Is 18 mos. too old for bottle?

Sunrise - posted on 04/12/2010

The longer you keep it the harder it is to break later. Attachment gets deeper the older they get. Dont offer him anything (water, juice) as an alternative only offer milk in a cup for a few days... he'll break down and start drinking out of it when he realizes that's his only choice. It will not hurt to go a day without milk as long as your giving him nutritional and whole foods.

Amber - posted on 04/12/2010

my child had the same prob.. and it just seemd like one by one i had lost bottle after bottle untill i was down to one and just wouldnt buy anymore cuz i know id be waisting money.. well then my mom took my child and the bottle had falln out of the car at somepoint in time.. and i gave her the milkl in a sippy and said sorry.. we just didnt use the word bottle anymore.. and it took 3 days and she was ok again.. they like to have it cuz its a soothing thing for them.. so for the 3days she was kinda upset and crabby but after that 3 days it was ok.. she still knows with her play bottles for babies where they go..

Chatty - posted on 04/11/2010

As long as ur practicing proper oral care, brushing his teeth often and not allowing him to fall asleep with the bottle then IMO there's no harm! Ur right, EVERY child is different and you have to do what works best for you and ur family!



So......if you feel it's important to cut out the bottle then there's ways around not drinking any milk! My daughter is allergic to cow's milk and unfortunately she HATES other forms as well.........she refuses to drink soy or even goat's milk but I do buy and use goat's milk for cooking and to make her smoothies ( which are a great way to incorporate milk, veggies and fruit as well as protein and good healthy fats....if you want some idea's or recipes just let me know? )



Until the age of 5 ur child needs between 500-800 ml of calcium which is one of the reasons milk is soo important BUT there are many other ways to get ur child the calcium, protein and healthy fats they need. Green leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli are wonderful, of course yogurt and mild white cheeses (nothing with dyes in it), beans, peas, oranges......there's a long list! Message me if you want anymore suggestions!



GOOD LUCK!

Nicole - posted on 04/11/2010

Well we were told to get rid of the bottle as soon as we could with our son because of the detriment it is to teeth (our son has all his teeth except his molars).

Our son also fought giving up his milk in a bottle.

We continued to offer the sippy cup and then gave the bottle after a few tries. After about a month we just took the bottle away entirely.

I would say about 3 weeks went by before he realized we really weren't giving him a bottle anymore and he started drinking it from a cup.

For that 3 weeks we supplemented with yogurt and cheese.

What we learned is that they don't really need the milk specifically, that cheese and yogurt are acceptable replacements and not to worry so much about the milk specifically.

This advice held true because he started drinking milk from a sippy cup on his own when he was ready.



So I recommend the same advice given to me, just cut the bottle out, continue to offer a sippy cup in its place and supplement with other dairy products to meet the same intake of calories and calcium ect.

Don't sweat it and he will eventually come around to the cup when he is ready.

Ironically our son actually preferred his milk out of a hard sippy cup spout versus one that mimicked a bottle. This discovery was made by accident when all the soft tipped sippy cups were in the sink to be washed. So don't be afraid to experiment with cup tops.



Good luck!