When to Take the Bottle Away

You start at 12 months, but the baby should be completely off of it by 18 months. At least that's what my kids pediatrician recommends. We switched from bottles to sippy cups completely at 15 months. I just hid the bottles and my daughter did fine. She was so much easier than my son! Good Luck!

Hi love-

Have you considered putting water in the bottle?? And the 'good' stuff in a sippy cup?

Just a thought...may help him loose interest in bottle.

Take care
michele/cat

I took the bottle away around 2 years with both of my boys. By that point they would just have one before nap and bed, and would usually use a straw sippy cup. I never understood why they say you should breastfeed as long as possible (past a year old), but you have to take away their bottles at a year old. Also, when you do decide to take it away (or binkies, or whatever else), I've learned that the first day can be really hard, but by the third day it is hardly an issue any more. Good luck!

I think the prospect of getting rid of the bottles and the possible battle it may start is what makes so many moms afraid to switch.

We forget our kids are more resilient than we give them credit for!

With both of my boys, we started practicing with the sippy cup from about 9 months on. At 12 months, we literally took it away when we ran out of our last can of formula. If they wanted to drink, they were going to drink it out of the sippy cup. Since it wasn't this foreign concept to them, there was no problem.

There was no protesting, no crying, no crabbing, and they even transitioned to going down to bed for the night without the bottle.

Think about it this way - who needs it more, you or the child?

I have a friend who NEVER put her children down with a bottle. She always held them while they were drinking the bottle and gradually changed that to a sippy cup as they got older, so the bottle in bed or walking around with/ problem never was an issue.

I ask her why she did that and she said taking a bottle to bed could cause faster tooth decay in a small child. She was a nurse and great homemaker.

Blessings......

We took it away at 1 year old. My plan was her the nioght before hers 1st bady. So that Bday morning it was sippy cus and cups.

We talked about it when we started talking about her being 1 years old.
We told her 1 year olds GET to drink from sippy cups!

I took her to Target and LET her pick out a sippy cup and I then I purchased an extrra exactly like the one she picked out for just in case.. And then I picked out a different style.

I placed them on the kitchen window sill and every day we talked about them and bye-bye bottles.

The night before her her bday, I got rid of all bottle paraphernalia. Then in the morning while I was making breakfast I asked her if she wanted milk or juice in her sippy cup. We never looked back.

At her party it seemed like every one gave her a different type of sippy cup. It was great to have a collection so she could choose which one to use when she needed a choice.

I think one is too young also. With our oldest, we didn't take it away from him, we let him give it up and one day he didn't want it anymore and went straight to a regular cup w/ no lid. Soooo easy on mom and dad!!

Our 14 mo old is still on the bottle but he only wants it a few times a day. We plan on doing the same thing with him. To me, the bottle is a security item for them and I don't understand taking it away when they are just one. That age is still a baby in my opinion. I also don't understand why so many think a sippy cup is so much better than a bottle.

Take it away when you think he is ready. You're the Momma and you know your son the best.

Our dr told us around 12 months to take away the bottle. We did that with our first w/o any problems adjusting at all. It was a miracle! We just last week took our 16 month son off the bottle, it was a horrible adjustment. If we didn't have a new baby arriving in May, we probably would've let him just keep the stupid bottle - he was so attached to it.

Honestly, to me, it is much easier to not have the bottle. He would turn the bottles up side down all the time so I was constantly cleaning up after that. The sippy cups don't leak!!

Around 2. A bottle is such a comfort for some babies. Heck I would be
ticked if someone took away my coffee!!!!! My kids were warned. As they
lost them, I would not replace. I will never forget the last one that got lost.
In the grocery store. The look on my 2 yo face was priceless, but he knew.
No real problem So I say let him keep it.

My daughter wasn't ready to give it up until a month ago, she is three - As long as they are not sucking on it for hours I don't see the problem, she only had it at bedtime.

I would say sometime in the next 6 months, try it. Start by taking most of the bottles through the day away and replace with the cup. My son was most attached to his bedtime "bubby" and it was the last O. to go.
But, honestly, I think it was harder for me to ditch it than for him. I vividly remember handing him his "pre-bedtime bubby" in a sippy and he never flinched. But I was sad! :(
Good luck.
Just make sure not to let him go to bed with a bottle or cup of milk and always brush his teeth after that last drink.

I don't think there are hard and fast rules, but I worked for a pediatric dental specialist and she recommends before 2 years old. By that time, they have a lot of teeth and bottles or falling asleep with what's in them is really bad for their teeth.
That's the practical standpoint.
I nursed my son and had to cold turkey him at 15 months when I went into the hospital. He went from breast to bottle but he was already eating plenty of solids and his bottle was a comfort thing. He was done with it by 2 though.
At a year old, I don't know that you need to take it away all together, but certainly let him practice drinking in other ways too. Little kids love trying new things.

Best wishes.

