Weaning from Bottle

when I had my two oldest girls I breastfed them for the first year but gave them milk and juice in bottles. I didn't wean them from a bottle until they were two . Big mistake! Once they are over a yr old it becomes a bad habit one that is entirely to hard to break. The bottle becomes less of a feeding instrument and more of a comforting device. Find a sippy cup that he likes and work on giving him the comfort he needs. My son and 3rd dd never had a bottle except on rare occasions and it made things much easier. They happily took sippy cups at 4/5mos old. My 2yo never new what a bottle was so I'm grateful that I've never had to wean her from that

He's not too young. If you let this go much longer, you'll have an even harder time getting him to give up the bottle. With my duaghter, who is now 21 months, we replaced the bottle with another thing that she liked - reading a book on waking, then saving the milk in a sippy for breakfast, for example. For the afternoon bottle we changed it to a snack with some water. She cried at first, but then got used to it. The bedtime bottle was the last one to go. Since we always gave her milk in a sippy at dinner, we just didn't give it to her at all and she never missed it, as long as we did the rest of her bedtime routine. We did this all when she was between 13 & 16 months. He'll adapt. You'll probably have a harder time than he will!

I breastfed my girls so they only got bottles when someone would babysit for me. I started both of them on sippy cups at 5 months old. Nuby makes a sippy cup that has a soft spout that works more like a nipple than other sippys. I would give that a try if you have a hard time with regular sippy cups. He's definitely not too young to switch. As for when you give it to him, I only gave my girls milk first thing in the morning and before bed. They drink water or watered down juice the rest of the day. Though my 3 year old now seems to want milk all the time, but she's only drinking 2%, not whole milk. Anyway, it might take a few days, but he'll get used to it eventually. Just keep trying and don't give in. Good luck.

Hey Stepanie! You and I should exchange email addresses! We have a lot in common. I'm a 37 yr old newly single mom of a 15 month old boy living in Shillington. Sounds like we're going through a lot of the same things!

My son seems to develop a little slower than some of the other kids we know (like from daycare). he's always been fussy even with bottles preferring one specific type of nipple over any others. I'm now trying to switch him to sippy cups and it's a major battle. He's never been willing to hold his own bottle and sippy cups become projectiles in my house! lol He will now drink from the cup IF I HOLD IT for him. He CAN hold it. He just doesn't want to. (I think he's training me! Anyway... I'm giving him formula in the moring and at night. During the day I give him milk or water in his sippy cup. My son has major constipation problems too. He's had them ever since he switched to solid food. In fact, my doctor told me to give him half a cap of Miralax in a bottle every day until the constipation problem is no longer an issue. Problem is, it never goes away for any period of time so I'm giving him a stool softener every other day.

Good luck with your baby! Feel free to shoot me an email at ____@____.com!

We transitioned my son about 2 weeks before 1 year as he was moving into a new room at daycare and was only allowed 1 sipping cup. At first I was annoyed at the forced transition, but it was great. We started with his morning bottle and left his nighttime one for last as to not disrupt his bedtime routine. We switched one out a week. Alternatively, instead of switching to a standard sippy (my favorite are the Nuby, but if your son is anything like mine, he'll learn to put his thumb through the sippy part & destroy the spill-proof valve; the Gerber with the hard lids are what I use now), try switching to a sippy cup with a straw. My son is the same age as yours and he has a straw sippy cup that he also uses & LOVES it. He gets this HUGE smile whenever we give it to him. We got him to use it by me pretending to drink from it, and then handing it to him & making loud sipping noises. The only thing to watch is that he doesn't tip it up b/c then the liquid won't go up the straw. My cousin was told by their pediatrician to go from the bottle straight to a straw sippy cup (around the same time as my son) & they've had no issues. Good luck.

