Bottles and Pacifiers - Los Angeles,CA

I don't know anything about the bottle but for the paci you could cut the tip off all his pacifiers, they tend to not like the feeling of it that way and then will refuse to take it.

just start to introduce the cup with formula/breast milk. it took my daughter one month to get on the cup (she was off the bottle by 7 1/2 months). then when he starts to take the cup then start to mix some milk in with it. as for the paci. try to get him off it for car rides first then nap time and then bed. i think that will be your best bet. try to get him attached to a toy instead (a bear puppy whatever even a blanket). good luck!

I see NO reason to take away the bottle and the pacifier. We want our babies to grow up so fast and then when they are grown we wonder where our babies went. My now 4 yr old daughter had a heated milk bottle in the morning at nap and at bed until she was 2 1/2 yrs old then we gave the bottles to Santa so that he could give them to another little girl who needed them and her pacifier for naps and bed until she was 3 1/2 yrs old and then she was old enough to know that we had to get rid of them b/c she would bite them. She has beautiful teeth and she is perfectly normal. More mature than most kids her age. Enjoy your baby and dont worry about rushing him off of the pacifier and the bottle. Good luck- A.

Our daughter is 3 yrs 3mos and we still warm her milk at nap and bed time. Other times she will drink it cold, like when we eat out and at school, etc. If it isn't an inconvenience then what is the big deal?
As for the paci.....there are so many opinions on that. I thought I would ax it at 1, then 2....we axed it at 3 and she was all good with it. At some point (can't remember exactly when) but the paci became an in bed thing only. Some time between 1-2 I think. She loved it and it helped her sleep. We just said bye bye to it one night and have never looked back.

Good luck, none of this is easy and everyone has thier opinions.

I agree that these changes shouldn't occur at the same time.

My son was using the pacifier for the times your son is when he stopped using it. One day I put him down for a nap, and we never saw his pacifier again. I still don't know what happened to it. We were already trying to come up with how we could take him off of it, when this happened. At first we were terrified of what the night may bring, but he never missed it. So, one day, you might just want to see if you could "lose" his.

As for switching him to a cup. Heat the milk up in a mug for a bit and then put it in the sippy cup. Once we started heating up the milk, my son took to it really well. It was a big DUH moment for me. Since we're approaching colder months, you may want to continue to heat his milk up enough to just take the chill off. They get cold just holding it. We haven't done this yet, but my friend suggests just heating it less and less. I don't suggest getting the color changing sippy cups. We have those, and my son knows right away that his milk is cold and won't even try it. Otherwise, those cups work great. Haha. My hubby is pretty frugal, so we just have two main sippy cups. A green one for milk and a blue one for water. The downfall is that my son has gotten so used them that he rarely drinks milk from anything other than his green cup.

Congratulations on making it through the first year! :)
M.

i don't really have advice as to HOW to do this, but....i wouldn't do BOTH at the same time...i would pick the bottle first, then do the pacifier a few months later.

Not sure if you're worried about him having warm milk available or transitioning from bottle to sippy cup. If it's the former, I just wanted to let you know, you'll never have a problem with getting him warm milk so long as there is a Starbucks or any coffee shop around ... or even 7-11. If you buy milk from Starbucks, they will heat it up for you if you ask. Also, 7-11 usually has a microwave you could heat up the milk. Not sure if this helps but just some info.

Hi there A.-
I cannot help you with the pacifer, my son never took it.(I guess Iam lucky???) lol.. But as for the bottle, have you tried giving your little one a sippy cup now, so that when it somes time he already knows whats its for. It took my son about 4 months to drink reg from the sippy. He did not have a hard time leaving the bottle. But I did start giving him a cup at about 7 months old, and it took him til about a year to really except the difference and actually drink from the cup. It was hit and miss with him until then. But I would put it on his high chair any ways, every day...
Good Luck.....

Hi A.:
One thing to try is to give him empty cups to play with for a while Also, don't try the no-spill type untill he gets the idea, because they are harder to suck out of.Present him with it at his meal time,while hes in his high chair. If you start with one that flows out easier, then he might pick it up faster. Then you can go to the no spill type, which by the way are the greatest invention ever for busy moms! As far as taking away his (pacifier) at the same time,your weaning him, I think your expecting to much from him all at once. you leave nothing to soothe him.If you wean him from one,then give him a little time to adjust and wean him from the other,the transition will be alot easier for him and you.Replacing the pacifier with a stuffed animal or a new soft blanket,is a great idea, but it will take time for him to become attached to a NEW soother.I wish you and your darlin son the best.

