When did you get your baby/toddler off the bottle?

Jackie - posted on 04/24/2010

my son was over 3 when we rid of his havin a smaller sis whos 2 but abot 2 months ago just binned them when they played up for one just got them entertained in sumthin and thay was fine and doin well on normal cups now i had to do it because they was drinking to much always on the bottle

Tracy - posted on 04/23/2010

My daughter is 2.5 and still gets a bottle at bedtime and naps at home, however she does not get a bottle when she spends the night with Nana or her Aunt. They just use a sippy cup for her milk. She will drink milk out of a sippy no problem though, the bottle is just a comfort thing. I would start with morning milk in a sippy, that's what we did. Bottle only for sleeping (nap, bedtime) and she seemed to be ok with that.

Jeanne - posted on 04/23/2010

My son was 2 years old when I stopped giving him the bottle, it would have been sooner, but we moved house and were in limbo for a few months, so I didn't want to take away too many of his comforts. He was terrible, but what I found was giving him a cup that had a straw attached, he enjoyed sucking from a straw. To this day he does not like sippy cups - maybe try the straw approach?

Samantha - posted on 04/23/2010

My daughter was a year old when I started to make a consious effort to weane her off the bottle. I just started to slowly replace it with the sippy more and more.

Ebony - posted on 04/23/2010

my son actually took hisself off the bottle at 10 months. i started him on a sippy cup at 7 months and by the time he turned 10 months he didnt want his bottle anymore.

Nakita - posted on 04/23/2010

Just keep trying, if he realizes that when he has a tantrum and you give him what he wants, he will always do it.

a tantrum will not hurt him, when he calms down give him the sippy cup, if he wants a drink he will take it.

Nakita

Charlene - posted on 04/23/2010

Our Doctor urged us to transition to a sippy before the kids were 10 months old because they form an emotional attachement to bottles, pacifiers, etc..after that age. My children were 6 months old when we introduced the sippy cup. They were offered ONLY the sippy during the day and 1 bottle before bed. At 9 months old we went with the sippy cold turkey. My daughter transitioned beautifully...my son, however, was resistant. It was several nights before he realized I wasn't going to give in and finally accepted the sippy. Just remain calm and firm, don't undermine your authority by giving in to tantrums...walk away and when he's calm offer the sippy again and praise him when he drinks from it. It won't take long for him to realize you mean what you say and accept the sippy.

Sally - posted on 04/23/2010

My kids where 18 months. I started like the other suggested in morning then one in the evening slowly transitioning. The soft sippys or straw type work great. Try maybe taking him with you and allow him to pick which design on the outside he likes. And really talk it up how cool it is and that's what big boys use. How great it will be use..Hope this helps..

Jennifer - posted on 04/23/2010

I got my daughter off the bottle at a 11 months. I gradually introduced her to the sippy, then went to giving her a bottle only in the mornings and night. Nubby makes a sippy that has a bottle like nipple for it. Slowly do that and then move to other nipple for the sippy's. Or the other option is if he can sip through a straw, try the sippy's that have a straw nipple to it. Good Luck!!

Bridgette - posted on 04/23/2010

With our first four children, they were on the sippy cup by 1 year. There is a transitional cup you can use to help get your child of the bottle. Try using the ones with a soft tip. In the past we have used Nuby. It has a shape similar to the bottle. Once he adjusts to the soft tip cup you will be able to transition to the hard tip sippy cup. Chin up! You can do it!

Linda - posted on 04/23/2010

I have 4 children, the oldest is 12, next is 10, then 17 months and then my youngest is nearly 7 weeks old. I had a great problem getting my oldest 2 to drink milk from a cup, and resorted to adding squash to the milk to make it like milkshake in order for it be acceptable. A friend of mine allowed her children to drink their milk from a bottle until their children were several years old and then decided for themselves they were too grown up for it. Her comment was that it only takes a few minutes for them to drink a bottle of milk, so it shouldn't harm their teeth, and they drink water from a cup without any problem. I have decided to agree with her. I am delighted not to have the stress of trying to coax my toddler to drink his milk, like I did with my older two. I am sure that he will grow out of it eventually, and that it will not harm his teeth. I will take the same approach with my youngest when the time comes. So my advice is not to get stressed about it - it really doesn't matter in the big scheme of things!

Louise - posted on 04/23/2010

If it's too much of a battle, I would let it go for a few more months, just don't let him have a bottle lying down to go to sleep as that's really bad for his teeth.
My son was almost 2 when I stopped him having a bottle. I managed to get him to have it from a cup by allowing him a biscuit with his milk that he could dip in - like a 'big boy' ..... it helped that he had an older sister who did that. It's a bit messy in the beginning but it definitely worked. Within just a few days he stopped asking for a bottle and within a few weeks he wasn't bothered whether he had a biscuit or not either.

