Nesquick (the no sugar added kind) - my ped said is fine and he loves it!! I still give my son his morning bottle though (his only one for the day), it is the only time he will let me hold him and afterwards he will let me read to him, so I am no hurry to drop it. At night - forget it, he wants to play with his toys and play hide & seek. Try the straw cup and try different flavors (carnation instant breakfast) and maybe try different temps - my son loves his milk cold now - go figure!!

The only reason bottles after 1 year bothered me was because other people made me feel guilty about it. I tried relentlessly to get my daughter off the bottle until about 15 months. Then, I gave up because it was making us both miserable. Guess what, she made the switch all by herself at 20 months. Late, I know, but it was something she enjoyed and she didn't have any other bad habits (pacifier etc), so I let it go Just wanted to share my experience with you, as I also enjoyed that bottle time with my "baby". I really don't know what the big deal with bottles are. I think we push kids to grow up too fast these days. Also, FYI, I tried every sippy on the market and found that my daughter liked the cheap-o take and toss sippies (about 4 cups for $4). They are disposable, made of safe plastic, and only have a lid and cup, so no tiny valves to wash. Give them a shot.

There are many people that say that a child should be off the bottle at a year old, 2 years, etc.. Go with your own feelings. My son gave his to Santa Claus and has never looked back. Before he gave it up, he only used the bottle before bed or when he was sleepy. I also went through the sippy cup routine, even having him pick one out thinking that would help. When they are ready, they will give them up. Don't force it because of other people's beliefs. Have you ever seen a child start school with a bottle?

I didn't worry about it until DD was 1 year. Then she was only offered a sippy cup at meals/snacks during the day and only got a bottle in the morning and evening. We then just took away the evening bottle and said if you want milk, you have to take the sippy. She fussed at first and then gave in. I had a hard time giving up the morning bottle since it was our cuddle time, but eventually she decided she didn't want it any more. When we first started taking out bottles, she really drank most of the milk from her bottles, but quickly changed.

My son (now 13 months) is doing the same thing! He will drink water from a sippy cup but not milk! My pediatrician recommended dropping the bottle cold turkey, so as not to confuse him by drinking from the cup sometimes and bottle sometimes and also because it leaves him no choice but to start drinking milk from the sippy cup (he can't just hold out until he gets milk in a bottle at another feeding). However, my husband and I decided to only drop the day bottles cold turkey but keep the bedtime bottle since bedtime routine and night sleeping were so important to us! So, for the last month, he drinks only water during the day, occassionally drinking the milk from the sippy, and we give him a bottle (11 oz of milk and formula- mostly milk) at bedtime. If he doesn't start drinking milk from the sippy during the day soon, we will go cold turkey to the sippy cup of milk at bedtime, but probably not for another month or two. Hope that helps!

C.

You didn't say his age, not that that matters. There really is no magical age and really no big deal. If he isn't really attached to it, then great! What you could do is have him gather the bottles and put them in a bag and then have a neighbor or someone come (arrange it ahead of time or call them after you've done this) and take them. Have him give the person the bag of bottles.

I wouldn't worry about whether he takes milk or not in a bottle...he will eventually...milk really isn't the 'staple of life'...especially if they are already eating. (I don't do cow's milk anyway.)

I have a friend who is a nurse and with all of her kids they were still drinking from a bottle at age 2. It was shortly thereafter that they weren't drinking from it, I believe.

My son (13 months) is having a hard time figuring out sippy cups. I've basically just decided to let him keep his bottle a bit longer than I'd planned and hope it's easier as he gets a older.

I think if you just don't offer the bottle any more he'll eventually drink milk out of the sippy too. Just get rid of them so it's not longer an option. I don't think it will hurt him not to have milk for a few days. No reason you can't cuddle him while he has his sippy of milk as you did with the bottle! Good luck.

It may be tricky, but have you tried offering him milk with strawberry or chocolate Nesquick if he will drink it in a cup? Then once he is used to it, put less and less in it to get back to the original plain milk.

How old is he? He may not be ready to come off the bottle totally yet. My son had a hard time with it, so I started cutting back the same way i did with nursing. He always had a cup at meals and snack with no bottle option, then a bottle at night before bed. Eventually we just stopped the bed time bottle and it was fine. I was afraid he would be in Kindergarden still sucking on that thing, but he was ready to stop by 15ish months. :-)

Weaning was not a problem because when my children turned one, the bottles were thrown away or given away. ALL of them so there was no... oh, you can have just one more bottle. I used a nuby brand sippy cup that has a nipple type top. What I mean is, the spout is shaped like a sippy cut but the child actually has to suck on it like a bottle in order to get something out. I just let my little ones know that they are getting to be big girls/boys and that other little babies need the bottles. Just keep in mind that they shouldn't stay on a sippy cup for too long so their teeth don't get messed up. My kids loved the plastic cups from target with the straw. I've attached the page with the one I used. It's the blue one (2nd one) Nuby 7 oz. Good Luck!

http://www.toysrus.com/search/index.jsp?kwCatId=&kw=s...

How old is he?? What I found worked for me and my son when he wouldn't take to any type of hard sippy cup is the Gerber trainers. Expensive as heck but the laytex spout is what I think worked for him. After a few weeks of those and bottles, I would toss in a Playtex one here and there and he did fine with them. And I also just stopped offering him the bottle and everything was in sippy cups the day after his 1st B-day. Never had a problem with that either.

Good luck!
S.

I took milk and watered it down in my daughters cup and every few days added more milk till she drank it straight. I also skipped the morning bottle and offered the cup, once she got used to it (about a week), I took the afternoon bottle away for the same amount of time, then went for the night bottle. I changed her routine and she adjusted fairly easily. You have to be consistent and follow through and you'll be OK. It's not easy, but stick with whatever plan you choose to do. I did all this when my daughter was 14 months old. Good luck!