My son turned 2 a couple of weeks ago. He had his 2 year check up last week and the Dr. recommended taking the bottles away cold turkey. She said he should no longer drink out of a bottle, but sippy cups and eventually cups. She explained drinking milk out of a bottle willl cause his teeth to decay. (Now I'm wondering how is drinking out of a sippy cup any different in terms of tooth decay?!! Hmmm!) We had tried transitioning him to the sippy before, but he was treating the sippy cup like a game. He would drink a little, then fill up his mouth, open it and let it pour out and laugh like it was a fun game!
Anyway, as of last Friday, we started giving him all liquids in sippy cups (water, milk, juice). For a couple of days, he hardly drank anything. His diapers were hardly wet. I was getting worried about dehydration, so I started giving him water in a bottle (Remember the Dr. had said MILK in a bottle was bad so I rationalized that water was okay for a little while longer).
So now it's been a little over a week. He now drinks water out of both his sippy and bottle, but mostly out of the bottle. But he absolutely refuses to drink Milk or Juice out of the sippy, hence no milk for over a week!!! I feel so bad... he LOVED milk and I know he misses it. He gets so happy and excited when I bring out the Milk but as soon as I pour it into his sippy cup he starts to cry and pushes it away and refuses to drink it. We have tried several different sippy cups, regular cups, straw cups, plastic, paper, glass, and Nothing! I know it's okay if he doesn't drink milk ever again as long as he gets his calcium other ways, but I feel so bad taking his milk away knowing how much he loves it! =(
Anyway, I guess my question is, how did your kids handle the switch? How did you get them to drink milk again and like their sippy cups? And last, was it wrong to go back to the bottle for water? At this point, do you think I should go back to milk in a bottle too?
Thanks moms! =)
Pitch all of the bottles out.
I was a nervous wreck, but that night before bed at snack time when I handed him the sippy cup...my son never flinched.
Good luck!
Don't give him juice. Its just sugar.
I don't see, personally, what the difference is between a sippy of milk and a bottle of milk and how the sippy does not cause decay but a bottle does.
No difference... if you think about it.
Just rinse his mouth with water after the milk and not letting him sleep with it in his mouth before bed.
Kids... associate milk with a bottle... BECAUSE it has a "nipple" on it. It is instinct. Milk comes from nipples. A baby/child knows that. It is instinctual. THAT is why, babies/toddlers have a thing about drinking milk from a bottle....
Or try a "straw" cup....
Just watch for dehydration.... that is worse.
My son had his bottle until about 3 years old. No biggie to me. GASP!
Then I just started putting his milk in straw cups for certain occasions until he got used to it. Gradually. And I never lectured him about it or made it a big deal.
BUT he was perfectly capable of drinking liquids from regular cups... even at 2 years old. ONLY for milk... he wanted the bottle.
In our "culture" detaching a child from things is emphasized more... but in other cultures, the bottle de-tachment is not such a big deal.
There is no reason that a kid HAS TO use a sippy cup, after a bottle... at 2 years old. Try a Straw Cup. He can do that at his age.
He is probably rejecting the sippy cup.... because it is NOT a "nipple" spout. It is a different shape.
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I took away the bottle when my daughter first started just sort of walking around with it and it was no longer of comfort to her. She was younger than your son, I think... We just gave her milk in the cup and said, "bottles are all gone." She protested for 2 days and then was fine with it. All kids are different. I wouldn't give him water in a bottle... he'll be ok and drink when he's thirsty I think.
good luck!
Our daughter did not blink. For 2 weeks I had been telling her that for her 1st birthday, there were no more bottles. She was a big girl and would drink from a cup.
I took her to the store to pick out a cup and then I asked if I could pick one out for her too.
I left them on the counter so she could see them and we would talk about drinking from the cup on her birthday. The night before her birthday, I reminded her in the morning she would only use cups. I threw all of the bottle stuff away. In the morning, I asked her do you want milk or juice in your cup?
At her birthday party, everybody gave her cups. We let her decide which one to use at the party. Again we gave her a Choice, milk or juice with her lunch..
She never missed it. She then quickly moved to a cup with no sippy, unless it was in the car or we were out a t a restaurant (spills)..
I recommend throwing out all the bottles. I personally think he is way to old to be drinking from a bottle with anything in it. With both my kids I done it cold turkey right before they turned a year old. Maybe try letting your little one pick out a sippy or special cup/with straw that he wants to use.
I never did cold turkey with any of my 3 kids, I always took it away slowly and got rid of the before bedtime bottle last...he needs time to adjust to drinking out of a sippy cup...doctors are Not Gods...take what they say with a grain of salt, momma instincts should always come first. Also you might try a different type sippy, they have one at walmart with a soft spout called Nubby I think that is a great way to transition.
i started giving my son a sippy at around 6 months. he just played with it mostly, which was no big deal to me. that way he could get used to it and be somewhat familiar with it. at one year, the day after his birthday, i took the bottle away cold turkey. he had been using the sippy correctly at 9 months and started only getting one bottle before bedtime. he didn't even miss it!
your son is already older, so you'll need to go with a faster approach. i wouldn't recommend going back and forth between the bottle and the sippy. i would give it to him at one scheduled time everyday, and the rest use the cup. then just take it away altogether. let him play with the cup more often so he can become more familiar with it and comfortable with it.
Your child does not need juice for any reason at all so be happy he doesn't want it and you really don't need milk you can give him calcium from other sources like yogurt, cheese, etc. I went from breastfeeding to a regular cup and skipped the bottle w/ my second child best thing I ever did oh and he was 18 months old when he was using a cup w/ assistance but he didn't need help for very long. With my oldest I went cold turkey w/ the bottles and I had to do the same thing w/ the sippy cups. Why break a habit and replace it with a new one. I say toss the bottles and the sippy cups and just give a regular cup.
I took the bottle away around 15 month(ish) and never used a sippy at all. I figured if my Mom and Grandma didn't use it I sure as heck did not need it either.
My kids stopped drinking the bottle when they were about 1. To my surprise she wanted the cup and never looked back. I don't think I did anything special but I wish I could give advice. Good luck!
