Takeing Away the Bottle!

I think that since you have a new baby he might be feeling a little overwelmed. I know thats what happened to me. I just had another baby and my other baby is only 19 months and when he saw me feed the new baby a bottle he had a melt down. You might want to wait a little bit so he can adjust to the baby before you try to take the bottle away.

Wow, you have your hands full with those three little ones! Do you have family around to help you?
Well, about the bottle...everything I've ever read or heard of working is ignoring the fits all together. He's old enough that when he throws a fit you can tell him, "you can have your juice/milk, but you have to have it out of a big boy cup!", and offer it to him. If he starts throwing a fit, then just walk away and go about your business like you can't even hear him. Every time he tugs at you for his baba just tell him, "I love you but you have to have your big boy cup now that you are a big boy" and leave it at that. I'm sure at first, he'll try super hard to make the fits work, because he knows they've worked before. But if you do it consistently when you start and don't go back, I really think it will work. Good luck!

Honestly, I can tell you that it is better to start winging them from bottles to sippy cups as soon as they turn 1 year old that way you don't run into this problem. (Just some advice for your other children.) But since you do have this problem already, you always stand firm about your decision. Throw all the bottles away and buy a few sippy cups. Let him decide which sippy cup he would like out of the few you have bought. Kids love choices and they love to feel like they have their own say in decisions like that. He will eventually warm up to the sippy cups. He has to have a drink sometime and make those sippy cups his only choices. Just don't pay any attention to him when he throws fits. It is going to be hard and you have to be really strong and stick to the decision you have made. Good luck!

Hi K.. My name is L. and wanted to respond to your request. One weekend I had a planned a trip to San Antonio and was planning on taking my kids to Sea World. Well, I told my mom that time that this was my chance to take the bottle away from the boys. They were 2yrs and 2 months old when I finally decided to try it. I stopped at an HEB there is San Antonio and bought 2 sippy cups and put there milk in the cup. I would give it to them and they would throw it right back at me. Believe me it was the hardest weekend I went through. They had so much anger with me that I nearly gave in. However, my kids godmother was with me and she kept saying I needed to be the adult and no matter what for me not to give in. I remember calling my mother from San Antonio and she told me the same thing. They would not drink their milk out of the cup for the 1st night. My son Alex gave in the second night. By the third day I was losing my mind in early morning hours I could hear him drinking his cup. He finally gave in. It's gonna be hard but stick to it. Your son may cause a tantrum but he will eventually give in. Good luck and hope to hear how everything will turn out for you.

L.

I had a problem trying to get my daughter off the sippy cup, she used it like a bottle. What I did is kept giving her water in it, and if she wanted milk or juice it had to be one with a lid and straw. There were fits. I also washed all the sippy cups and then put them away. Out of site out of mind, but since you have 2 younger ones, that might be harder. Good luck.

Have you tried putting just water in it or using a different nipple or bottle? He may be attached to a certain nipple and switching it may help him lose interest. My daughter was hooked on the bottle for nap time and night time. We started putting water in her bottle and she lost inerest. We also would give her a sippy cup of warm milk as an alternative and she preferred the milk, of course. She stopped using the bottle at about 2 1/2. We did try taking it away a few times and that was a total disaster. I think not making a big deal out of the bottle helps too. It's like "you want what you can't have". Trying other soothing methods can help too. Like putting on his favorite movie, or going outside, or whatever he loves to do. Try not to replace it with food, I have a hard time not using food to sooth my daughter but I know it is a bad habit to get into. You could also try taking him to the store and letting him pick out some big boy cups and telling him that he can only use these big boy cups if he stops using the baby bottle. My daughter loves drinking out of adult cups like Mommy and Daddy and she loves cups with straws. My youngest brother was "on the bottle" until he was in kindergarten. He would get a bottle when my Mom would pick him up from school. I hope it doesn't go that far for you but it may be too late to take it away. You may just have to wait until he realizes he's a big boy and lets it go on his own, and keep finding creative ways to avert his attention. I hope this helps! Good Luck! NB

I recently happened to see an episode of Super Nanny where the parents were going through the exact same thing you are. The little boy (he was 3 or 4) didn't want to give up his bottle. The way around it was the nanny told the little boy what a big boy he was and that he didn't need the bottle anymore. The whole family (Mom and Dad were in on the plan and they did it together as a family). They worked their way up to the little boy throwing away the bottles that he used to use in the garbage can (that was the first major step) and the little boy had to throw them away on his own (Mom helped aim them into the garbage - they were at a beach in Hawaii and it was a city trash can along the beach - not sure if throwing it into a city can makes a difference??). Anyway, the next major thing was that the father was in the ocean (ankle deep) and was like, "what's this??" - they put a sippee cup into the ocean on a string and made it seem like the Dad found it - they made this HUGE deal that it was the little boy's new "special cup" - his very own to use and not his brother's or anyone else's. You could do something like that (maybe not on the beach in Hawaii, but come up with your own creative plan on how the "special cup" arrives for your little boy). It totally worked too - the little boy never went back to the bottle after that.