My two older boys had there last bottles the night before their first birthday. At that time they only got a bottle an hour before bed anyway so it was no big deal. I hate seeing these toddlers walking around drinking bottles. As I say this I am still nursing my 1yo although he just turned 1 last week and has no clue how to use a sippy but as soon as he gets the hang of it I will wean him completely! I aslo think 1yo is too old to be nursing but what am I supposed to do? These are my opinions so I say if you want to give your son a bottle till he is 3 then go right ahead he is your kid and to all the women who want to breastfeed their tweens go right ahead they are also your kids!

I am very laid back about stuff like this. Our 7 year old got took off and she fought it tooth and nail. With out 4 year old I just chose to not have a battle over it and he came up to me and handed it over one day and didn't really ever look back.

He was 2 - 2 1/2.

My daughter had a bottle at nap time and bed time until she was three years old. Babies need to suck, she never used a pacifier. She drank out of a regular cup at meal times. She never used sippy cups.

I agree that we know best as moms, and I don't believe in hard and fast rules.

A one year-old is still a BABY! My pediatrican tried to tell me that 12 mos was the cut-off for the bottle. I just smiled, said ok, then did my own thing. My baby couldn't figure out how to drink milk out of a sippy cup at 12 mos. I decided I would continue with the bottle until I felt he was drinking milk from his cup, and an adequate amount. He was on the bottle (Next Step formula) until about 15 mos. I liked that he was getting the extra nutrition as well. I never understood how they should go from getting 24-30 oz of formula one day, then straight milk the day they turn 12 mos. Use your own judgement!

my daughter transitioned from a bottle to a "sippy cup" just before her first birthday... our doctor recommended it. That said- I breastfed her so she didn't use the bottle a LOT anyways. I breastfed (at least one feeding) till she was 21.5 months old.

My nephews (twins) are 18 months and still take bottles. They were breastfed "half time" till they were 9 months, then switched to "full time formula"... after a year Vit. D milk was ok'd by the Doctor. One of them has horrible recurring ear infections... which my SIL was told may be partly due to bottle feeding when they are reclined (the other part is that they were a little premature at birth)... They have been told that they should start weaning to the cup now... and bottle feedings should be upright.

Try offering a sippy during daytime meals. The baby may take well to it! Most babies seem to do better with gradual transitions rather than sudden changes... so give yourself a 2-3 month goal to get down to 50% bottle and 50% sippy... then another few months to get to no bottle feedings. When you start weaning is between you and the pediatrician... but I agree with other moms that say the bottle should probably be gone at least by age 2. I think bottle fed kids probably should get the bottle a little longer than breastfed kids do because it is also a source of comfort for them... so they deserve a little more "leniency"- but that isn't based on any scientific opinion or anything.

Good Luck!
-M.

I don't think there is any big hurry just don't get them juice in the bottle or let them walk around with the bottle. If you are concerned you coul ween back to just a bottle before bed and a bottle before naps

My WIC person told me our son should be off the bottle now since he's a year old. They tell me if he's not his teeth will be all deformed and stuff. We've cut his night bottle but still give him one for breakfast and a nap. We are slowly transitioning even though she told me to take it away cold turkey, I too think 1 is too young. Talk to you Ped.. and see what they say. Good luck. :)

I took away the bottle at the same time my DD went off formula, which was a few days after she turned one. She never drank anything other than formula in the bottle, so that helps prevent confusion. If you can, start with cutting out the one he loves most. For my DD it was the bedtime bottle. The favorite one will be the hardest to eliminate, so you might as well get it out of the way. Plus, it will make it easier to cut out the other bottles. This is the advice I was given years ago about quitting smoking. Cut out of the ones you rely on first, which for me were upon waking and after a meal. Good luck and hang in there!

I dont think they Have to give it up at 12 months but it often gets harder the longer you wait. Most one year olds give it up without looking back cuz the sippy cups are SO cool! By the time they reach two it is a comfort object not just a way to get liquids as it is now. but every child is different so do what works for your family. Dont do it the same time as another major change(new daycare, new sibling, or new house,) My older two gave it up at 13 months per pediatrician recommendation and my youngest (different time different pediatrician was closer to 15-17 months.

I took my daughter's bottle away when she started carrying it around. She was down to one in the evening, mostly as a comfort thing, so we just replaced it with a cup. She asked for it for 2 evenings I think and then was good without it. You'll know when he's ready...

My son transitioned to a sippy cup by 18 months pretty easily. My daughter was a little harder. She was never attached to a pacifier but she LOVED her bottle! Oh my word! At any rate, we did finally get her off the bottle around 21 months or so. She had had 2 dental appointments by this time and her teeth were fine, but you do have to watch it with the kids falling asleep with a bottle in their mouth because the milk pools in their mouth and can cause decay. What really prompted us to get her to use a sippy was because she wasn't eating much more than her bottle of milk. Good luck!
A.

I breastfed all my babies and they never took a bottle on a regular basis. My daughter took a bottle for about a month until she was old enough to handle a sippy cup. My boys never took a bottle. I let them go straight to a sippy cup as soon as they were old enough. I think most of the time when a child takes a bottle for a long time it becomes a comfort to them and I just chose to let them get comfort elsewhere.

My daughter was down to one bottle in the morning and one at night by about age 1 and completely bottle free by about 18-19months. I think each child is different.