Anybody Who Can Answer My Questions

W.....you just take the bottle away...when they are thirsty, they will take the cup. It sounds horrible; trust me! My husband did that with my son and one day he was off bottles completely!! They will cry, they will throw a fit, but once they realize you are in control, they will take the cup! Trust me! This works!

W.,
I wouldn't push her. She's likely not ready and at that age the bottle probably comforts her. We were advised to take the bottle away at 1 year, and any sooner I don't think my girls would have transitioned well. We did practice with the sippy cup, and initially they wanted nothing to do with it. But at that age, one day they will not want anything to do with an object, and the next week, they are totally focused on using that object. So, try and if she resists, put the sippy cup away for a few days and then try again. Good luck.

This prob isn't what you want to hear, but I think 9 months really young to be weaning off of a bottle and expecting her to be self-sufficient in her feedings. I don't know that they can be nutritionally complete in what they will eat at that age. You are about 2 have 2 under a year old, and the addition of a new sister is going to be tough enough without rocking her world by taking away her bottle. I do applaud you for being as active as you are with helping her with her food related development, but you may be trying to do too much to soon.
Good luck to you!
E.

Hi W.,

I know the stress of having two kids right away is daunting and you're trying to speed things along so you don't have 2 kids on bottles. Trust me, I've been there, my kids are 13 months apart! But here's the thing hun, you can't make the older one grow up faster because of the new baby.

And believe me, I've been there. There was one day after my second was just a newborn when I had to look at myself objectively and start laughing even though I wanted to cry because I was seriously sleep deprived, my hubby was at work, i looked like a hot mess and I was sitting at the table with my 2 sons breastfeeding the newborn and giving the one year old cereal(which of course he kept tossing everywhere).

So know that you are not the first or the last to take on this daunting task. She will eventually start wanting a sippy cup. And quite honestly, you probably don't want to get her to drink out of a cup now because there is a big chance that once the baby comes she might regress.

I had many people tell me this because I needed to hear it sometimes, but don't forget that just because you're having a new baby doesn't mean that your daughter is any older than she is. She is still a baby herself and the last thing you want to do is take that away from her. I really wish you well W.! Hope this helps!

You have to come to grips with the fact that you still have a baby. As much as want her to be more independant, she is still needing to be drinking formula from a bottle. Don't ween her until 12 mo. Then you can transition her to a sippy with milk or water. You will have your hands full with two babies soon, but don't put undo pressure on your first daughter to act older than she needs to be. She is still a baby!

I don't know why you need her off the bottle so early. I assume she can hold it herself, so she's not taking any of your time to use it. You know she still needs breastmilk or formula, right? You are trying to put her sole source nutrition in a cup, not taking it away all together? Babies don't get what they need from solids until past 1-year-old. Until then, solids are ONLY about teaching how to eat and new textures and taste, not about nutrition.
You can start milk at 12-months, but until then, keep trying to use a sippy cup and give her a bottle until she accepts the sippy. But, whatever you do, don't stop giving her breastmilk or formula for another 3 months, you will starve her no matter how much solids she takes. Please, your doctor should have told you this, if not, talk to them.
A good way to introduce the sippy is to take out the valve and just put water in it so the water flows easily and she understand how to use it. My kids both took Nubby straw cups before any cups they had to tip, but they never had a bottle so they didn't understand how to tip it up. But she might enjoy the novelty of the straw, so give it a try.
Remember she's still a baby, not matter how quickly you got pregnant again, don't take that away from her. Treat her like you would even if you didn't already have a second on the way. Don't make her grow up too quickly to make it easier or cheaper for yourself, that's not fair to her.

She's way too young to be off the bottle. Who's bottle is it in the first place? This is her enjoyment. I let my girls go to 17 and 18 months. Why the race and pressure? She can't comprehend that another baby is on the way.

This is the oral gratification stage of childhood development. Our children are born with a sucking reflex and then they grow out of it. This reflex and drive must be satisfied. Check the child psychology books. A deficit at this stage might set her up with food behavior problems at a later date. Not getting enough food satisfaction at this stage may force her to unconsciously seek food/oral gratification at a later date. Add to that smoking and boozing from another type of bottle. Is this the set up you want here?

By demanding that she get off the bottle at 9 months you are creating a stressful situation for her. Pay attention to what she enjoys. Let her enjoy being on the bottle. When she has had enough, she will let you know. One night when I put the bottle in my daughter's mouth and she did not suck it at 18 months -- it was bye-bye bottle.