Hi S.,

I have three children ages 9, 7, & 5. I think it is perfectly fine for your son to still have his bottle. They are only little for such a short time. Time flies soooo fast! If he wants his bottle, let him have his bottle and enjoy this precious time! He won't take his bottle forever - one day he just won't ask for it anymore. I think some Dr.s go to much by the book with these things. My last child would take a bottle in the morning until she was almost 3 and she is perfectly fine!!! Enjoy this time with your son and good luck!

Missy

S.,
I went cold turkey on both of my kids. At one year we made the switch. Had them help in the process of getting rid of baby bottles and moving to the big kid cups.( sippy cups). There are plenty to choose from. If you do the cold turkey thing it may be hard but he should be over within a few days. have him help you pick out a couple of different sippy cups. This may help him move on. I hope it helps.
L.

I started weaning some of the daytime bottles at 10 months so by the time my daughter was one year old, she got only a bedtime bottle. By 12 1/2 months, no more bottle, only sippy cups. She was very easy to wean, though.

I think that you should transition him to sippy cups. may be once you start he will like it. give him other things to drink such as juice which you dilute do half water and half juice and give him water. juice will probably help his bowel movements. a child his age should drink 21 to 32 ounces of milk a day.if you are worried about him getting enough dairy give him baby yogurts such as yo baby which is organic and come in a variety of flavors. it may be hard to do sippy cups and bottles. my son is 11 months old and has been doing a sippy cup since he was 7 months old. it is not being mean to have him drink out of a sippy cup and not the bottle, it is time. try the playtex sippy cups they work great and are pretty leak proof and spill proof.

Hello,
I don't have an answer for you, but I'm having the same issues with my 15mo old twin girls. My pediatrician told me the same thing. I have tried three different sippy cups and they won't take to any of them. If you get any rreally good advice for this issue, would you mind sending it to me?
Thank you,
M.
____@____.com

Gerbert has a sippy cup that is like a bottle. It has a spill proff top you drink from, but you have to suck it like a bottle. Also when they are ready for the next step you can take the peice out and it becomes a sippy cup. It has stages for it, and worked great with my God daughter. They don't like bottles because it damages their teeth, which happen to my daughter. I would give her milk for bed, even though I brushed her teeth before bed, and when she woke up, but she ended up with bottle rot, which is one of the worse things. Try giving him plain water for bed, he will eventually start to drink it. Also the bottle for children that have teeth can cause your child to get buck teeth, where they push out farther.

At my boys 1st B-Days it was bye bye bottle & binkie! Get rid of the bottles completely, throw them away. The kid won't dehydrate. Make sure there is no crutch for you to go back to. He'll get the message soon enough. You aren't hurting him by making him grow up, you're helping him. It may be a tough couple of days, but when its over its over. Don't go half way and stop, it will be worse than if you never started, because he'll know you have a breaking point. And he'll know you have a breaking point for other things in the future.

Good Luck!

Hi S.,
My son refused bottles at 7 months (I breast fed when I was home with him) so it was quite a challenge! He did start using the sippy cup around that time, but he only liked the cheap, take and toss ones. They are easier to get the liquid out of then the ones with the valves inside. He is now 14 months and uses any kind of sippy cup, but we had a struggle at first. Try to give your son other liquids in the cup first and then transition to milk. If you get rid of the bottles and he really wants milk, he will use the cup. It may be a rough few days, but you will get through it! good Luck.
-J.

What I did with my son was let him have his before bed-before brushing bottle at night only. Be prepared for sippy-rejection but they do get it. Maybe he would prefer a cup with a straw? Also, I used to warm my son's milk for the sippy and he didn't really bat an eye. How about adding a little vanilla flavor ONLY in the sippy milk so it seems like something new & different?

We used to put our daughter and son to bed with a bottle..it never harmed their teeth! My daughter has never had a cavity! I really think that the 2 year old mark is when they both gave it up....you do have to be persistent with the sippy cups. Keep trying them and eventually they will go for that instead of the bottle!

