Weening from Bottle

My son stopped using a bottle at 12 months, and I have to say it was pretty easy to do. He never got the hang of using a sippy cup and went right to using a cup with a straw. I'd say give that a try.

Well when my daughter was around that age, Santa Claus traded her bottles for presents. We left all her bottles out under the tree christmas eve, and in the morning of course they were gone. Let her be the one to put them under the tree.If she uses one to go to sleep, just be sure to take it out of the room and play it up as if santa came in her room and took that one too. My daughter thought it was the greatest thing. We did have one saved for emergency, (IF IT DIDNT WORK) but it did work. It worked so well that the easter bunny got to take her pacifiers that year also. If you dont celebrate, i recommend doing something like that. Its worth a try.

JeanMarie,

I was the mom to always believe that they will give it up when they want but that thought changed quick. Thankfully my daughter hasn't developed any bottle rott so I am not worried about that. My daughter was 22 months when I cut the bottle off. I cut it cold turkey one friday we said oh the bottles are in garbage and just went with the flow. Yes night time was hard but we got through it. My daughter did cry her lungs out she asked for bottle and I said "NO baby bottle is in garbage" and she let it go. My daughter never really likes the sippy cups so I let her drink from a normal plastic cup and it worked wonderfully. I also if you have a walmart they sell in juice aisle these princess juice bottles. They have like a bottle water spout to them. I replaced that for the bottle and it worked. They are reusable juice bottles and the spout is spill proof. I used that at night eventhough she didn't want it I had it next to her the whole night. Now 1 month later she drinks out of cup and goes to bed.

Good luck its not easy

What worked for my 2nd daughter was using a transition cup.
http://www.gerber.com/bf/products/transcup/index.html
Wal-mart has a pack of two for about $6. The "nipple" is a soft rubbery texture, it has a valve to prevent spilling and it's designed to encourage baby to use it on her own. At first I still did the bed time routine but using the cup. Then we went to giving the bed time beverage in the kitchen, then off to bed. It worked with little to no fussing.
I think the night time one should be the last to go. For the other two, just let her have the transition cup. If she wants to be held and rocked, fine for a couple weeks, but get her to hold the cup herself and shorten the time a bit every day.
No need to lose "cuddle time". Just make it for a different reason... perhaps a book??

Both my children were about a year when we got rid of the bottle...but to do it we used a sippy cup with a soft spout. I know my daughter liked the nuby (found at walmart) and the advent sippy. My son liked the gerber one with handles. At first they would only drink a little milk from it...but eventually they drank the whole cup. My son (18 months) still has his sippy of milk before nap at 12:30 and(3 1/2 years), milk before bed and nap, till we started potty training her at 2 and just gradually moved the milk up to when she got up in the morning and from nap. I hope this helps.

Hi,

I wish you lots of luck! this is a toughy! The way we did it was we took the least "important" bottles away first. His morning juice was first. It took a little time for him to get the hang of it (a few days). I was horrified. Let me just tell u briefly why...when my son was 5 days old he was in the medical ER for severe dehydration. I was trying to breastfeed thinking all was going well. WE had a HORRIBLE snow storm and could see the pediatrican until he was 5 days old instead of the 3 or 4 day as she would have liked since i was breastfeeding. We took him to his appointment and found out he was dehydrated (needless to say he got fluids and is now a bouncing, walking ,running 22 month old who is bottle free). but I digress...it was gut renching to watch him not drink his cup...finally he got the hang of it. When he did - we went to the first milk of the day. We did it while we were out one day and he took it...no prob! So then a few weeks later we did the second milk. We waited another month before doing his last milk of the night. Again at first he took aobut two sips but within two weeks he was on it and hasn't turned back. I sware by Playtex's stage three bottles. He took my friends daughters sippy and showed GREAT interest in it so we went out and bought them up! I think gradual is the way to go....we did that with the bottle and the pacifier and he hasn't looked back!

Good luck 2 u!

Hi Jeanmarie,,,

I used a combination of techniques to wean my first daughter.. The second gave up the bottle at 15 mos all on her own.... she cut 4 molars at once, and sucking was painful.. she switched to a sippy cup, and I threw all the bottles away so we wouldn't be temptedto go back.

With my older daughter I did it all gradually. After all, this is the only thing she had ever known. Talk about a habit! :-)

I'd start eliminating the afternoon bottle first. Tell her that if she is drinking a bottle she has to sit on the couch with you. If she wants to get up to play etc. her bottle cannot go with her. Eventually she'll want to explore more than she'll want to have her bottle.

Provide foods and juices that are calcium fortified. Continue to offer her milk in a snippy cup. When the afternoon bottle is gone for a while, start the process with the AM bottle.. gradually reduce the amount of milk you put in the bottle, till there are only a few sips available. Then offer more milk in a cup.

The evening bottle is the hardest, and it gives kids the most comfort.. Don't rush it.. Gradually work towards replacing the milk with water.. It's better for your baby, especially for her teeth..

The process can take up to six or eight weeks.. Permanent change is best achieved slowly.. almost so slowly that they don't notice it..

Good luck..

Just my opinion but if the doctor isn't worrying I don't know why you are. Each child is different and my oldest was a little more than 2 before he gave up his night time bottle while my middle was just under 2. Why does her drinking from a bottle seem to bother you so?

I would not stop cold turkey. Replace each bottle leaving the bedtime one for last.

The only two cups that helped my oldest was the Avent cup and the Parent's Choice I think it's called at Walmart. I also introduced it while we were visiting a cousin so I think that helped him want to try it.

Good luck but please don't stress over it. She will feel it and it won't help the situation.

Jeanmarie, First thing you need to do is forget about the calendar, you are putting undo stress on you and your child. since she only has 3 bottles a day, it really shouldn't be difficult. From the comment you made about cuddle time, I'm assuming you feed her the bottles. Start by letting her feed herself the morning bottle, then the afternoon bottle and so on. Once she is comfortable with that, start substituting a sippy cup for the bottle. Use the cup you use for juice, she is already comfortable with that one. As far as the night time bottle, I slowly replaced this with a water sippy cup that I left in the crib with them. They soon gave that up on their own.

I know this sounds harsh, but just get rid of the bottles. You can show her there are none around, and put a sellection of cups in front of her to choose from. She is smarter than you think. I had a friend that would let her son suck on the bottle to keep from the crying, I got tired of it on the way to the store and threw it out the window. He sat back and was fine. Your daughter keeps taking the bottle because you keep giving it to her when she will not take any thing else. Kids are very smart at that age, they know if they cry, you will pick them up, same with the bottle. they know if they cry you will give them what they want.