My 12 month old has been pretty much off the bottle for about 3 weeks now, getting 0-1 bottle per day. However, for the last 4 days she has been so cranky and the only thing that can make her happy is a bottle. I know she has a new tooth poking through on the bottom so I don't know if that has something to do with it. I have given her tylenol and teething tablets which don't seem to make any difference. She has started waking up at 430am demanding a bottle for these 4 days and seriously will NOT go back to sleep without having one. If I offer her a cup at this time she throws a fit like I have never seen before. I was ok with that since that was the only one she was getting but now for the last 2 days I have had to give her one in the daytime as well. After she has the bottle she is happy as a clam. I always try to offer her "regular" food first and her milk in a cup (which she does drink now)but she still cries for a "baba." I am just afraid that she is going to want to slide back into having regular bottles again. Has anyone ever gone through this?
Could be a growth spurt and she is needing more nutrients than what she is getting. if you don't want to give her the bottle back you will have to be patient and persistent in offerring her other things... maybe make her a smoothie or something to try to get her to take that. My son will sometimes increase his nursing when I keep trying to wean him. Frustrating!!
Stand your ground. She will want regular bottles again. Try a different sippy cup - one with a softer-latex type spout that requires suction - like a bottle. She may still have the very strong need to suck for self-soothing. Some bottles even have an attachment to put the sippy spout right on the bottle. Just remind her that "baba" is all gone, and replace with "cup" or "milky" if she doesn't like the word cup. I know it is so hard, but trust me it is better in the long run for you to break the habit now than later, as she gets more and more oppositional.
Best wishes
I found that when my son was one he had already realized that throwing a fit could get him his way. Kids are so very smart and I believe that your daughter is doing what she is doing as she has realized that by throwing a fit she gets what she asked for. Stand your ground. You make the rules! Getting them off the bottle is HARD so stick with it and get it over with early on as it is harder the older they get (my son will be 2 tomorrow and I am trying to get rid of his night time bottle which has turned out to be quite a chore). At the age of 1, I started to give my son frozen foods in the little child safe nets. That seemed to really help when he was getting his teeth.