I agree with your pediatrician. Your son should be drinking from a sippy cup at this age.

I am a SAHM of 3 ages 8, 3 and 1. My oldest was drinking from sippy cups when she was 12 months old. The other two were interested in the sippy cups on their own at 10 months.

Breaking your son of the bottle will not be easy. But, in my opinion, the best way is just to throw away all of the bottles and only offer him sippy cups from now on. He will get the idea that he can't have the bottle and he will drink from the sippy cup.

Good luck.

I weaned all of my kids around 1 yr old to sippy cups. It was fairly easy, but I had to experiment with a few different cups to find one that they liked. Eventually they all took to the Playtex type with 2 handles. Take your time, but I would suggest stopping the nighttime bottles first because of the risk of bottle mouth. Good luck.

Hi S.

I agree with the Mom's who say get rid of the bottle. The longer you wait, the harder it will be and it is only a delivery method for his liquids. My son was 9 months old when he learned how to use a sippy cup so I stopped giving him a bottle then. My daughter took until she was 11 months old to figure out how to use the cup but as soon as she did that was the end of the bottle. Just pick a day and go cold turkey. No more bottle. It's better for his teeth anyway, so keep telling yourself you are saving dental and orthodontist fees by getting rid of it now.

I've been told by many doctors over many years that a bottle is only a tool for Mom to feed her child, a replacement for the breast. If I child can hold his own bottle, he can hold his own cup. When a child can hold his own bottle and tip it back to drink, then he certainly has the dexterity to transition to a cup. My 21 year old transitioned before a year old. My 13 year old started the transition at 6 months and never looked back. My triplets took longer because they were born 2 months early and took the longest time to learn to tip their bottles back. If they couldn't tip back their bottles there's no way they could tip back their cups. They were over a year old. It' not good for a child's teeth either to be sucking on a bottle.

K. B
mom to 5 including triplets
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HarrisburgPAChat

I had the same issue with my son. I started giving him a nuby you can get them at walmart. he took that pretty good because it looks like a sippy cup but has the soft nipple. also, he will let you know when he is ready because it may be his attachment like some kids are to blankets or binkys. don't stress over it and give him time. When my son was first on the nuby he had a bottle only when he woke up and went to bed. give him time.

S.,
Although I breastfed my kids, I pumped and the kids had bottles of pumped milk the 2-3 days a week I was at work when they were very little. I stopped using bottles as soon as they turned six months old, moving to the sippy cup, and there never was a problem or any desire to turn back. One of my sisters in law did not breast feed, and she also switched her kids to sippy cups at some time before a year, without a problem. Good luck!

Hi S.!
Is the bottle a problem, or too much milk? I weaned my youngest off the bottle w/a NUBY sippy cup. The tops are soft like a bottle nipple and it worked wonders! Good luck! Oh, you can get them anywhere - I'm gotten them at both the dollar store and Target.

S.,
He really should not be drinking milk before bed. It is not good for his oral hygeine. My son is 16 months old and I stopped cold turkey at 13 months. He was never attached to a bottle so he was only getting one before bed. Now he brushes his teeth (help from mommy and daddy) and we have cut out the bottle completely. I threw it away. I threw all of them away at 1 with the exception of the 1. He has been using the sippy since 3 months (water to begin with). It is hard to get him to drink milk from his sippy but he gets it in his yogurt, cheese, cereal, ice cream etc... If he is thirsty enough he will drink it and I know he likes it because he drank it from his bottle. It took him a week to get used to not having the bottle in his routine andhe would lay in his bed and talk and coo but now he goes to sleep right away and I know that his teeth will not be decayed due to the milk laying on them at night in his saliva. Maybe give one bottle in the morning and cut out the one at night for good. DO NOT give in! Stick to your guns and eventually he will get used to it. Wait anotther month or 2 and then stop it completely.
Good luck
Chris

Here's another option to cut back on the milk.Start with adding one ounce of water,and one less ounce of milk.Do this for a few days,gradually change to 2 ounces of water,so the bottle is less appealing.After a couple of weeks,add another ounce of water,and less milk.You should be able to be at about 3 ounces of water and 3 ounces of milk within a month.It should be enough to have a ippy cup much more appealing.Keep the sippy cup all milk.You could try heating the sippy cup a bit,if he has his bottle still heated.A cup with a straw might also work.

