Weaning off Bottle - Katy,TX

My advice is not to stress too much about it. It may not be as big a deal to them as you think it will be. I never had a problem getting my children to give up the bottle. I did the switch at about a year. With my daughter, 4 yrs., was a little concerned that it might be a problem because my friends had told me about their experience with it being difficult. I began with one switch a day. I think it was the morning since she was hungriest then and would be more likely to take the cup. I then moved on to the other bottles throughout the day. I did the bedtime bottle last. It only took a week to do the complete move to sippy cups. However, I had been doing water and watered down juice in the sippy cups for a few months already. I used the kind that were very similar to bottles first, I think they were Nuby. I went mostly by the age recommendations on the cups. That said, I did not let her ever go to bed with a bottle. I always held her in my lap in the rocking chair at night. Once she finished I would lay her down. She did use a paci, so I think that helped satisfy the "suck for comfort" need. With my son, 2 yrs, it was even easier. I was expecting problems with him because he seemed more attached to the bottle than my daughter was. However, at a year I just went straight to the cup. One day I just stopped the bottle completely. My doctor recommended I try it because there may not be a problem at all...and there wasn't. Again I had been using sippy cups with him for water and juice for a few months. So it wasn't totally new to him. I used the same cups I had with my daughter. Now he uses open cups and the cups with straws. I did the same thing with him at night that I did with my daughter. When they moved to cups, I would let them have a cup right before bed at the table. No cups in their rooms. He also used a paci, though. Again my advice is not to stress about this. Bottles can be a pain to wash each day, but sippy cups aren't much easier. Also, don't let society or pressure from others dictate when your children should do things. I am guessing that no matter how attached they may be now...they will move to cups before kindergarten.

First off I would stop letting them go to sleep with a bottle. It's a bad practice health wise because they end up sleeping with all that bad bacteria and lactic acid in their mouths. (Cavities, gingivitis, plaque) When I weaned my little one, I moved her to sippy cups during the day. At dinner (since she was more prone to be cranky then), I let her choose between a "baby bottle" or a "big girl cup". Slowly but surely she stopped asking for the bottle and got more excited about the sippy cup. She's 2 1/2 now and still uses her sippy cups. But, I started transitioning her to the "big girl cups" with no lids. She's getting the hang of it. And, I no longer have to pack a sippy cup when we go out since she knows how to drink from a straw, cup or water bottle! Good luck!

Unlike the other posters, my kids each had bottles until they were 3. They were soy formula drinkers, and that stuff used to smell awful--no one would touch it in a sippy cup! They also drank a bottle right before bed--each child has had only one cavity & they are 29, 25, & 20. I flet better about them drinking bottles because they were such picky eaters! And peer pressure (preschool) got them to give up the bottles willingly! By then they could drink milk, though. You're the mom...if bottles make your life easier and the kids are healthy & happy, I'd say do what works for y'all & lie to the pediatrician! Odds are, he/she hasn't stayed home 24/7 with cranky toddlers...hope this helps & good luck!

I am thinking that by this time they are just taking milk in their bottles and probably juice and water in a cup at this point. I would just start by replacing the first bottle of the day with a sippy cup. Maybe take them to the store and have them pick out new special cups. After a few days of that going pretty well then I would replace any other bottle they take in the daytime. After that is going well, I would give them milk with dinner and then just something to drink if they ask for it, but I would just do water as bedtime gets closer. Also, I don't know if you read to them before bed, but maybe by adding something comforting and relaxing to their bedtime routine they will adjust better. I think it will be better for their teeth as well to not use a bottle at night. Also don't worry if they tend to reject the milk in the cup at first, mine sure did! But after a week or so he was doing great with it. So give them a chance to get comfortable. I am working to get my newly 2yr old to stop drinking after dinner as much as possible to get him to sleep through the night without peeing, so I think getting them off the bottle will help when it is time to potty train as well. Best wishes!

Bless you! First of all, you are AMAZING! When we weaned our 2nd child, we started putting less and less formula each night and then switched to water. With the 3rd, water only at night time and never in the bed. Once she started rejecting the water, "out of sight, out of mind" we just got rid of the bottles completely. Whatever you decide you will be in for a fight, especially with 4! Just be strong and stick it out.

Prepare them for a special "bye-bye" bottle day and let them pick out special cups to use instead of the bottle. Have them put the bottles in a box, for example, and "send" them away.
This would be the opposite of what a previous poster suggested (gradual getting rid of) but I think if your kids missed them it would only be for 3 or 4 days and then you would be done!
Good luck!