Cherie - posted on 04/22/2010

Mine stopped getting a bottle at 1 year old. We let him have a pacifier at naps and bedtime until he adjusted to no bottle. He liked having the sucking reflex to help him sleep. We just recently phased out the pacifiers (he's almost two) with no problems, though our dentist said it was okay for him to use one until 3 if necessary.

My son can be sort of stubborn when it comes to anybody helping him with anything. If I would try to "help him" with a sippy cup, he would refuse to drink. If I just put his milk in a sippy cup with a no-spill spout and hand it to him and then walk away, he will play with it and drink it with no problem. He already likes to do things for himself. This might work for you.

Corynn - posted on 04/22/2010

my daughter was 10 months when we started taking her off the bottle... she lives with her maternal grandparents most of the time (BM lost custody before my fiancee and I got the DNA results...etc.) and she was probably fully off the bottle by about 16 months, i'd want to say, if not sooner... my suggestion would be to let him play around with the sippy cups without anything in them and without a bottle around and see how he reacts... and then i would put something in it and leave it sitting around and don't give him a bottle... no other options... tell him that that is what big boys use and the bottles are in the garbage or something... sorry if it sounds harsh, but that how we had to get my niece off the bottle... it took her maybe about 2 days of less to fully accept it, but she was fine after that. good luck

Kali - posted on 04/22/2010

My son's were both around 18months also. My oldest liked straw cups and my youngest liked soft tip sippy cups. You just have to try and find what they like and it will be easier that way. Of course he is gonna throw a fit-that is a big change for him and will take time getting used to. Have you thought about just cutting one bottle out a day for a week and then two, etc? That's what I did.

Sheena - posted on 04/22/2010

That is the way that it was with my daughter. She never liked the sippy cups, and sippy cups aren't necessary if the child is willing to and can drink out of a regular cup. The same went with the pacifiers neither one of my kids ever liked those things so it was one less thing to have to worry about taking away.

Sheena - posted on 04/22/2010

I had no problems when I took my son off the bottle, but my daughter was a different story all together. I would suggest that you just take it away. That is what my pediatrician suggested for me to do. The first few days were hard, but it is better than trying to slowly take it away, it is more confusing for them like that. I threw all of the bottles out so that I wasn't tempted to give it back to her when things got rough. Your son will still drink, and once he realizes that the only way he is going to get it is in a sippy cup he will drink it. The daycare where my daughter went took the bottles away from the kids when they were one so it made it easier on me to follow along with it. If your son knows that by crying he is going to get his milk in his bottle he is never going to take it any other way. Believe me that he will eventually take it probably even later that same day but you can't give in just because he is crying for it or else it won't work. Hope this helps.

Angelica - posted on 04/22/2010

My daughter weaned herself off at about 13 months. we gave her a sippy cup from about 9 months off and on. she would drink less and less of the milk and eventually we just put the bottles away and she didn't miss them at all.

Stacy - posted on 04/22/2010

throw away all the bottles so you aren't tempted to give him one. And then take him to the store and let him pick out his cup. he might like straws better than sipply cups or even water bottles with pop tops. if you are worried about the milk he can get his dairy from yogurt, cottage cheese or cheese one of my sons never drank milk after he got off his bottle at 12 months. Also, you can try chocolate milk as a treat to him interested.

Adrianna - posted on 04/22/2010

Hi, i got my son off the bottle as soon as he turned 12 mnths old but he has been drinking from a sippy cup since he was 4 mnths so it was easy it was the pacifier that was hard and with that my husband just took it from him.My girlfirend dgtr is going on 26 mnths and she still has the bottle it may sound mean but i say just take it they may cry but its really not good for their teeth and speech.

Lindsay - posted on 04/22/2010

My daughter was off the bottle at 11 months. Once we found a cup she liked, Avent soft spout sippy, she never asked for another bottle. At 14 months she was off the soft spout sippy and only using straw sippys.

Corinne - posted on 04/22/2010

dont fret! my daughter ( same age as your son) still refuses sippy cups! ive tried since she was about 5 or 6 months old and she justttt hates them!! wont drink water, juice, or milk out of it! even if i remove the stopper and let her drink that way..she still wants nothing to do with them! last several months ive been working with her on drinking from a real cup! she lovessss that! i just gave up with the sippy cups! i figured id stick with the regular cups until she can drink a full cup of water without to much spilling...then ill throw the bottles out! gl to you! dont feel like you have to do EVERYTHING the doctor tells you too! if he still gets on to you...just lie and say hes off the bottles!