Thanks for posting this thread. I have read everyone's advice and decided my son Tanner (almost 15 months old) was ready to go without the bottle. We are now done day 3 without it and doing very well! Cold turkey is the way to go. I was a bit nervous at first - especially because he does not eat much at meal times, but he seems to be doing just fine. Good luck to you and your son!
-Cynthia
Also a 32 year old mom

With the exception of my first child whom I was told to have off the bottle at 15 months, my other 3 were off by or before their first birthday. I took away a bottle at a time starting with the night time bottle which seems to be the habit forming bottle. I used to feed them their food first for meals making the bottle secondary. I will say my pediatrician said I did not need to do that and that I should at 12 months just take them off cold turkey.

With my oldest child, who is now 11 years old, I was told by her Dr to start sippy cups at around 6 months. Basically when they can sit up and start to hold the cup on their own. I thought is was early to start that, but I did it with all 3 kids and it worked great. Good luck!

Hi,
I weaned both of my children from the bottle at 9 months,took about a month and was giving bottle only at night.By 10 months it was sippy cup only.I also had them off the pacifier by 6 months so this probably made it easier.

S.,

You should DEFINITELY get rid of the bottle now. It can cause tooth decay and other mouth issues if it's used much past 15 months. With my son, we just took the bottle away completely one day and his only option was a cup. Obviously, he quickly took to the cup because he had no other option. We told him that only babies use bottles and that he was a big boy. The bottles went in a closet where he couldn't find them and the cup became his only option. Hope this helps and good luck!

HI S., You should listen to your doctor and get rid of those bottles right away! Using a bottle or binky after the 1 year mark really puts your child's teeth & bite at risk. You can start by seeing which bottle is the "most important" then keep that time for the last one to stop. It's just like breaking any bad habit...or starting a good habit, you take one step at a time. Chose a bottle time to elimate then give him a cup instead at that time every day. After a few days pick a second time, then a third and so on til your down to one bottle a day. Then tackle that last one. It won't be easy, espically since he is old enough now that he is asking for them. You will have a few tears & begging and fighting...some of your own too! But you have to stay strong and think of his dental health as well as his constipation. Offer him water & juice as well (watch the juice thing though because there is lots of hidden sugar even in 100% juice juice.) My girls seemed to like juice boxes before they got "into" using sippy cups (might have something to do with sucking up a straw!). There are also some great sippy cups out there with silicon "sippys" that you almost have to suck on to drink from that he might be happier with. I bought one for the little one I babysit and he loves it I got it at Walmart for under $2 this spring.
The big thing is to offer it consistantly. Even if he doesn't use it right away. If you warm his bottle, warm the sippy cup of milk until he gets used to it. Serve the juice at room temp instead of cold. You might also want to give him yogurt as a substitute for his milk. I have found that little ones really like the "custard" or "thick & creamy" style of yoplait. It's easy to feed them, there is no big chunks of fruit and no need to stir it. It is also a great yogurt for them to use to feed themselvs as it doesn't ouze off the spoon! It may also help his consipation and is a great sourse of calcium & vitamins. Good luck, best wishes and stay strong!!

All three of my children were weaned from the bottle shortly before their first birthdays. We started introducing a sippy cup with water around 5-6 months with meals. I know does not help you know. But, my suggestion is if he does not like a sippy cup, try one of those "sippy-type" cups that has a soft rubber straw. All of my kids, even at 5-6 months did better with those intially. Hope that helps!