When do you stop the bottle?

Christina - posted on 01/22/2010

My twins were on sippy cups full time by 11 months. The did well drinking them. They made the switch to milk right at their first birthday. That said, my 13 month old is still on a bottle for now. He isn't tolerating whole milk so he is on formula for the moment. We also haven't found a sippy cup that works well for him. He never dribbles from a bottle but makes a huge mess with his cups. He also gulps and gets lots of gas when he drinks formula from cups. He does drink water from cups daily but I can't afford to waste formula by letting him drool it everywhere. My goal is to have him off of the bottle before his 15 month check-up. He was born 5 weeks early so he is just now hitting his adjusted 1 year age. The pediatrician wants him on formula for as long as it takes to slowly adjust him to milk.

Megan - posted on 01/16/2010

1 week after my daughter 1st b-day I told her no more bottles and only big girl cups. Starting that day I only gave her cups. I was worried for a couple of days because she wasn't drinking that much milk but now she gets it and she loves the cups.
The key is finding a cup they like. Ana has had a cup since 6 months for water and juice but I bought big girl cups for milk (she still has the other cups for water and juice). She's picky, we replaced the milk only bottle with milk only cups and it worked really well.
She still has the pacifier for sleeping but not any other time. I think we will wait a little longer before getting rid of that.
I hope this helps. Good luck with the transition.

Katy - posted on 01/08/2010

My son at 8 months absolutely refused to take a bottle anymore. At this point I had to go out and buy some sippy cups. He hasn't taken a bottle since. Some companies make sippy cups that have the soft lid to use. Nuk has sippy cups that you can use the lid with the Nuk bottles. Each child is different though and while I do agree it's important to wean your child off of a bottle. My suggestion is to trust yourself. If that means starting to use a cup but still keeping him/her on a bottle for a little bit longer do what you feel like works for you.

Pam - posted on 01/07/2010

My son would have nothing to do with a sippy cup when we started trying (about 10 1/2 months), but we just kept trying. On his first birthday, he just decided he was going to drink out of the cup and that was it. I realize this was a lot easier than a lot of people have it. My sister-in-law couldn't get her son of the bottle, so she asked her doctor what to do. His suggestion? Put cranberry juice in the bottle. (by itself). He won't like it because it is bitter and he can get his milk from the cup only. Sounds cruel, but it worked in 1 day, and it doesn't hurt the baby at all...

Nicole - posted on 01/06/2010

Hi, My little one is going through the same thing.. I think i'm the one finding it hard, she still my baby in my book, she can't walk really and can't really talk so to me if she wants a bottle at night i'm giving it to her..lol... no baby ever went to kindergarden with a bottle.... anyways thjough i do argree with the weaning out trick.. start with least fav bottle and so on and so on untill there gone.. it is there comfort zone and you don't wanna just rip it away from them... Good luck and happy new year

Erika - posted on 01/06/2010

This is the exact question on my mind... and all the responses have been fantastic! Thanks for asking the question and for all the great answers. My 12 month old is in for some sippy cup action from tomorrow!

Melissa - posted on 01/05/2010

We have been trying to get our girl (one on Dec 29) to drink out of sippy cups for 6 months now with little success so she still gets a nap and and a bedtime bottle whilst we amp up sippy cup training. We have tried at least 6 different kinds of sippy cups. She does OK, with help, out of a small cup, but of course this isn't always practical. She is making some progress with the donut shaped one, so hopefully she'll be off bottles in a a couple weeks.

Shiralee - posted on 01/05/2010

I like my sleep to much to be getting up in the night making bottle. My daughter was sleeping through the night from 4 weeks until she started teething at 5 months. I breastfed till she was 8 months so getting up for night time feed wasnt to bad but when she started on a bottle I dredded getting up. The regestered nurse/midwife at the community healthcare centre told me to water her night bottles and slowly ween her off them (it only took a week) then if she continued to wake give her just water. After 2 weeks my daughter was sleeping right through the night again, she is now 13 months. Formula is good for babies and it is recommended to give it to them till they are 2 at least but my daughter liked cows milk and wont drink formula. A friend of mine had a simular problem with the bottle and she found it very hard to ween from a bottle to sippy cup. As a mother you have to do what you feel is best for your child so GOOD LUCK!!!