I know this may not be what you want to hear, but I see a VERY stressed out mother and baby here in this post. Oh, by the way we used the Playtex bottle with the disposable bags. It reduced gas and cleanup time.

By the way, have your husband help you with the bottle production line. It will reduce the stress. Two people can work faster than one.

Good Luck.

PLEASE consult your pediatrician for advice. Babies are to stay on formula until the age of 1 - I assume it is recommended to be received by a bottle.

I hate to rain on your parade, but I think she is a little too young, wait a few more months. When you try to get her off the bottle, do it gradually: no bottle for breakfast or lunch first, then get her off of it for another meal, etc.

At 9 months old your daughter is a little too young to be weaned from the bottle. Most Peds recommend around 12 months, but every baby is different. but it sounds like she is just not ready. My baby is 10 months and still drinks 3-4 bottles a day, in between his solid food meals. Offer your daughter dilluted fruit juice in the sippy cup, or some cool water. Sometimes it just takes awhile to get adjusted to a sippy cup. But she shouldnt be taken off the bottle just yet. Shes too young! Just be patient with the sippy cup, she'll eventually get it. Good luck!

I'm not sure she's ready to be off the bottle. It's usually recommended that they stay on until 1 year (sometimes after) my girls were on until 15/16 months & my cousins weren't off until after 18 months Your daughter is still a baby, not even a toddler, it's too early. She still needs formula or breast milk until she's at LEAST 1 any way.

Although you want her to be ready... she isn't. Give her time, don't force it or she won't even try it. Some kids also don't like sippy cups, they like cups with strawls (like my niece). If you want her off the bottle another kind of cup might help. But I've been told that a bottle a few time a day till they are 18-24 mo isn't always a bad thing. I personally think 9 mo is to soon to give of the security of a bottle.

W.,
I completely understand where you are coming from. There is 7 1/2 yrs between my kids. I bottle fed my son but I am breastfeeding my daughter. My son was on a bottle until he was 3 years old. I wanted to take it from him at a year but my mom said he was still a baby and needed it. Big mistake listening to her because the older he got, the harder it was! My daughter takes a bottle when I work but I talked to her doctor about taking the bottle from her at a year. He told me to only put water in her bottle and put the good stuff (breastmilk, juice, etc) in her cup then she would associate her cup with the stuff she likes! I don't know if it will work but you could give it a try. (My daughter is only 6 months old so I have some time before I have to do this!) Good Luck!

Most children keep their bottles till after they are a year old or more! Please don't rush your baby (she is STILL a baby)they grow up faster than you think. She'll let go of the bottle when she's ready...please don't rush her just because there is another on the way.

While 9 months is a little young to take away the bottle, I can see why you want to get rid of it. You have to understand that it's going to be a very gradual process. You can't expect her to pick up the sippy and BAM! love it! Give her water in her sippy cup at meal time, or through out the day. If she doesn't drink it, put it in the fridge for later. Just keep offering it to her. Remember that she absolutely NEEDS to be on formula till she's one. You can definitely give it in the sippy instead of the bottle though. My daughter had a pretty regular bottle until she turned 1, then she just had them before nap and bed. She was about 15 months when I cut out the nap bottle and 17 when I cut out the bed time bottle. It's a pain to wash them though! And if you're planning on bottle feeding your next baby, there will be even more! I would recommend the Playtex Drop In system. It's less to wash. You don't have to wash the bottle every single time, just the nipple. The liners can be washed in hot water in the sink and re-used too. Patience will be your friend here. Also,once the new baby is born, your daughter may decide that she doesn't want to be a baby anymore and wants a sippy. But, honestly..there is no reason to push her right now.

It's a process to learn how to do really well with the sippy. I remember starting my son around 6 months with water in his sippy, moving on to juice at 9 months and then at a year old finally stopping formula/breastmilk and giving him Vitimin D in only a cup. He took a full 6 months to really learn how to drink from a sippy cup. He would play with it up until then but he never really drank out of it for the first three months. For about the next three he would have it all over his face. He always had a sippy cup available to him in that time frame. Only getting a bottle for 20 min. (long enough to drink his milk and be done with it). I don't know if this helps at all or not. Best of luck!

Personally I belive that a child should have a bottle till they are 1, but when I did transation my son we used what is called a feeding a system that just changed the bottle nipple to a sippy top I don't belive it was spill proof and they usually come with spoons too to help hem learn to feed themselves. Good luck.

