Help! Weaning a 1 yr. old off the Bottle

Erin - posted on 01/10/2009

Thanks Courtney and Tracey! I am worried about her not getting enough fluids so that's why I'm so hesitant with it all. I guess I shouldn't be. I tried the straw sippy and gave it to her after she ate dinner (pasta) she was so thirsty she actually drank like 6 big gulps from it then threw it. I guess I just need to try to cut her off cold turkey giving her no bottle and keep her sippy out in her reach. Doesn anyone know how long milk can be at room temp. before it goes bad? By the way she's on Soy milk and takes it fine. She has a milk allergy that she got at 10 months. =(

Tracy - posted on 01/10/2009

If she is having a hard time with the sippy cup in general, I would suggest trying one with a straw, so they don't have to lift it as they drink. If it is just milk that she won't take, pack away the bottles and stop giving her juice and water. Only give her milk and only in a sippy cup, it may take a couple of days but she will take it. If you are worried about her not getting enough fluids, just give her some extra fruit with all of her meals, and add some full fat cheese and yogurt for calcium.

Courtney - posted on 01/09/2009

I just took the bottle away from my twins this week. One of them would gladly drink from his sippy cup, the other (my strong willed child) would push it away no matter what was in it. I decided to take the bottles away cold turkey. The first day was kinda rough but not as bad as i expected. My strong willed child threw a fit when he was given the cup instead of his bottle but when ever he got upset I gave him his blanket (whatever comfort object your child has) He held his blanket and sucked his thumb for a few minutes (this is normally just a bedtime thing) and then went on playing. I thought he was never going to take a drink from that sippy cup but I left it out within his reach and did not force the issue. By the end of the day he had taken about 16oz - this was a lot less than normal but he ate a lot more table food and baby food. This has continued all week but he no longer throws the fits and will pick up his sippy and drink with no problem. We also transitioned them to whole milk by starting with 1/3 milk and 2/3 formula for a few days and then 1/2 and 1/2 and then 1/3 formula and 2/3 milk and now they are on straight whole milk. Good luck!

Erin - posted on 01/07/2009

Yeah I'm beginning to realize she may not be ready yet. Also, thank you Krista for your email. i will eventually try this in a couple months if still nothing works!

Jennifer - posted on 01/06/2009

I was scared of this transition as well.  Trace was born a month early, so we decided that we worked going to stress over the transition and when we felt it was time, we would deal with it!  I doesn't like juice at all, so we were so scared that he wasn't going to even transition to whole milk well either.  We started giving him formula in a nuby cup during the day and a bottle at bed time.  This actually went great, then we went to hard top cups during the day and soft top cups at night.  When we realized that our formula supply was getting low and we would be transitioning soon, my mom suggested giving formula at night in the soft top cup and whole milk in the hard tops during the day.  Since Saturday, Trace has drank 3/4 of a gallon of whole milk and last night I tried doing a hard top cup at bedtime with whole milk.  This went great and I will continue this for a few days.  It was amazing how easy it was since we weren't really trying to force the issue!  May not work for everyone, but it worked for us!!

Krista - posted on 01/06/2009

ok i had this problem with my eldest... she seriously did not stop it until 2 weeks before the twins were born (she would have been 17months) Start getting her to help you throw things in the garbage so that she gets the idea... once things are in there they are gone.... then in about a week or two after introducing her to her sippy cup for those few weeks ,,, put a new garbage bag in the can, show her and get her to throw out all of her bottles... then "take the garbage out" aka put the bag in your room haha.... then keep reinforcing that the bottles are gone and the hardest part about it is to not give in ... she will get the hang of it and if she is thirsty enough she will drink from whatever cup you give her.... just be consistant and you will have about 3 maybe 4 really rough days where she will cry and cry and act like its the end of her world and refuse to drink out of the cup, but then all the sudden she will drink from it without hesistation and that battle will be over....

I was not consistant until it was crunch time and my  mom told me --- do you want to have a few hard days or a few frustrating months....

My advice to all the moms that have kids who are 5/6 months is to start introducing the sippies and when they get the hang of it just switch it ... thats what i did with the twins and there was no fussing at all ha!

Hope this helped!

Megan - posted on 01/06/2009

I have the same problem!  My daughter will take a big drink from her sippy and when she realizes its milk she lets it dribble out her mouth!  She loves juice from the sippy so I'm wondering if I get her a special milk sippy, maybe with some patience.  I'll let you know!

Erin - posted on 01/06/2009

Yeah I've tried warming it too. No luck. Thanks and good luck with your little one. =)

Katie - posted on 01/06/2009

my daughter will drink her juice and water out of the sippy cup too, but doesn't like to drink the milk out of it. We recently switched from formula to whole milk and found that if we warmed the milk, she'll drink it out of anything. we are having a hard time getting her to drink it cold.

Erin - posted on 01/05/2009

Thanks ladies! I have the Nuby sippy cups w/silicone nipples. I guess I'll keep trying. Maybe she just isn't ready yet. =(  Wish me luck I think I'll need it!

Sara - posted on 01/05/2009

Borne Free has the Trainer Nipples for their bottles - or just a Trainer bottle set - with handles, etc. This has worked for us- even though he likes to bite the firmer nippled bottle...

Also - put milk or juice in it - not water. Or whatever baby likes. My DS will drink BM from the Trainer Nipple Bottle just fine - but not juice or water.

Danielle - posted on 01/04/2009

I just recently did this with my 1 yr. old & was super worried it wouldn't go well. I used the Nuby silicone nipple sippies & didn't have any problems. I think since the Nuby's have the silicone like the bottles it makes for an easier transition! :)