My son will be 10 months old next week. Currently I have him on 3 bottles a day (along with 3 solid food meals a day). Here is his current schedule:
7:30/8:00 a.m. - 5 Oz. Bottle
9:00 a.m. - Cereal and fruit
9:30-11/11:30 a.m. - Nap
12:00 p.m. - Veggie, Fruit & 2 Oz. formula in sippy cup
2:00 p.m. - 5 Oz. Bottle
2:30/3:00-4:30/5:00 p.m. - Nap
6:00 p.m. - Veggie or 3rd Stage Meal, Fruit & Water in a sippy cup
8:00 p.m. - 6 Oz. Bottle
8:30 p.m. - Bed
In the next few weeks I would really like to drop the 2:00 bottle and incorporate more formula in sippy cups during his meal times. It my not be possible but I would REALLY like to have him weaned off the bottles and only using sippy cups by the time he is 1 in August. How would I go about this? As he gets a bottle first thing in the morning and then has breakfast only an hour later should I make his morning bottle smaller so that he can get used to having a sippy with his breakfast?? I don't want to take away the morning and mid day bottle at the same time. I would like to do the mid day first and then after a month or so drop the morning bottle and then around 1 drop the evening bottle if I can. When I take out the 2:00 bottle I will probably replace it with a light snack and formula in a sippy so he will still be getting that formula intake. I just don't want to overload him as he has been taking less in the bottles himself. He used to get two 6 Oz. Bottles and then a 7 Oz one a bedtime but for the past month hasn't been drinking it all so is now on the two 5 Oz. ones and then 6 at bedtime. Sorry I'm babbling ... but any help on how to get rid of the mid day bottle and getting him more used to drinking from a sippy (while not overloading him in the morning) would be greatly appreciated!! Should I wait to incorporate a sippy cup with breakfast until we get rid of the morning bottle???
Thanks mamas!!
P.S. I know that some people may say that he needs to be having more formula but I have already spoken to his doctor about his formula intake and she said not to worry about filling a daily "quota" and that as long as he is drinking formula, as well as eating, and his growing fine then not to worry about it. Currently he gets 16 Oz of formula a day by bottle but he gets 1 Oz. in his cereal at breakfast and drinks 1-2 Oz. by sippy with lunch as well.
We sure try to make babies grow up quickly, don't we. *sigh*.
You're the mom so obviously no one is going to force you into anything and your decision will be made in the end, but my question is WHY?
Why take a comfort away from such a little one at such an early age? He'll be grown and on his own soon enough... Let him stay a baby a little while longer and take comfort in the bottle!
I would drop the 2pm bottle first for a week, then either the morning or night one whichever one he doesn't care about. Do that for a week and only give sippy's then after that take away the other one. I did this with my girls and it took less than 2wks to get them completely off. I threw away all bottles that day so there was no going back. I never made a big deal out of it and they hardly seemed to notice. I would go ahead a put out a sippy with all meals. I would put water in mine w/o the stopper so it would make it easier to learn how to use them.
I don't really worry about how much formula / how often my son is getting it. I know once he goes to milk, he may want to drink just as much. As long as he's eating okay, I'm fine with him drinking formula every few hours. That being said, I'd offer him a sippie with milk during meal times. If he doesn't take it, offer it the next time he's ready for formula. Slowly just offer it first or more often than the bottle. I give my son formula in a sippie as much as possible but if he gets fussy when drinking it, I give him the bottle instead. I'd like him off bottles at 1 one (in Aug) as well so I'm slowly weaning off.
The 2 o'clock bottle will be the easiest...don't make it or offer it. Maybe a small snack with a sippy of formula. Once this is the new routine...about a week. Just go straight to breakfast when he wakes up, start the day with cereal/fruit and a sippy of formula. If you need to add a small snack before morning nap you can or just offer a sippy at 9am. Once this has worked itself out. You change the bedtime bottle to a bedtime snack with a sippy...and then make sure you are brushing those little teeth between bedtime snack and bed.
It will go fine...I have learned everything takes three times/days to transition...if you stick with it three days a new routine will be born.
HUGS!!
Why wean him? He is only 10 months. Enjoy giving him the bottles and the time you can spend with him when he takes them. Our youngest of 3 and last baby we will ever have is just 13 1/2 months. Last week I took away the bottle. What I would do to have that time back!!!
With all 3 of my children, they LOVED their bottles to the point that by a year they whined for their "Ba-Ba's" if I did not give them at the exact times they knew to get them every day (3 times a day). But with each of them, I literally quit them "cold turkey". Just one day I took all the bottles away. And with each of them, it was if the bottles never existed. Not one whine, whimper, or cry. Did not affect their appetites or sleep schedules. And I might add, they really did not care for a sippy cup until I removed the bottle. A hundred times over I would do it this way. My girlfriends have done it this way as well with no difficulties.
Good Luck and enjoy your little one. Tomorrow you will turn around and planning for his first day of kindergarten!
My doctor suggested that we offer milk and juice in the sippy and water in the bottle. If my son wanted "the good stuff", he had to drink from the sippy cup. We started with the late afternoon bottle and worked our way through the day.
Compared to milk and juice, water isn't so tasty! We started this right after his first birthday b/c we didn't introduce juice or water until then. It worked really well and within two weeks the bottles were packed away! Out-of-sight... Out-of mind!
I would just go cold turkey and switch him. I think it would be less confusing for him in the long run. My kids switched to the soft spout Nuby cups easiest I think b/c they were the most like bottles. Generally, my kids wouldn't drink milk from a sippy until they weren't offered any more bottles.
I got rid of the bottles around 9 or 10 months also before they were too attached to it, and it worked really well for us. I just offered the formula or milk in a sippy cup at the same time I would have given a bottle, and even rocked them while they drank just like a bottle. You can still snuggle if you want and not have to worry about breaking the bottle habit later! The older two still liked to snuggle with the sippy cup, but the youngest was nursing and going to a cup. He just pushed it away and would go to sleep - then he just got drinks at and between meals instead of before naps.