First off hang in there. I have 9 month old twins and a 3 year old. My twins are eating finger foods but the doctors says the main source of their nutrients still needs to come from their formula. So its bottle then food. They take a sippy rarely we put juice mixed with water in one every day to try and teach them to drink from the sippy. They are learning but certainly not as interested in it as their bottle. Only use the bottle for formula or breast milk and sippy for juice and water. At this age they need to start getting used to the sippy but in know way are they ready to give up their bottle. The doctor says around 12 months you can start taking away bottles and replace with sippy one feeding at a time until the bottles are gone. And at 12 months you can switch to stage 2 formulas, whole milk, soymilk which ever you are going to choose, but again until 12 months their formula is their main source of nutrition. I can understand better than most the cost of formula we go through 3 large cans a week and about 40 dollars of baby food ouch! Give her time believe me she will learn and will be ready to give up her bottle in know time. My 3 year old was completely of bottle by 13 months. I know this isn't exactly what you wanted to hear but all in all I hope it helps. Congrats on the baby on the way. Take care

Hi W.,
I don't think you are rushing things, realistically it may take until she is one to get her to accept a sippy cup. Yes she should still have formula but I didn't think you were saying you weren't going to give her that.
My daughter was very stubborn and I tried starting her on a sippy early too. My pediatrician said you can start introducing a cup as early as 6 months to get them used to it(not necessarily because they are going to start drinking from it that early). I just kept giving her the cup at every meal and eventually I just started cutting out a bottle feeding and offering her the cup. If she didn't drink it she didn't drink it. I started cutting out probably one bottle per week. She eventually gave in and started drinking her formula from a cup. She was about 11 months old. I wanted my kids off the bottle by one. I think it only gets harder to take it away the longer they have it. So, just keep offering the cup to her at every meal and she will eventually take it if she doesn't have another choice.Good luck.

Your 9 month old daughter is not old enough to eat only solid foods and if she is not ready for a sippy cup do not force her to drink out of a sippy cup. Just because you are going to have another baby does not mean you should force your 9 month old to grow up faster.She is still a baby and eating only solid foods and not being able to have her bottle you will have more problems after the baby is born than you you know how to deal with. Relax, a bottle is just as easy to clean and prepare as a sippy cup. You are going to have 2 children under the age of 1 no matter what so let your 9 month old keep her bottle and when she is ready truly ready then you can switch to a sippy cup full time. You can give her a sippy cup during the day for lunch time, but if she doesn't drink out of it give her the bottle, then everyday offer her the sippy cup, eventually she will understand and drink from the sippy. You have to be patient and understand child development

W., your 9 month old is still a baby! She is too young to have her bottle taken away, let alone be eating only solids and drinking from a cup. Wait at least another month and try dropping ONE bottle feeding at a time, rather than taking all of them away at once. Keep giving her the opportunity to try out the sippy cup when you feed her the solids, but don't force it. She will come around eventually.
The easier you make HER transition to big sister status, the easier it will be for you. She probably knows that something is going on, and it is causing her stress. Speak with her pediatrician about the whole situation.

Good luck!

How does she do with a straw? You might try this or a sippy with a soft, more flexible, end.

Take your time with the transition. It's something new and she just needs to learn.

She is too young to be taken off the bottle. She should be 1 when you take the bottle away. It's not bad too introduce the sippy cup but I wouldn't take away the bottle all together. She is still a baby!!! She is only 9 mos old.

My kids are 14 mos apart (which I realize won't be near as hard as 9 mos apart) but try to remember to treat the older one as what her age is and not what you expect. It is very hard to raise two kids so close together.

Wish you the best of luck.

My daughter never did take to sippy cups, but she loved straws. I had some old tupperware cups that had a straw hole in them and then I got some of the cups with the crazy straws that wrapped around them (these were very hard to clean though- never put milk in one.) As far as the bottles go, if you can get her to drink out of any kind of a cup, pitch them. Out of sight is out of mind and she'll get used to the new routine faster if you aren't switching back and forth.

Your daughter still needs her bottle. 9 months old is not old enough to make her give it up. So you will have two on bottles it is no big deal. She will change when she is ready and not until. Your also going to have two in diapers get used to it. Kids don't grow up just because there is another on the way.
Hard to believe you have been married for almost 4 years. You are still a child yourself.Have fun growing up raising your babies.

My baby is almost 9 months old and she has no interest in the sippy cup. She thinks it is a toy and she throws it too. 9 months is way too young to force her to give up the bottle. Baby food is not a source of nutrition, it is simply a way to teach babies how to eat solid food. Read the label and you will see there is not much nutrition in there. They get their nutrients from formula or beastmilk. She is obviously not ready for the sippy. Give her more time...she is still a baby for pete's sake. It is not her fault that you are having another baby so soon. Don't punish her by making her grow up too soon so that your life will be easier. It is our jobs as mothers to sacrifice so that we take excellent care of our children. So your life will be a bit harder. Did you really expect life to be easy with two kids under one year old? You are going to have two in diapers, and two using bottles. That is what happens when you have babies back to back. It will be nice when they are older, being so close in age. But the first few years are going to be chaos.

