My two year old had no problem with this, but for some reason my fifteen month old has decided that he needs his bottle of milk inorder to take a nap or go to sleep at night, and it has to be milk, or he thows a fit...got the kid to go to sleep on his own awhile ago by just putting him in his bed and letting him do his own thing(wish i did that with the oldest...haha), but now he needs that bottle...how do i get him off it...feel like i tried everything (sippy cup, changing it to water), i just dont want him to ruin his teeth, and i would like to get him to start learning to drink from a regular cup like my first son did (which i am proud to say he is a master of now)...help...
I also believe in the gradually add more and more water to the milk until it is undesirable. It stil looks like milk but eventually it is more water than milk and just isnt the same thing.
Good luck!
I can only advise how I got my son off the sipper, as he gave up the bottle without protest. My ped suggested watering down the milk a little more at a time. I started out with mostly milk, only about one oz of water. Over the next 8 to 10 weeks I kept mixing it with more and more water in the sipper and "real milk" in a "big boy cup" (tumbler) on the kitchen table. He finally came to understand that it ws ice water in the sipper, but he could have milk if he wen t to the kitchen for it. Maybe the same thing will work for the bottle. Hope it helps~ J.
My kids went down for nap and bedtime with a bottle of milk untill they where 3 -4 years old. Neither kid has had any cavities and neither kid has broken a bone despite playing all sports. I think all the extra milk was good for their teeth and their bones! We have good teeth in the family and that may have help us but we made sure to brush well twice a day with me helping them when they where little. So you may not need to worry. Juice in a bottle is far worse. You could try slowly adding water to it until it is mostly water. However when they need to have that bottle you better not leave it behind when you go on vacation!
About me: Married Mom with two teens moving from Seattle to Petaluma in July.
When I took my son to his 18 month dr. appt the doctor asked if he was still on a bottle and I relunctantly said yes. He said stop it today. Put everything in a cup and remove the bottles. My son needed a bottle every time he slept too. Now at 21 months, he could care less whether it was milk, water or sometimes nothing. We just blamed it on the doctor. If you know it is not good, just change it. They will adapt. Also, two kids are not the same. My daughter did everything different than my son. You can't compare one to the other.
Good luck
I guess I am out of the norm here, my 2 year old daughter was always a big, strong girl!! At her 12 month checkup her ped said it was time to take her off of the bottle as she was getting far too much calories from the milk, to switch her to the sippy cup and only one (with milk) per day. I went home and stopped cold turkey! It took about 3 or 4 days of her pushing the cup away and screaming "ba ba" but she eventually got the hint that she was not going to get it back. Just stick to your guns, I know it's hard but you just have to let her know you're the boss. I now have a 4 month old who is bottle fed and thought i'd have a problem w/ the bottles being there, she really could care less. Honestly, do not put him to bed with the bottle, not only do you run the risk of teeth problems (as you mentioned) but you'll be making the problem worse, he already needs it for security. That's really all it is, security. Just go in and reassure him everything is fine. . good luck.
with my daughter i threw all her bottles away and told her that bottle fairy came and brought them to a new baby that needed them and introduced her to a sippy cup and it worked she never wanted her bottle again, now hannah can drink from a regular cup however she spills it no matter how much is in it, even a tablespoon about and she spills. good luck