Margaret - posted on 01/05/2010

oh my, my daughter is 13 months and still has 5 bottles a day (24 hour cycle). I couldn't even imagine taking them away for good, she gets antsy when she doesn't have one mid-morning! and she hates whole milk, refuses to even try it. I don't think I'll take them away until after 18 months, hopefully before her second birthday. It helps round out her diet since she is such a fussy eater

Shiralee - posted on 01/05/2010

Every baby is different, some of the ladies from my mothers group put there babies on cows milk before i did and i have the oldest baby in the group. My daughter is 13 months and has only been completely off the bottle for 4 weeks. She had a sippy cup from 5 months with water so she easily adjusted to not having a bottle. You need to make the transition when you feel it is the right time for your baby.I started by putting my daughters milk in a sippy cup instead of a bottle for one feed a day then 2 then i threw all of my bottles out. My daughter has had teeth from 5 months and now has her 11th and 12th cutting so i wnated her off the bottle asap before she got to attached, also if your son has a bottle to go to bed you may find it harder to take it from him.

Rebecca - posted on 01/05/2010

Mine has been off the bottle for about 8 weeks now and I found that the Nuk sippy cup worked wonders. It has a soft nipple-like top but is not shaped the same way. I could only find them at Wal-Mart though. It really made for a smooth transition

Samantha - posted on 01/05/2010

well my son just turned one and i am leaning him off with a sippy cup and jsut tyhe bottle for bed.....

Nicki - posted on 01/05/2010

At my son's 1 year visit to the pedi, he was still getting 4 bottles a day and drinking water from a sippy cup. My pedi suggested cutting out all bottles by the time he was 13 months. He turned 13 months yesterday and he is down to only his bedtime bottle. I noticed someone else said this about their child, my son really didn't even care about losing bottles as long as he still got his milk too. :) I have felt very lucky as he never even put up a fuss. And I also found that he will drink more of his milk if it is at least room temp as opposed to being refridgerator cold.

Jessica - posted on 01/05/2010

We decided a week before Madelyn's first birthday to mix her last can of formula with 2% milk. After the can was gone, no more formula. The next week we only gave her two bottles, one in the morning when she woke up and one before bed. A week after that we started only giving her one bottle in the morning when she woke up. That lasted just under two weeks. In the meantime, we really pushed the sippy cup with milk and water (we don't give juice, she's better off having fruit). We started noticing she would only drink 1-1.5 ozs of the milk....so two days ago I threw away every since bottle and she has not fussed since ;0) Good luck!

Shiralee - posted on 01/03/2010

My daughter is nearly 13 months and has been on cows milk for a month (once she tasted it she did not like her formula) I started to put her milk in a sippa cup at about 12months and now she does not have a bottle at all. I started giving her the sippa cup once a day then twice then got rid of the bottle.

Vanessa - posted on 01/03/2010

My son has to stay on formula even though he is one because of his milk intolerance and small size...it's hard to get him off the bottle when I'm not changing what's in it....

Shawnte' - posted on 01/03/2010

MY DAUGHTER JUST TURNED 1. I STOPPED GIVING HER A BOTTLE @ 11 MONTHS. SHE STILL DRINKS WHOLE MILK BUT FROM A SIPPIE CUP. I WAS JUST SO OVER THE BOTTLE DETAIL, SO I JUST STOPPED GIVING IT TO HER AND SHE COULD CARE LESS AS LONG AS SHE GETS HER MILK. GOOD LUCK!

Trisha - posted on 01/03/2010

I started to give my son a sippy cup at around 5 months old. By the time he was 8 months old he was just on the sippys. At first he was very picky and would only drink from the nuk cup but now at a year old he drinks from any cup you give him.