If he won't take the bottle cold, start by making it less warm each time and then making it colder and colder... He'll take it eventually and will love it! Sippy cup is easy, as long as he understands that there is milk and water for him in it. Don't worry about him not drinking enough. He is at the point where he will take what he wants and when...I didn't have a problem with the pacifier. One day, it became lost. Maybe just start with it not in the car. Then move on to not for napping or nighttime. Just make sure you tell him you don't know where it went. He may not be happy but if you break him now from it is definitely easier than when you see those OLD two, three and up kids with them. Make sure you give him something extra to sleep with that you don't normally do. That way, he'll find more comfort. Good luck!

Hey A.! My son was off the bottle at 9 1/2 months!!! I used the cups with the flexible straws (Platex Brand I've liked the best) We tried it once and he wasn't having it, so I waited a week and tried again and just like that he was fully transitioned! He still uses them now. You can get them at Target or Toy'r us for about $4-5.00 each. I think what helped us is that he was never put to bed with a bottle. We always fed him and then put him to bed. As far as the pacifier goes, let him fully transition from the bottle before you take the pacifier away. My son used his pacifier, just to sleep at night and at nap time, till he was about 15-16 months old. I noticed he was spitting it out a lot and sometimes didn't want it so I knew he was ready. We threw it away together and everytime he somewhat remembered it and wanted it I reminded him that we had thrown it away. It was tough the first few nights but smooth sailing thereafter. You'll know when your son is ready. Good luck! ~G.

Hi A.,
I know you have different advice from different moms - but I found that easing the baby off is the best approach. I agree with the other moms who said not to do both at once. Just because your son is turning one doesn't mean you have to change everything at once. Sometimes as parents we have a time table that we feel we want to keep but the baby may have his own time table and we need to take that into consideration too (we can help it along though). There is nothing wrong with a one year old using a bottle or a pacifier. He won't be using them in high school or college!

I agee that you should first make the formula/milk switch gradually - you don't have to stop 100% on his first birthday. Try the sippy cups during the day but still do the bottle for bed time until your son really decides he loves the sippy. There are plenty of one year olds that still use bottles and he'll eventually start using a sippy all the time and then you can put the bottles away.

My son actually threw away his pacifier on his own when he was just about 2. If your son is using it to sleep, I wouldn't take it away cold turkey - again you need to gradually do it or he may decide on his own to get rid of it - but you don't want take away something that comforts him (and you'll lose sleep). Maybe take it away for car rides first then gradually try to do it for bed time. One year olds go through a lot of changes - they learn a lot and get new teeth and each one of those changes causes changes in sleep patterns. If the pacifier will help your son sleep - let him use it - you'll all sleep better.

Good luck! I hope this helps!

My first child absolutely loved her pacifier but I was set on having her off it shortly after she turned one. I also didn't want her walking around holding a bottle in her mouth either. I went for the "bandaid" approach. I just ripped them off fast. I woke up one and we said goodbye to pacifier and bottle and she never used them again. She cried a little when going down for naps for a few days but then it was as if she had never had them. She took a sippy cup just fine becuase there was not other option. If you draw out the process it only makes it harder (at least that's my thought). My son is just over one and we are about to do the same with him. I would rather go through a week of a little more crying and be done with it then drag it out for months.

been there! twice! the bottle may be easier than the paci.
anyway, take one away at a time. we restricted paci use to bed only. when we 'lost' all but one paci, we told our son that soon we'd have to throw it away and he could have a train. you could try a trade with a new toy. if he longs for the paci back, either explain the trade or take back his trade/toy and return the paci til next time.
my son drank his milk warm til he was 5! even in a cup. my daughter, always drank hers cold. go figure. you could try by not making it as hot as time goes. if you heat it for 20s, try 17s, then 13s, til you are serving it either cool or cold. is there a reason you want him to drink it cold?
as for the decrease in milk consumption during transition, it will happen. kids are stubborn. but as long as your child consumes other dairy - cheese, yogurt (try freezing the tubes as treats), milk shakes, once the transition is made, the milk consumption will return. it took my daughter about a month to get back to her usual ammount of milk she consumed.
you will also want to try different sippy cups. maybe get some with his favorite characters. milk in a dora cup tastes best to my daughter! also, if your son often had milk while you are out running errands, bring only milk in a cup and explain to him its all you have.
whew! good luck to you!
A.