Help with the bottle

Taylor - posted on 07/23/2010

I know it sounds terrible, but just throw the bottles out. We just got rid of our son's pacifiers this way. It was hard, because he cried and cried at bed and nap times, but after 3 days it was over. We just comforted him often and offered other replacements (stuffed animals), which he did not want at first. But once he realized he wasn't going to get what he wanted by crying, he fussed less and less. No he has a soothie and a stuffed animal. He was 15 1/2 months when we did it.

Sarah - posted on 07/22/2010

My daughter is on whole milk as well. She does the same thing, she will cry for hours if I let her for a bottle. Its ridiculous!

Jennifer - posted on 07/22/2010

My son is 15 months old and will not give up the bottle. We have tired many times and all he will do it cry for well over a hour and as soon as we take him out he will fall asleep in our arms. He still wakes up at night and I have tried giving him a sippy cup but he just gets mad and throws it then it up on and off for a half hour to a hour. So I am in the same boat and looking for help. He is on whole milk.

Donna - posted on 07/21/2010

My 15 month old is breastfed, but the principle is the same - babies have a suck reflex that they don't grow out of until 3 years of age I've been told. You can even see them suck while they sleep which older children & adults don't do. Its a natural reflex need that she has to want to suck. If sucking is taken away altogether she may relieve that need by doing something else (hair twirling, thumb/finger/dummy sucking, toy attachment) maybe a sippy cup could help?

EMMY-JO - posted on 07/21/2010

Hi,
I have been having so much trouble with my son aswell. But what i found was his bottle (dr. brown's) has a fast spout... so, of course why fight with a sippy cup that i have to suck at when the bottle just pours milk right into my mouth...I am going to try the other plan that my sitter told me about instead of going cold turkey...i'm gonna try going from the fast nipple to the slow nipple... he will have to work a little harder with the slower flow forcing him to suck ..... at which point when transitioning to the sippy it will be easier ... and won't want the bottle.... I hope... I've tried every brand of sippy cup and he'll drink water from it but he soooooo will not use it to drink milk from it...

Kelly - posted on 07/21/2010

Have you tried sippy cups with a soft tip? That's what I used for my son and he went almost cold turkey off the bottle.

Shealan - posted on 07/21/2010

I Wouldnt stress over it. When she is ready you will know. Sometimes its like a security blanket. Try only giving it at night for last feeding. I did that for a while & was able to eventually bag the bottle all together. :) Good luck!!!!

Sarah - posted on 07/21/2010

Yea I have tried those and she seemed to despise them. It was weird that she will take a bottle but not those.

Jessica - posted on 07/21/2010

have you tried the sippy cups with the soft straws made out of the same stuff nipples on bottles are?

Kristen - posted on 07/18/2010

What kind of sippy do you use? I had a little bit of trouble switching my daughter when she was about 7 months and then I figured out she didn't like the cups with hard spouts, like Dr. Browns, she likes the chewy ones, like the Munchkin ones. Once I got her the kind she liked, we were switched, cold turkey, with no complaints.

Kim - posted on 07/18/2010

My advice is that you just throw them out. lol Easier said than done. The first night will be extremely hard for the both of you but it will get easier. You just have to stick to it and be consistent.

Helen - posted on 07/18/2010

HI Danielle is just over 15 months now and she still has her bottles she has about 7 oz in a morning and another oen at bedtime it is her comfort and I have not got it in me to take it away, sometimes in the day she will still have one too, as long as she is happy so am I xx

Lamiya - posted on 07/18/2010

Agreed with all who have sipper, i just bought a sipper one day n kept her on water for a day and from night started sipper, she didnt had it first but then she had no choice but to have it, so try it with a good sipper and i m sure its gonna work for u also.. :)

Tenile - posted on 07/16/2010

with my son he stopped using the bottle at 9mths old with my daughter shes now 15mths she has been off the bottle since she was 10 mths old what your probably gonna have to do is just take it away and tell her no bottle you have a sippy and just let her have the sippy and let her cry i had to do this with my daughter and dont give in if you think shes crying to hard go in pick her up and reassure her everythings alright and put her back in bed and leave the room again after donin this a few times she should be done with the bottle she will want it if she sees it but she shouldnt cry for it basically replace the bottles with soft top sippy's then slowly adjust her to the hard ones but if you put her to bed with it and she has teeth give her water cause shell probably chew it and make it leak

Lynda - posted on 07/16/2010

Hi
I have the same problem as well with my 15mth old son,he has milk from a bottle when i change his nappy from waking up,
will only go to sleep in afternoon with bottle and before he goes to bed we still hold him while he has a bottle. We know its a COMFORTING THING he doesn't fall asleep on the night bottle and will go to sleep by himself once we put him in the cot.
I will try some of the suggestions offered and hope things work out soon.BEST OF LUCK TO EVERYONE ELSE

EMMY-JO - posted on 07/15/2010

Hi,
Don't feel bad I am having the same problem with my son. I can't seem to get him off the bottle either and he's 14 months. Argh, I'm gonna take this advice and try let you know how it goes.

Sarah - posted on 07/15/2010

Well tonight will be the first night I try to go completley without a bottle for her!

Karla - posted on 07/14/2010

I tried the sippy cups with the silicone spouts, its a better transition from the bottle to the cup. Good luck.