Shannon - posted on 01/03/2010

I can't wait until my daughter figures out how to use a straw. Right now if you offer her one, she puts her mouth on it, but doesn't suck hard enough to get anything up the straw. She'll get there!!! She's not too worried about everybody else's timing for her with anything; she's all about her own time. I think that's great! My pediatrician had told us at her 1 year well baby appointment not to worry about her bottle taking as long as it comforted her. She only took them right after a meal or if she was upset anyway. We'd never given her formula, so before naps or bedtime, she wants to nurse. I guess it's probably the same thing as wanting a formula bottle at those times anyway! :)

Nichola - posted on 01/03/2010

my son was 1 on 12th December and he just figured out how to use a straw the other day - he still has bottles of formula at bedtime and has sippy cups and cups with a straw the rest of the day

I'm not stressing about taking the bottles away as it's his comfort thing for going to sleep

Shannon - posted on 01/02/2010

My daughter was still taking a bottle with juice a few weeks ago and nursing several times a day. She turned a year on Dec. 18. When we started giving her whole milk a few days after her birthday, we only offered it to her in a sippy cup. She liked the taste, but wouldn't drink much of it from the cup. After several days of offering her the cup, she finally takes the sippy cup and drinks well from it. She is still nursing, but she has not had a bottle at all in two weeks. She drinks her whole milk, juice, and water from a sippy cup with no drama.

Bridget - posted on 01/01/2010

I'm having the same issue. My daughter just turned 1 and still has two bottles a day...nap and bed time. How do I get rid of those?

Julia - posted on 01/01/2010

In the process of transitioning my 1 yr old off bottles. My older son would only take sippy cups with soft nipples until he was 2 yrs old. Finally I could get him onto harder nipple cups. I hated it because he would chew on the soft silicone nipples & crack them and I was going through them monthly. If that is an issue with anyone, don't worry, they will come around and take all bottles as they get older. My 1 yr old takes the harder ones no problem, thankfully. Every kid is definitely different.

Michelle - posted on 01/01/2010

My Dr. made me feel like a bad mom because my baby still has 3 bottles (at 2 naptimes and bedtime) but he still has whole milk and eats to table food so other than the milk on the teeth issue I am not going to worry about it! I wipe his teeth with a wet cloth as soon as he falls asleep so his teeth won't decay from the formula. I have tried to cut back on the oz. he receives and tried just water in the bottle, but have no patience with him screaming when he figures out what I am trying to do!! My daughter was fine with no bottle at 1 but my son is a whole new ballgame for me. I am open for any advice!!

Amanda - posted on 01/01/2010

Quoting Sadie:

i have the same question my son is one today he still has 3 bottles a day with formula he will not take to sippy cups i have tried all of them the only one he will take to is a nob bottle but it's like a bottle not a sippy cup

I bought a nob and are working with it. So far its going well. I think Im going to finish off the formula I already have and then stop. I have been using whole milk in the nob cup and so far so good. Thanks

Amanda - posted on 01/01/2010

Quoting Shanta:

My baby girl turned 1 on the 1st. She'll take her milk in the sippy cup, but she won't really drink it unless its warm. If I give her milk out of the frig, she'll take a lonnnng time to drink it. If I warm it up, she'll drink it in no time.

Thats sounds GREAT I will have to try that. thanks

Bethany - posted on 01/01/2010

My son is one year old and is still on the bottle. He shows interest in sippy cups and he prefers the ones with the straws. But he doesn't take to them when he is tired or.. grumpy or really just wants milk... It's harder for different kids to make the switch. My sister waited until my nephew was 15 months and then did it cold turkey. Just took all bottles away. I am trying to gradually take them away in the hopes of having him off by 15 months, if not 18 at the latest. I would try a more gradual approach. let him try a bunch of sippy cups that interest him, and when he finds on he really likes keep giving him that one.. maybe one he picks out that has a "cool" design on it.. I let my son pick his sippy cup out and he loves the thing. I recommend trying the ones with the straws.

Brittany - posted on 01/01/2010

Kaylee has been completely off the bottle since her birthday (Dec 3rd). We were pretty much bottle free by then anyways, just an occasional bottle before bed. Not IN bed, before lol. Giving babies bottles in bed can make it harder to switch to sippy cups. Oh, and we use the Gerber sip and smile cups. Love them :D

Leanne - posted on 01/01/2010

Olivia has a bottle of milk in the morning and at night but drinks juice from a cup through the day.

