Weaning off the Bottle - Hutchinson,KS

My pediatrician grilled me about this so many times when my kids turned a year old, that I finally broke down and asked her WHY it was so important to get rid of the bottle? She kind of blinked at me in surprise and said "Well, because it will be harder to do as they get older."

Are you kidding me? All that fuss and misery over a hypothetical problem that I might have to deal with somewhere down the road? I decided right then and there that my daughter loved her night-time bottle and there's really NO difference between that and a "soft-tipped" sippy cup...so why bother? And when my pediatrician (or anyone else) asked about it, I just smiled and nodded and let them think she was off it. Because really, it's nobody's business but your own.

If you really do want to wean, though, you should use this site's search feature, because you're about the millionth person to ask this question and there's a lot of great advice out there. :-)

so give her a sippy at bedtime but what is the rush I broke both of mine at one but they were both ready for it.one kept picking up a glass and throwing his bottle down. and the other had a tippy type of spout called a nuby soft sipper spout and it made it real easy to break him. I dont see what the rush is.tell them its your kid and you will raise them your way. :) but try the sippy at bedtime. my 2 1/2 yr old still takes a tippy to bed. he puts himself back to sleep with it. I see no problem.

My son was on the bottle way past a year, I don't think there is any rush either. Later I learned from a friend her doctor told her that kids who have stuffy noses or adenoid problems are able to breathe easier going to bed with the sucking motion that only comes from the bottle - I just lied to the doctor that he wasn't using it anymore.

However, it is important at night to make sure it is only water in the bottle. The milk pooling in their mouth happens more with a bottle and it can cause teeth problems.

The bad habit of putting a baby to bed WITH a bottle can be broken by rocking the baby with the bottle and putting them to bed without it. If they get bottles in their crib they associate the crib with bottles and suckling.
I'd feed her then lay her down. Make sure she has a lovey of some sort to comfort her. If she wakes in the night, pat her, tuck her back in, remind her of her lovey, and just rub her back and sing a lullaby.

my niece just had to have her teeth pulled because she had a bottle to long. my doctor told me when they start waking they need to start to be transfered to a sippy. We used a soft tip sippy and then gave him a hard one and told him thats all he gets. and he was fine with that. my son started walking at 8months and was not attached to his bottle like some kids. and by two he was using a cup with minimal spills, nad now at almost three, NO spills :) good luck