Sarah - posted on 07/13/2010

Well, she didn't take a single bottle today...although she was really really sick so that was most likely why. She took some gatorade but not a bottle.

Anna - posted on 07/13/2010

Eventually she will give it up, but you have trained her to cry for it, because it sounds like you give in every time :-) You have to stick it out and just let her cry it out.. throw it away- then you can't give it to her.

Chairty - posted on 07/13/2010

buy a sippy cup that looks like a bottle and eventually she will drop it

Donna - posted on 07/13/2010

I just stopped giving my kids bottles at 12 months they both would cry at sleep times but it only lasts about 15 mins and after 3 days they dont cry anymore

Lynda - posted on 07/13/2010

My daughter wont give hers up either at night, or nap for that fact
she will take a sippy while playing but when it comes down to rest time its bottle time. We have done everything possible to get her not to take it even going the out of sight out of mind route and I will tell you she wont that battle. I gave in after an hour of her screaming her head off at full speed and not showing any sign of stopping.

Sarah - posted on 07/13/2010

Thanks everyone for your advice! I will try any method at this point.

Yvonne - posted on 07/13/2010

I hate tosay it but if you are really determined to get rid of the bottle then the cold turkey method is best. It will be tough and awful and she will cry and you will cry and you will feel like the worst mother in the world but in 1 weeks time you feel like a million dollars when you put her to bed and she goes down no problem. The benefits hugely outweigh the stress of weaning her off it. Good luck and stay strong!!!! xx

Sarah - posted on 07/13/2010

Sometimes she will go to sleep without a bottle but then she will wake up once or twice a night for one.

Chrissy - posted on 07/12/2010

My daughter was having a hard time drinking milk out of anything but the bottle. Even though she can use the sippy cup, cup with straw, etc. too. She would cry until we gave in... I decided to try yet another sippy cup (Pampers Stage 4). At the store we called it a bottle (and we still do-I figure we can fix that later) because it happened to be right by all the bottles at Babies R Us. She switched over to using it no problem! It has a top very much like a bottle. She is even asking for milk at meal time on top of her milk throughout the day.

Sara - posted on 07/12/2010

It was hard but i simply took the bottle away one night. Our daughter, Shelby, also used it to help herself to sleep. I was also simultneously putting her down to sleep instead of rocking her. Her Dad was away for a couple weeks and it was taking me almost an hour and a half every night to get her to sleep even with a bottle. It seemed as if she was wanting more bottle and that was not the direction I was willing to go. I also figured since she was making it such a rough time at bedtime it couldn't get much worse to get rid of the bottle while we were at it. My daughter used the sippy cup, but did not want anything to do with it when there was milk in it until her bottle was gone. Believe me if they want milk they'll get it. The first night without was horrible, about 20 minutes before I gave in and tried rocking her to sleep, then I left the room and it was less than 5 minutes before she was out for the best nights sleep she'd ever had. Since then she's sleeping sometimes in less than 5 minutes. Heaven!!! I swear by using a clock to time how long I let her cry before I go and snuggle her, even now. When they cry it seems like an eternity. Good luck!

Linda - posted on 07/12/2010

She has to learn how to sleep without it, period.Let her cry and not win you over and she will learn how to fall asleep without it. Good luck!

Sarah - posted on 07/12/2010

Yes she usually gets the bottle in her crib. I didn't think about it being a comfort thing though.

Rebekah - posted on 07/12/2010

Are you giving it to her in the crib? If so, it's probably part of her comfort/sleep routine. Try giving it to her just before she goes to bed, holding her. Cara gave up the bedtime bottle herself after we had transitioned her to cups for all other meals and snacks. We also do a bedtime snack, after bath.

Sarah - posted on 07/11/2010

That is not a bad idea at all. I never thought to try to give her a snack right before I lay her down instead of a bottle. I think I will try that!

Jessica - posted on 07/11/2010

I am just getting my daughter off of her last two bottles and I have been giving her a snack right before going to sleep. (yogurt & fruit, cheese & crackers, etc). It has been a great success for nap time bottles. She is down to one bottle a day now and I think I will give this transition 2 weeks and then get rid of her bedtime bottle

Sarah - posted on 07/11/2010

Thats probably what I am going to have to do. I am going to have another baby in October and just do not want to have two babies on bottles at the same time.

Desiree - posted on 07/11/2010

it does break ur heart listening to them cry like that i kno but my friend had to do the same with her daughter. throw out all the bottles. some days she only drank once a day but she eventually learned that they werent coming back.

Sarah - posted on 07/10/2010

Yea, she was getting 7 or 8 oz in her bottles and I knocked it down to 5 or 6 and USUALLY she will go to sleep with that but sometimes she cries still. Everyone keeps telling me to just throw them away and if she really wants something she will drink it from a cup but hearing her cry for so long just breaks my heart.

Sherry - posted on 07/10/2010

Madelyn is still using a bottle as well, we only put 5 oz water in it (we started doing this at 12 months). We were hoping she'd realize she's not getting satisfied from it like her formula, but she still wants it.

She uses everything else just fine so we've come to terms with it being a comfort item just like her blanket and her seahorse for bedtime and naps.

I think with Breanna we slowly started putting less and less in it until she threw it over the crib before she passed out (lol). Good luck!