Weaning from Bottle - Santa Cruz,CA

None of my kids were wanting to take a sippy cup before 18 months of age , and for the milk that they had before bed they still had this from a bottle at around age 2. If she will take milk from a cup then just give it to her , if not then start introducing and gradually move away from the bottle. As long as she is not walking around with a bottle in her mouth all the time and talking with it in her mouth then it's no big deal , if she is only having it once a day for her bedtime milk then don't fret about it.

what did your pediatrician say? My first two kids the pediatrician said 12-13 months. with my third child (many, many years later) the pediatrician said about 18 months. give him bottles of water and milk and juice in a cup. Speech therapists do not recommend sippy cups at 2 they should be able to use a straw and I love the take and toss cups with lids and straws. You can reuse them but if they get left in the car or under the couch and are yucky-you toss them!

I introduced a sippy cup at around 11 months, and took away the bottles at around 13 or 14 months old.

12 months for both kids.

My daughter had her last milk bottle around two and her last bottle with water in it when she was 3 and 1 week old. She used it for comfort to fall asleep until then and I wasnt concerned because it only had water in it. I stressed about the struggle it would be to take it away but I didnt have to because she told me she was a big girl and she was done with them. This also happened when she started wearing underpants full time. Some kids are just big suckers to soothe. If you feel this with your son just give him water. My daughter is completely fine and normal at 3 1/2 even for going well beyone the doctors recommedation of 18 months.

I started giving my daughter a sippy cup at 8 months old, and took her off the bottle around 10-11 months old. I didn't wean her either. I threw all her bottles away and just gave her sippys from then on out. Thankfully, she was already used to them and didn't care about bottles anymore.

It's just very bad for there teeth. Our Dr. said 12 months, but our son was hooked o his. At 19 months we had him throw them all away.....he cried for them for about 2 days and then was perfectly fine.....

I had it gone by 12 months to make it easier on me and them - I figured it wouldn't be such an ingrained habit if I did it sooner rather than later.

My pediatrician (and any others, I've heard of) do recommend taking the bottle away, at 12 months. Being on the bottle too long can lead to cavities and tooth decay. Your child is old enough, to just take the bottle away. I simply took it away, from my son when he was 12 months. My pediatrician advised to take the pacifier at 12 months, also.

If your child is taking the bottle then falling asleep, this is the worst for the teeth

We did away with the bottle around 14 months.

My son was about 11-12 months when he totally weaned from the bottle. He was drinking from a sippy cup during the day at 10 months, but he still wanted a bedtime bottle until about a week before his first birthday.

my kids had a bottle till 2. they seemed to lose interest in it.. I distinctly remember my daughters last bottle at age 2 years asn 2 months..she was tired and crying for a bottle.. drank about an ounce and then never asked for it again. after a certain age I stopped offeringthe bottle but if they asked for it.. they could have one..

I adhere to the 12 month rule. I think it's easier to get rid of the bottles at that age and takes less time to wean them. I don't use sippy cups. As someone else mentioned, they are not good for the child's mouth. Not only speech therapists, but also dentists recommend against them. Straw cups are fine, but I train my daycare kids to drinking from regular glasses as soon as possible. I start at about seven months, depending on the child's development, with a juice glass. I use the little juice glasses that you get Kraft spreadable cheeses in, because they are sturdy and small enough around for the child to try to hold. I use only water to train them with the glass and give just a few sips several times a day. This gets them used to the new way of drinking, and most of them are anxious to begin holding the glass for themselves. It takes about two months before I'm ready to actually let go and let them do it all on their own. By the time the parent is ready to wean the child from the bottle I have the child ready to drink water, mild or juice from a glass or cup on his or her own... with close supervision of course. '
By the way, some of you may be cringing that I use container made of glass because of the problems that might come from breaking them. I am old enough that glass was the only choice my mother had other than those nasty aluminum cups that left a metalic taste in one's mouth. While I do have some plastic cups for the children to use in certain situations, we use real glass (sturdy ones of course) at the table all the time. We've had only two glasses broken by children in over two years of caring for children in our home.