20 Month Old --- Weaning from the Bottle

When I weaned my daughter off bottles, I put them all away but one, then I cut the top part of the nipple off and when she wanted a bottle, I showed her that it was "Broken" (this works for binki's too)

If she can use a sippy, than she will take one once she is sure that she can not get you to give in to her commands for the bottle. Simply tell her "no more bottle, big girls use cups", and make the switch. Add cheese, yogurt, and other forms of dairy to make up the difference until she starts taking the milk again. Keep offering it, and do not offer any juices, only water and milk. She will come around.

I think this is a situation where you're going to have to put up with the fuss and not give into her. My sister also gives her daughter (2 in a few days) a bottle because she can't deal with the fuss, and it's really way past time to move her onto sippy cups.

Neither of my kids would take a sippy cup if a bottle was still an option. On their first birthday, bottles were put away, and the only option was a sippy cup.

She's manipulating you to give in to what she wants. It's hard to stand up when our kids are fussy, but I honestly believe that's what you have to do here.

We're in the process of that with our daughter and her pacifier. We didn't do much about it because she just had to have tubes in her ears for the second time last week, and the pacifier was helping alleviate the built-up pressure in her ears. She just turned 2, and we're OK with her having it in her crib, but outside of that, she needs to find a new soothing mechanism (blanket, toy, etc).

Good luck!

Take the bottle away. She will NOT starve herself. (at least not for too long!) I would go cold turkey and just offer her the sippy cup. It is beyond time. Also make sure she has some sort of lovey, which might help with comfort.

Got someone you can "give" the bottle too? A friend with a baby? Tell her she is getting too big for it now.....and give it to ________?

Find something else for her hands to hold instead of her bottle.....a toy, a stuffed animal.......I know she is young, but ask her if you can have it......also, bribery works!! Tell her if she uses the sippy cup, she can have something she would like, a toy or some stickers......something cheap and simple.....

Good luck.

I vote differently. What is the problem with her bottle being a soother and for Mommy Time. She is not even two yet. I promise she will not go to college with her bottle. Also as she gets older and socializes more she will see the other big girls don't use it and it will naturally become less important. Why not let her use it as a source of comfort, if she sucked her thumb you would not cut off her fingers. If it was a stuffed toy or a blanket / lovey you would not take it away cold turkey. Put restrictions on where or when she can have it, nap time, quiet relaxing time. Not to walk around with it, not to play with it, or during classes or at playdates, not to tease other kids or as a entertaining activity. Maybe let her choose night time quiet time or rest time. Maybe it can't leave the house or car. Not at child care. Set up guidelines but let her keep her comfort thing. I feel like it is a trust issue and an ability to sooth herself. She has found her thing that brings her comfort. That is a life skill, not something to be ripped away from her. That would be very unsettling for her little soul.

Good Luck!

Hi W.,
I got my daughter off the bottle when she was about 18 months with another "bottle". I got the Munchkin sippy cup with the silicon top. There are no handles, so it doesn't feel like a cup, and it has a soft tip like the bottle.
I had no porblem switching her over. In fact, she is now 3 1/2 yrs old and still uses that as her milk "bottle". She gets it in the morning and at night before she goes to bed... absolutely no issues, and you're not taking away that comfort for her! (the munchkin nipples are also spill proof, until they chew them...ha!) This to me solved both problems. I got rid of the "bottle" but she didn't feel that I took anything away. And she loves all the colors they come in! I handed it to her one night and said "here's your "bottle"". And she looked at it and said, "bottle?" I said yes, and that was that.
Good luck!!
: )

Cold turkey is how I did it with both of my boys. My oldest was 11 mo. when I went cold turkey on him. He was not happy for 1-2 days, but he got the clue that the bottle was not comming back & he was thirsty enough to take the sippy cup. We used the Avent bottles & went to the soft spouts on the Avent bottles. His problem was figuring out how to suck from it. A 20 mo. old should have no problem figuring it out. You could also try adding ovaltine to the milk. That is what worked for my youngest boy.

God bless!

Why is it so bad for a baby to have something that sooths her? Why do we deem needs in children as wrong? If she is using it as a sleepytime with you tool she associates with it the way a child who still breastfeeds to sleep associates with time with mom. Why do you need to break her attachment to you in your snuggly alone time? She wont do it forever. I don't mean to harp at you but it makes me sad that we expect children to grow up and move on before they are ready to do so on their own. They have a native intelligence. Help her use it rather than force her.

My daughter was exactly the same way, but it wasn't a big deal. I just tried small things to get the bottle away from her. Like she'd ask for it, and I'd say, "Okay, you'll have your milk in a little bit, here, drink this water/ eat this food." And a lot of times she'd take it because she was thirsty or hungry - it was such a go-to for her, but when I could satusfy her need another way, it worked, many times. At 3 years old, warm milk is still a soother for her sometimes, but it's perfectly healthy. We all need soothers; I'm gad she's got one that works and is healthy. She really doesn't over use it, but it can help her stay calm or get calm sometimes. Very helpful to her.

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My daughter was exactly the same way, but it wasn't a big deal. I just tried small things to get the bottle away from her. Like she'd ask for it, and I'd say, "Okay, you'll have your milk in a little bit, here, drink this water/ eat this food." And a lot of times she'd take it because she was thirsty or hungry - it was such a go-to for her, but when I could satusfy her need another way, it worked, many times. At 3 years old, warm milk is still a soother for her sometimes, but it's perfectly healthy. We all need soothers; I'm gad she's got one that works and is healthy. She really doesn't over use it, but it can help her stay calm or get calm sometimes. Very helpful to her. Oh, my daughter was fine with using a sippy cup or a bottle, but she was definitely hooked on the warm milk.

Take the bottles away Cold Turkey! It's really hard but that's the fastest way. I weaned my daughter off my breast and the bottles when she turned one. I stayed away from her at night and put all of the bottles away. We offered her milk from from a toddler's cup with a straw (she already knew how to drink from a straw). She didn't drink milk for one day and then the next day, she was fine. Out of sight, out of mind. It's really hard as a mom to take something away from your baby and watch them fuss and cry but this is for their benefit. It only gets harder as they grow older....