Good luck to you!

Start at lunch time and give her the sippy. NO BOTTLE!!! If she throws it, give it back. If she throws it again then put it in the fridge and tell her she can have a drink later. Don't worry, children will not dehydrate themselves. Weaning from the bottle is a battle of wills. You have to want her off that bottle enough to put up with some tantrums if needed. If you keep allowing her to have the bottle when she cries she will be 4 years old with a bottle in her mouth. You may think that's exaggerated but I have seen it happen unfortunately. Start by taking away the bottle at lunch time. Tell her that she is a big girl and big girls drink out of big girl cups not baby bottles. Once you've won the lunch battle then start giving her the cup at breakfast or dinner. Pick one. But go one meal at a time until no more bottle. It's not going to be easy because it sounds like she is really attatched to the bottle. But in the long run it is what's best for her. Good luck. As to the women who told you it is a bad idea to take her off the bottle because she's too young... formula can be given in a sippy. And my son started on his sippy by his own choice at 8 months and was down to only having a bottle at bedtime by 10 months. And he's perfectly healthy and happy. And I did consult my pediatrician about it and he said it is actually better for their teeth than a bottle!!! Something about the way the bottle holds the liquid against their teeth can cause early cavities and rot.

i had the same problem with my daughter...i stopped putting anything but water in her bottles...she didnt like it very much..but after a couple days of being very persistent...she took to a cup .....Good luck

Hello W.,

You sound like you are going to have your hands full. You have gotten some good advice here. Your little girl is still a baby and needs the bottle. She definitely sounds like she isn't ready to wean. She also is probably sensing change. Something to consider is the fact that if you do get her off the bottle she may regress when the baby arrives. I would just stay consistent right now with what you are doing--offer her something to drink in the sippy at meal time, but continue using the bottle. My youngest didn't give up the bottle until about 17 months--that's when I finally found a cup she would use. She will be easier to get off the bottle at 1 year than now. I trust you are having a great pregnancy. Hang in there. Everything will happen in good time.
P.S. You may try different sippy cups with your daughter and see if she adapts to one over the other.
God bless you!

I think you're trying to hard. Not that I don't understand wanting her off the bottle by the time your second child arrives, but you're trying too hard.

BOTH of my daughters would drink from sippy cups, but for naptime and bedtime, they really wanted that bottle. It was a breeze getting them on sippy cups during the regular part of the day, but once naptime or bedtime came - they wanted the bottle. Since that was the only time they wanted it, we didn't push the issue. With our oldest, one day she asked for a bottle of water (we keep 8 oz. bottles of water in our fridge) and a straw, and never looked back. Our second daughter is very close to doing that too.

My best suggestion: RELAX. Keep offering sippy cups. With a new baby on the way, this is NOT a battle you need to fight right now. Find some way of marking the bottles so you know whose bottle is whose, and let it go.

Good luck!

I am curious. Did you try the sippy cup with the straw or the one with the wholes in the lid? The liquid comes out much faster from a sippy cup and she may not like the sensation yet at 9 months old.

I know this isn't what you want to hear, but I don't think she is ready to be done with the bottle yet. Most children sort of use it as a comfort tool, too.

My son never would take to drinking his formula/milk from a sippy cup/straw cup/cup. He finally at age 2 will occassionally drink milk from a cup, but refused to do so until just recently.

If she isn't taking to the sippie cup, I think you need to give her more time with the bottle.

Good luck to you!

Hi W.,
Try those cups with soft straws. My daughter has been using them for about a month now and she's 10 months...so it should work. She hated sippy cups too. Munchkin makes a good one and I've seen it sold at Meijer stores. Babies R Us sells some too, but the ones at Meijer's are just smaller in size so it's easier for them to hold. Best of luck with that and your new little one on the way! :)

At 9 months old your daugher should still be taking a bottle. and formula and baby food!

Their supposed to have formula until their 12 months old, she is fine still drinking out of a bottle.

I felt the same way with my son and he was probably more like 11 months old. I really wouldn't worry about it too much. Offer sippy cup but don't force it. Both my kids I was so worried they wouldn't wean or go off the bottle but once they turn 1 year old they don't really want it anymore. Between 10 and 12 months they really change. Good luck!