Amber - posted on 12/31/2009

My daughter turned 1 on the 3rd and we found that giving her a sippy cup with a variety of liquids in it does the trick. She also eats food at regular meal times and snacks on fish crackers or fruit through out the day so there's no hunger factor that the bottle would satisfy. For ME I'll feed her a bottle maybe once a day just because it lets her wind down to be held by mom but we've steered away from night time or nap time ones and have let her figure out how to let herself fall asleep....Good luck! I hope this helps? lol. I think there's no set rules. It's whatever works for YOU and YOUR baby.

Sarah - posted on 12/31/2009

My son is 1 as well.. He only takes 1 bottle and that is at night.. I dont know how to break him of that one. He does great with the cups. He always has milk or water in them all day.

Sarah - posted on 12/31/2009

Everyone chill out, there's no rush! if the bottle keeps them happy then what's the problem? my son stopped his day time bottle at around 18 months, when he was ready ,but we never found a sippy cup he liked, he just went straight to a beaker, but he still had his bed time bottle till he was 2 & half! We finally got rid of it when he went to a big boy's bed, that made it easy for us as "big boy's dont have bottles" & he was excited bout his new bed. I know it seems late to still have a bed time bottle but if it meant he went to bed happy & slept through the night then it was worth it & he never had one any other time. my daughter has just turned 1 & i'm thinking bout trying her on various sippy cups soon so we'll see how she goes, but i'm not gonna force it, if she wants her bottle back she can have it & i'll wait till she's ready. everyone remember all babies are different & theres no rules.

Christi - posted on 12/31/2009

at a year. it has been hard, but we took all his bottles and he really doesn't seem to have a problem with it. he turned one christmas eve and he was down to two bottles a day and we just stopped giving him formula. he really doesn't seem to mind and loves the milk and all the new foods.

Katie - posted on 12/30/2009

I let Elijah decide when he wanted his bottle taken away...he had been refusing it a lot so we give him a sippy of whole milk before bed most of the time.

Shanta - posted on 12/30/2009

My baby girl turned 1 on the 1st. She'll take her milk in the sippy cup, but she won't really drink it unless its warm. If I give her milk out of the frig, she'll take a lonnnng time to drink it. If I warm it up, she'll drink it in no time.

Kelli - posted on 12/30/2009

My breastfed daughter started drinking milk from cups around 9 months. We skipped bottles completely, however she only likes to drink from the cups with straws built-in. They do have a lot of varieties of these now. I even have a few travel ones that have a cover that slides over the straw. She really took to these but sippy cups were a lot harder for her. Getting used to straws is good too because when we eat out, she can get her own to-go cup with a straw.

Anna - posted on 12/29/2009

My son decided he was done with pacifiers around 5 months, he just wouldn't take them anymore. We started him on the sippy cups at 6 months but he never really figured them out until around 9 or 10 months. He still doesn't really like sippy cups but he loves straws and will drink anything from a straw. I am still giving him a bottle right now because he has been sick with a cold but as soon as he gets over this stupid cold he is going off the bottles. He can handle the cups but does better with the ones with straws.

Angela - posted on 12/29/2009

I introduced sippy cups to my twins @ 6 months. They are a year now and only take a bottle to go to sleep at night. I haven't quite figured out how to wean the night time bottle. Next week they will be 13mths and I hope to be totally weaned from breast feeding also!

Heather - posted on 12/29/2009

my son only gets a 5 oz bottle of whole milk at night. and thats not even every night. some nights he doesn want it! On his birthday we stopped formula although he hated it anyway so it wasnt hard! Try out different sippys. it took us 3 or 4 kinds to figure out which one he wanted but we got there. We use the nuby soft tips with handles for his milk, but he likes the playtex ones for his juice.

Georgia - posted on 12/29/2009

i just decided with the switch to whole milk that the bottles were going bye-bye and he did fine, people say we are lucky cause he did not even fight it!

