When Do You Stop the Bottle?

We went cold turkey with both at 12 months. My son was breast fed for the first year, but I worked, so he had a bottle. He wouldn't take a sippy cup until the bottle was simply not an option. He never fussed - just adapted well (he's 4 now). Our daughter was on a bottle earlier, and same thing, we removed the option on her first birthday. They'd been working with her at school on transitioning to a cup. She's now 2, and loves her sippy cups.

Good luck.

I never used a bottle. I breastfed mine and went straight to a sippy cup even with my 9 month old (who is now almost 17...LOL)

I really would not stress yourself about this , I know so many people say that they need to be off the bottle by 12 months , but realisticly there is no harm and they are still a baby after all. With mine I found that they would not even entertain a sippy cup for milk until around 18 months (they did drink water/juice from a sippy though) , my 2 yr old still has her bedtime milk in a bottle now , as long as you brush their teeth then it will be fine , just relax and try again in a few months.

My oldest didn't like sippy cups either, until I took the "anti spill" plug out of them. Yeah, it led to more spills, but it was still better than and less than just a regular cup. Also, I still mixed (and still do with my youngest son) formula and whole cow's milk...because formula has the omega 3's (DHA) in it and regular milk doesn't. If your child has fish 2-3 times a week or gets the DHA by some other means, then I think you could stop formula. Alot of pediatricians don't emphasize the DHA after the child turns 1, but it's still important for continued healthy nervous system development.

Definitely start thinking about it. Start giving him a sippy with one meal per day, then two....etc. My son's last "bubby" to go was the one before bedtime. Then I gritted my teeth, put the bottles away and handed him a sippy one night. He never flinched! It was harder for me! :-) Good luck!

Each child is different. Pediatrician's believe as soon as teeth come in, but I believe in slowly shifting them from bottle to cup. I have a 16 yr old and a 19 month old so pediatrician's telling me anything is like "yeah ok and i change my child when she is ready."

With our first daughter she was completely off the bottle at 2yrsold; with our second daughter (our miracle baby)...we started her drinking out of sippy cups at 12 months with water and juice; we kept the milk in bottles for afternoon and night-time; but the morning breakfast she had her milk in a sippy cup with a bowl of cereal or eggs etc. Then gradually as the months passed we would put her milk in a cup; she'd drink a few sips then want the bottle;; so we'd pour it back into the bottle. Each time she would drink a bit more milk from the cup. until one day she finally realized that she wasn't getting her milk flowing fast enough and we completely ditched the bottle at 18 months.

My advice, gradually switch your child from bottle to cup and it will be better for your little one and you in the long run. No tantrums; just a willingness and happiness for change.

when they show little to no interest in it. My daughter had a bottle until she was 15 months (when she wanted to have a sippy cup) but my sister's sons had a bottle until 18 months. I think it depends on your kid and what you promote.

We're in your same situation. My other 2 kiddos nursed until about 16 months and refused bottles altogether. So weaning from a bottle is new to us as well. Our baby girl just turned one and I've slowly taken away bottles. She was having 5 bottles a day (varying between 4-6oz.) and now we're down to 3 bottles a day (4oz. each). I offer her a sippy cup at meal time and save bottles for morning, afternoon (before her 2pm nap), and bedtime.

Good luck and I'll be interested in your other responses.

so his only sucking (which is an infant need) has been done on the bottle; basically, the bottle is doubly attached now because it is the only thing that fulfilled both his eating and sucking needs.

either way, ONLY give him water in the bottle. that should work. you can start giving him cows milk WHEN HE TURNS ONE not before, and start watering it down gradually until its just water in the bottle. NEVER leave him in bed with a bottle; this leads to rotting milk on the teeth; obviously with water only you dont have that to worry about.

anyway, good luck!

At 12 months I went cold turkey with bottle. They just learned to use the cup and made it work. I do have a sister in law who has a 2 1/2 year old who still gets a bottle of milk at night warmed in microwave which I do not agree with but each their own. Her son was the same way until 3 years old.

My daughter really liked the Nuby sippy cups- they feel more like a bottle, they are easy for them to suck, and they are still spill-proof. We started the sippy cup around 11-12 months, and just started substituting one bottle a day for a week or two, then substituted 2 (spread out), and then 3, and then finally weaned off the bedtime one last (that was the hardest one for her). Doing it this way worked well for us because she didn't have to go "cold turkey", she got enough formula/milk, and she still learned how to use the sippy cups. She really did not like the Playtex ones- you really have to suck incredibly hard (unless they changed them). Good luck!

now is a good time to transition to sippies

I am very laid back about the bottle thing. As long as he wants it I really don't see any issues with it. As long as he is not sleeping while holding the bottle in his mouth all night he will be fine dentally. It is the constant drip of milk that causes tooth rot. If you want to learn more about tooth rot the google it. Having that sucking need is a big deal, and he will find something to suck if he needs to, it may be a finger, a thumb, a blanket corner, etc...many things that will be a huge battle to stop.

We tried to take the bottle away at 12 months but our son was just not ready. It ended up happening around 14 months old. Of course we got comments from my mom about how he would be going to college with his bottle! Oh well, not every kid is ready, and really, what's the big deal? He did it when he was ready.

To be honest, I think he would have preferred to go straight to a regular cup instead of a sippy cup. We finally found a sippy that he likes, but most days when we're at home I give him a little cup of water with a regular straw and he loves it.

My child stopped the bottle at 11 months old. That was really up to him though...

I introduced a sippy cup (it was borne free one from whole foods with a super soft rubber nozzle almost like a bottle, and it had handles) at 7 months old or something...I slowly stopped feeding him in my lap and would put him in the high chair with the bottle ...I let him try the sippy first...before meals...sometimes in between meals i would give him a little bit of juice and water in the sippy and let him have it....instead of a bottle, it was slow but easy transition...by son, was feeding himself by 10 months old..he has an older brother I think that he picked up what was going on becuase of his older brother...I wouldn't rush anything..I would have kept feeding the baby a bottle in my lap until he was 18 months old..there still so little then...but he just took to the transition with out a complaint. now on the subject of listening at two, well, thats different..hahaha

I think at 1 when they get cow's milk, you end bottles. We only give "milk" in sippy cups.

I like the soft silicon tops better than the hard plastic topped ones. It seems more like the soft "nipples" they are used to, without being nipple shaped. There is no extra "piece" used in these cups - like the Playtex sippies with the hard plastic tops. And my older kids used to tell me that "the piece" makes it hard to get the milk/juice - I think that's the point tho...that it requires suction to draw the liquid out. Maybe your son is getting frustrated with the amount of work required to get liquid out of those cups with the piece in them?

We have the Munchkin brand soft silicon topped cups that we started our infant on to have some water or watered down juice. Even when they are not broken, they do leak a bit when turned upside down or sideways.

That said, I don't think ALL sippy cups are designed to not leak. I think they are designed more for the child's comfort and to prevent a whole "open cup" from spilling.

We recently got different sippy cups from Wal Mart that have Lightening McQueen and Mickey Mouse on them. The top has a different style of harder silicon top that doesn't seem to leak. And our 10 mo old is using both the Munchkin brand and these just fine.

If all else fails, try straw cups. He's definitely old enough for them. But then again, those will leak if left on their side or turned upside down. Some kids just seem to refuse sippy cups and will take to a straw with no problem!

Try some new cups over the weekend. Put all the bottles away - out of sight. He'll get used to some new cups quickly if you aren't going back and forth with the bottles.

I hope this helps you!