Weening from Bottle - Carrollton,TX

Try moving to a Nuby then to sippy cup. www.luvncare.com

S.
My 16 month old daughter also had reflux, although it was just a minor case. At first she could keep nothing down at all, but other than that she was fine. She had never really been sick until about 2 days before her first birthday. We rushed her to the ER and when we got there her fever had spiked at 105 degrees. It was a kidney infection/uti. It was awful, but another thing about it that was pretty bad was I had begun weaning her from a bottle a couple of weeks prior to the illness but all she had in the hospital was a bottle, so that erased all of our progress. At 14 months I decided I was taking her off of the bottle whether she liked it or not because I had heard horror stories of rotted teeth (which actually did happen to me as a child on the bottle). I just threw them all out and gave her a cup. The Nuby's with the rubber spouts help... that is still all she will really drink out of although she is starting to take to the hard spouts as well. She adapted very easily. I was worried about getting her to sleep at night without a bottle, but there has never been a problem. All children are different, so the first few days might be a little rough but they get used to it. I've talked to my friends about weaning from the bottle and the longest anyone has said it took was about a week. In my opinion, it would be a lot easier to wean a malleable 14 month old than a stubborn 2 year old. Hope all goes well!
K.

A friend of mine used a neat technique that would buy you a little time... Assuming that you celebrate Christmas, you start around Halloween talking to him about babies who need bottles/pacifiers (or diapers when that time comes) and when Christmas comes you sit with him on Christmas Eve to wash and wrap all the bottles and pacifiers up for Santa to give to kids who need them.

Then, when he wants it you remind him (maybe keep a Christmas book around for a couple of months) that some little baby is so thankful for the bottle he sent with Santa.

Meanwhile you ceremoniously (with a glass of much deserved wine) TOSS the bottles and paci's in a BLACK garbage bag, never to be seen again!

This certainly can be modified to fit other holiday celebrations as well!

Hope it helps.

This may not be a very popular opinion, but why do you have to wean him now? Because your doctor says it's "time?" Why can't you wait until your son says it's time? I can assure you that you won't be sending him off to Kindergarten with his bottle.;)

My daughter, now 5, had a bottle until she was about two (by that time it was only at bedtime). She just stopped wanting it...no struggles, no crying for it, no stress for either of us. IMO, THAT is more important and far healthier for mommy and baby than following a pedi's timeline. That's also how we did the potty training; she was in diapers until she was three, but she did it herself when she was ready and there was no "training" involved.

You know your son better than anybody else, including his doctor. If that baby needs a few more months of having a bottle, I say let him have it! It sounds like the oor thing has been through quite enough already without having something he loves taken away when he's not ready.

Good luck to you, regardless of your decision!

My daughter did not have reflux but when I transitioned her from the bottle to the sippy cup, I first got her used to whole milk by putting it in her bottle (and yes I was a sucker of a mom and warmed up the milk first). I figured since it would taste different then the formula so I wanted her to get used to that first. So I fed her the warm milk in a bottle only for her naps and at bedtime. But at meals I gave her whole milk in a sippy cup (cold). She wasn't crazy about it but she did not have a fit over it either. I also do 1/2 water and 1/2 apple juice once or twice during the day just to get her used to the sippy cup. And she loves juice so that was easy and it's so hot she always drains it so I feel better knowing she's getting plenty of fluids. So after warming her milk in the bottle for about 2 weeks, I would warm it up less and less each time. Then one day I put her down for a nap without a bottle at all and she went right down. Then that night I did the same thing...and that was it for the bottles! And this was just about a month ago and she was almost 15 months old. My Dr. said it's ok for babies to have a bottle til their about 16 months old so my goal was to be done with them by this time and it worked like a charm. Hope this helps!

Whoa S.,
Did you describe my son? Minus the tubes, that's his situation, except he's 13.5 mo and I'm having another baby in Jan. The ped dentist told me last week that the paci is not as immediate an issue as the bottle. He LOVES it. If he even sees it or hears the word (which we have to spell now) he goes WILD. How can you take that away from a child? But I don't want his teeth to rot out of his head either! Will your son touch a cup? Mine won't except for water-he'll do the nuby, but NO hard spouts whatsoever. We tried whole milk and soy milk, and were asked to do rice milk by the GI. I decided to keep him on formula against their recommendation b/c my son is smaller, well slenderer for his height and I think he needs the fat. My son is also on reglan and prevacid. What does your son take? Does your son still wake at night for bottles? Mine does, sometimes twice. And, I often wonder, is it that he wants the milk to neutralize the acid? I totally feel your frustration. Have you come to a decision as to whether you personally feel it's necessary to cease the bottle? I feel confused!

If you'd ever like to talk or get together, we'd be game (don't know where you're located??). I was always searching for an AR/Milk Allergy support group when William was much smaller and never found one.

R.

I never thought my (now 3 years old) daughter would give up her bottle - she was almost 2 before I could get rid of the evening bottle. Perfect teeth - perfect speech, no lasting problems. I would say try to wean off one at a time - leaving the most comforting bottle time for last. If it takes a while - don't worry. You sound very busy, and this may be what he needs to comfort him at times. He won't go to kindergarten with it - I promise. If he's still on a paci - don't worry about that until 2. The pediadontist said it isn't a problem if they aren't an "active" sucker. Most aren't. Good luck!