Sadie - posted on 12/29/2009

Quoting Lisa:

Sadie, have you tried the nuby cups? They have 3 stages of nipples with teaches your child how to drink from a sippie? My son couldn't figure out sippie cups and threw them all to the floor screaming, so I bought one. All three nipples are made of the same material as a bottle nipple. The first stage is almost like a bottle nipple, the second is strangely nothing like either a bottle or sippie cup, and the 3rd one is the same shape as a sippie cup, but the same material and flexibility as a bottle's nipple. They are only about $6 for the set at Wal-mart (only place I have seen them), and it really helped my son. He's able to drink from any sippie cup I give him now.

hi lisa i have a noby cup hehas a tall one wit a bigger teat on it like a normal sippy cup. he will only take to this and not a normal sippy cup. he still has three bottles a day but im starting to try and stop the one in the afternoon to get him down to two he drinks full fat milk during the day with juice in between and formula at night

Lisa - posted on 12/28/2009

Sadie, have you tried the nuby cups? They have 3 stages of nipples with teaches your child how to drink from a sippie? My son couldn't figure out sippie cups and threw them all to the floor screaming, so I bought one. All three nipples are made of the same material as a bottle nipple. The first stage is almost like a bottle nipple, the second is strangely nothing like either a bottle or sippie cup, and the 3rd one is the same shape as a sippie cup, but the same material and flexibility as a bottle's nipple. They are only about $6 for the set at Wal-mart (only place I have seen them), and it really helped my son. He's able to drink from any sippie cup I give him now.

Lisa - posted on 12/28/2009

I've been giving my son a sippie cup since about 6 months old, but he was never able to figure them out until about October. He's one today and this month I have gradually been taking the bottle away from him throughout the day, and was giving him his milk and water in sippie cups. I plan to keep a few bottles around for when/if he wakes up in the middle of the night, which is the only time I give him one now. I only plan to do so until he is sleeping through the night better because I feel the sippie cups are too bulky, heavy, and a too fast of a flow for my half asleep baby, lol. My mom didn't take my brothers bottle away until he was about 15 months old.... Really, I think it all depends on how your child is doing with sippie cups.

Elizabeth - posted on 12/28/2009

everyone is different..it depends on you
my oldest was without bottles at about age 18 months...I am absolutely fed up with our current bottles and my 12 month old will be losing her bottles to sippy cups only ..very soon

Angela - posted on 12/28/2009

we are still working with my one year old with cups. he doesn't like sippys at all. I have to hover with him, but we are using drinking cups with a little spout on it. he is doing well and now is only taking a bottle before bed, just don't give up, I wasted so much money on different sippys until i realized he didn't like the no spill ones. after he gets this down, we will be going to a regular cup with no spout.

Jennifer - posted on 12/28/2009

I never started them... ;) but I did with my older child.. and they were tossed for sippies on her birthday. I hated those stupid things.. Glad to see them go. She started sippies a couple weeks before that, and I just started putting milk in them instead of formula. No problems.

Sarah - posted on 12/28/2009

I started my daughter on sippy cups at 6 months, I would give her bottles for most of the day but her midday formula was in a sippy... then at 9 months I moved her only to sippys... she is very picky about what kind. She likes the Nuby cups that are tall like her bottle was and the whole top of the sippy is silicon like her bottle nipples were... We tried like 7 different kinds before we found this one :)

Sadie - posted on 12/28/2009

its was supposed to be a noby cup its like a normal bottle just a bigger teat

Sharina - posted on 12/28/2009

I'm not sure what a nob bottle is. My suggestion is to find a sippy cup that you know he can drink out of. If it's one of those kind that when you put it to his mouth and nothing comes out- it won't work. You have to be sure he is getting some. When he cries for his milk bottle, put the sippy cup in his mouth and let a few drops of his milk come out into his mouth so he knows what's in the cup. If he refuses it, let him cry for 5 min. Repeat 1st step. If he refuses, let him cry for 10 min. Repeat 1st step. If he refuses, let him cry for 15 min. Repeat 1st step. (make sure the milk is fresh though) Continue adding 5 min. to each cry until he gives in and drinks from the cup. Trust me, it won't hurt him and he WILL give in and accept the cup eventually. You have to out stubborn him. Make sure he is not sick or any other changes occur in his life during the transition from bottle to cup. It's the hard part of being a mom and teaching him when it's time to grow up. Side note- the need for sucking is still present and healthy for him. A pacifier is okay.

Sadie - posted on 12/28/2009

i have the same question my son is one today he still has 3 bottles a day with formula he will not take to sippy cups i have tried all of them the only one he will take to is a nob bottle but it's like a bottle not a sippy cup