Another thing it could possibly be is that your little boy wants to be like a baby - especially with two other little ones in your home. My mom told me that when I was little, I wanted off the bottle and wanted to use a cup like my older sister. I got off the bottle early, but then when I saw a baby with a bottle, it hit home and I really felt like I was missing out. It just looked like it was more fun than a cup, I guess.

Anyway, good luck to you!

S. (Mom of Jackson - 3 years old Sept. 8th)

Hey there K.,

The other moms made great suggestions. You know though if you keep giving in he'll keep pushing. He is just at that age. My boy will be three in Aug. His vise is TV. He will throw a whopper of a fit when I say TV time is over. I have to put my foot down, I'm the mom and I say what goes.

So, I suggest you do the same. Put that mom foot down, and take those bottles out of the house all together like the other mom suggested. Tell him big boys don't use bottles babies do. It won't scar him for life or anything. He has just turned the bottle into a power struggle. Kids at this age love doing that!

Keep up the great work, I know you have a lot on your plate!!!!

With love,
JW

This is what I did, for my daughter, when she was 2 1/2: One night, while she was sleeping, I threw all the bottles, nipples, etc., away. The next morning, when she woke up and saw they were gone, she asked for her "baba." I told her that the "bottle boober" had come and took them for a baby that needed them; and that she was a big girl, who didn't need them, anymore. - For my older daughter, who was 4, we threw out her pacifiers, and told her that the "binky boober" took the binkies for a baby that needed them. It worked, quite well.

Get rid of the bottles!!!! Let him help you throw them out... or in the local body of water so the "baby fish" can have them. The fact that he knows they will be gone will help him get over it sooner.. Letting him have his way will keep the situation going.

I've never had this problem before, since mine were breastfed, but my niece did have a binky until she was two. My sister cut the nipple and had her throw it away. That was the only thing that worked for her. It still took a few fussy nights before she finally went to sleep without any help. You might try somehow "breaking" the bottle and then having your son throw it away. He will still be a little fussy when he thinks that he needs a bottle, but if you stand firm and never give in, then it should only take a couple of days for him to realize that you are not going to give him a bottle. Then, he will quit fussing for one. I hope that this helps.

K.,
You may not like what I have to say, but your son has learned that if he cries hard enough and long enough you WILL give in and he will get what he wants. You may think you are going to lose your mind but you have to stick to your guns. Empower yourself!!!
YOUR ARE THE MOMMY!!! YOU ARE THE ADULT!!! YOU ARE THE PARENT!!!
Continue to tell yourself this, over and over. It will be especially difficult with a newborn in the house, but as long as you give in, the 3 year old is the boss and in complete control. I recently had a request about an issue that was difficult for me and when the mothers began to give me info to help me empower myself, I was so excited and am now winning my own battle! Hooray!
Good luck and God bless you as you try to stay sane!

Maybe if you just get rid of the bottles altogether, and then he will soon understand that he can't have one because their isn't one to be had. I don't know if that's a good idea or not, but it is one option.

Bottle = PLAIN Water only.

Cup = Juice, milk, whatever.

As long as you follow that rule, two things are guaranteed:

1. It won't hurt his teeth if he takes a bottle of water to bed until he's 20 (although it might make potty training and marriage more difficult).

2. He won't have much incentive, other than self comforting, to want the bottle.

S.

K.,
I think your son is just reacting to haveing a new baby in the house also. He sees baby being held and cuddled with a bottle and he may feel some jelousey(?).
When I broke my daughter of the bottle it was hard at first. But I gave her a sippy cup. and told her all her bottles went to the bottle fairy. Then when it was time to break of that did the same thing and gave her a cup with a straw in it. Its all a matter in time. Tell him that the baby needs it and he is a big boy.. Hope some of this had helped.
J.