16 Month Old Still on Bottle

Wow it sounds like she has you trained pretty well. I'm concerned about her mouth development and the risk of Baby bottle syndrome. If you allow her to go to sleep with a bottle her mouth could develope with an open bite and a high palate, and if you are giving her anything other than water such a formula or juice she is going to develpe decay if she falls asleep with that on her teeth. Bottom line you are heading for trouble with her mouth development.
I know you feel bad because she is small, but how bad will you feel if she gets cavities a this young age and the Drs have to put her under general anesthetia (to sleep) to fix preventable cavities?
Throw away the bottles, if you want make it a game, I've heard of people having their kids box up the bottles and mail them to the bottle fairy who will give them to little babies who need them, then the next day the fairy brings a gift for the child, it could be fun??
As far a the sippy cup, she will drink when she is thirsty and does not have the bottle as an option
Good luck

try coloring the milk with food coloring. my nutritionist told me that id i had trouble with him drinking milk. try not putting formula in the bottle. put stickers on the cup. let her know that this is what shes going to get nothing else but dont force it and dont get angry. lay her down and so be it.

dont beat yourself up...my daughter was still using a bottle until 2 1/2...then i just coaxed her out of it, told her they were for the baby next door, hid the bottles so she wouldnt be tempted and used a lot of praise....she got it within a couple of days and now talks about how she is a big girl and doesnt use baby bottles...

A doctor told me once, when they are hungry the will eat- I found out that is true with the 3 kids I have. same with drinking. Check with your doctor on the bottle issue- I have heard that it can become more problemsome the longer you continue with it. Your her mom and sound pretty strong and intelligent. go for it.

This may sound cruel, but you may have to cut the bottle cold turkey. Just throw them all out so you are not temped to give in. She will cry. Get ready for that. It's what kids do. Kids also have to sleep. She will eventually cry herself to sleep. Comfort her a bit, but not with a bottle or bottle sub.

It will be hard for a while, but within a week you will be both be just fine. The older she gets the harder it will be for her to let go. You want to prevent bottle mouth and cavities.

Good luck. Stay strong. And know that this will benefit her in the long run.

M.,
Don't worry too much about it. My son carried an empty plastic bottle around with him until he was 2 1/2. I started off weaning him, by only allowing ONE bottle in the house. The rest were given away. Then the next step to weaned him off was by placing a small amount of water in it when he went down for his naps. If he complained about the wanting the water to be jusice or milk, I simply said,"We have already had lunch and milk. Now it's time for only water." Soon I simply sllowed him to have the empty bottle at nap time and bedtime with nothing in it. When he asked for liquid, I'd tell him that he had enough for now, but "you can still take your baabaa to bed with you if you want. to." He also had a favorite blankie that her loved, and I tried to focus more on the blankie to comfort him, than the bottle. After a while he would begin to take the bottle outside with him, when he played in the back yard. He woudl occasionally run around holding the bottle by clenching the nipple of the bottle between his teeth. Family members and neighbors gave me a hard time about it, but I just ignored them. If you don't make a major deal out of it, but gently hold your ground by slowly step by step offering less and less water in the bottle,your child may simply adapt to what is being offered to him as "comfort". My son's bottle eventually ended up in his toy box with his other toys. The day that happened, I quiety removed it from the box when he was not in the room, and he pretty much forgot about it. When he would ask for it, I simply said,"I don't know where it is." Time went on, we all lived. Each child moves along at his/her own pace. Try not to allow others to guilt you and how you choose to resolve issues in your parenting life. It will all work out if you stay calm and consistant. Good Luck to you. NO ONE has all the answers. Don't let anyone fool you!! God Bless YOU!

I think that cold turkey is the best way. My sister had her girls be big girls and throw or give away the bottles. This way they know that they are not in the house. My Niece did the same thing with throwing the cup out of the crib. My sister gave her the cup back twice then woul djust leave the room. It only tookk one night for my niece to get the idea that the bottle was gone. I do under stand with the size issue. my daughter is in the 25% for height and not on the chart in weight. I just feed her when she is hungry. and give her a drink when she is thirsty. She is a great eater, just does not put on weight. Just rember to stick with your decision.

I gave my daughter these juice bottles called "Tummy Ticklers." They sell them at Wal-Mart and Target, in the juice aisle. They come with apple juice in them and the lids have Disney charatcers on the top and are more like sports bottles. The kids LOVE them because they have their favorite characters on them (Ariel, Belle, Pooh, Minnie Mouse,...they even have Cars, Dragontales, and Pirates of the Carribean). I LOVE them because they are reusable and most importantly THEY DON'T LEAK!!!! So, this is how we got her off the bottle! We let her pick which character she wanted. We just put water in these at night. You didn't have to worry about them leaking all over the crib. Most kids don't drink a whole bottle of water...they just drink enough to quench their thirst! Try not to put milk in them if you are not quick to wash dishes...like we are! They are dishwasher safe..thank goodness...but it is hard to get them clean if they've been sitting with old milk in there!

Hi M.

Taking away the bottle can be a tough thing, I know. My dd (turned 3 last mo.) had her bottle until she was about 1.5 years. I couldn't bare to take it away from her when she turned 1, as she was attached to it, too.

Here's what I did when I decided it was time for it 'to go:' Very slowly, and I mean over a period of a few weeks, I put less and less in her bottle to drink before bed and nap time. Voila! done. Sounds easy reading, I know, but it was a little difficult. It did work fine, and my dd surprised me with how well she did without the bottle. (If I'd have known that a few months earlier....LOL)What I did may/may not work for you, but what the heck, right? OR...you could just go cold turkey with it. May be some hard nap/bedtimes ahead of you, but it will pass.

Personally, and this is IMO, putting your dd to bed after having drank soy milk isn't healthy for her teeth, either. It is sticky stuff; my dd was on it for quite some time before her body got used to regular milk (was a soy formula baby, too). Unless you are brushing her teeth after her bottle of course. (Not assuming here by any means you don't do that.)

Your dd will eventually eat meat. This was a problem with my dd also, and I brought it up at every well-baby visit and was assured by her pediatrician that little ones not eating large amounts (if any in some cases) of meat it totally normal and acceptable. Just have to make sure they get enough of everything else in their diet, and a multi-vitamin sure doesn't hurt either!

As a pp said, she will eat when she's hungry. That's hard to realize as no parent wants to see their kid go without eating for however long, but kids don't let themselves starve. At times I still have to remember that with mine.

Don't think I helped very much, but I hope you find a way that works well for both of you. Good luck!