Kyja - posted on 04/22/2010

My son was 11months old when i took him off the bottle.. He had no intrest in sippy cup but one day i just through all of our bottle in the garbage and offered him nubby sippy cups for one whole day until night time he didnt drink anything then finally got thirsty enough and took the sippy it was a long hard day full of crying but he finally did it at bed time.. its tough but YOU have to be strong

Rhonda - posted on 04/22/2010

I took my daughter off her bottle when she was 2. On her second birthday to be exact. We had a throwing away the bottle party and she helped throw them away. To my surprise she never asked for one. She wouldn't take a sippy before that, but was excited to take them afterwards. The only downfall is, she will not drink milk out of them. So I bought the plastic cups that have the straws made into them and she sits at the table and drinks from it. She feels like a big girl.
Another approach I used with my second daughter was telling her the bottle was broke so we had to throw them away. That worked as well.
Good luck with your transition.

Vanessa - posted on 04/22/2010

i took my daughter off at about 12 months. she is very picky. i knew she didnt like water to much so i would only give her water in her bottles. if she wanted to have her milk before a nap it was in a cuppy. eventually she stopped asking for the bottle because she no longer got milk in it. either way if it works or not for you it's good. water is healthy for you baby. the tantrums will happen but insist with the cuppy. give him both a bottle with water and a cuppy with milk. he'll choose the milk hopefully and if not then he'll love water. lol. plus milk is bad for the teeth right before a nap it says on there teeth. good luck!

Karen - posted on 04/22/2010

Try different sippies. Nubi makes one that is verymuch like a bottle---might be a good transition. Otherwise try a different beverage from a sippy---diluted juice,a smoothie, flavored milk. My daughter was drinking water from a sippy at about 8 or 9 months so it migh thave been easier with her being younger. Good luck!!

Roberta - posted on 04/22/2010

This is another area we got lucky in. We started giving her a sippy cup around 6 months. She didn't like formula in her sippy cup and didn't like whole milk in her bottle. When we ran out of formula shortly after her 1st birthday, it was all sippy from there.

Amanda - posted on 04/21/2010

Hi, My son (almost 5) loves his bottle. I made him give up his dummy at 3 years so cant bring myself to make him give this up. I figure if you follow these rules it cant hurt. In fact it is great they are drinking milk so easily.
1: Never give milk to go to sleep with (bad for teeth). So I always brush teeth or ensure a big rinse with water if he has his bottle close to sleep time.
2: Always give nutritious meal first so they aren't filling up on milk and aren't able to eat solids.

That's it, simple. I was very strict about the no milk before sleep and just so you know, my almost 5 year old had first dental appointment this week and he has perfect beautiful teeth! And he still loves his bottle, although he tells me he is going to give it up when he turns 5 and have it from a cup then. :-) I think with a lot of these things they tell you to do, you need to understand why and if you can manage the 'why', then your addressing the issue.

Jill - posted on 04/21/2010

When my son was 11 months I threw out all of his bottles and let him throw his fits and when he was thirsty enough he went and got the sippy that I had set out for him-took less then a week before he didnt even ask for a bottle anymore

Michelle - posted on 04/21/2010

8 months i started by 1 he was using a sippy cup

Avelina - posted on 04/21/2010

Let him cry. I was kind of tough when it came down to transferring him from bottle to sippy cup. Once he turned one, I took him off the bottle. My son would cry his butt off but just let him know that if he wants milk or juice, then he has to drink from what you give him, because you know what is good for him. He does understand, he will cry for awhile, but you have to let him know that is the only way. Hope this helps. Be strong.

Rykki - posted on 04/21/2010

I took all 3 of my children off of the bottle at 9 months, when they started walking. They still got their formula until 12 months, but they got it out of a regular cup or sippy cup. My youngest got attached to his sippy cup with the soft top. To wean him off of that I just threw it out and made him quite cold turkey. He threw fits for a day and a half, but when he realized that it wasn't around any more he gave in.

Nicole - posted on 04/21/2010

For about a month I only let my son have water in his bottle and milk in a cup, I would only let him have his bottle once a day before bed time, then as soon as he turned one (which was a month later) I took it away completely and hide all his bottles surprisingly he did great! Just stick with it even though he cries know that you are doing the right thing, my suggestions is don't let him tell you what he is going to do, you are the parent and he has to deal with the fact that he will no longer get his bottle. I know it is hard to hear him cry but in the long run he will have beautiful healthy teeth.hope this helps good luck

Sarah - posted on 04/21/2010

I got my son off at 11 months and my daughter off at 13 months. With my daughter it was harder. I gave it to her for bed at night and then slowly I just stopped and gave her sippy cups.

Lyndsay - posted on 04/21/2010

My son was 18 months when I took his bottle away. He was not a big fan of sippy cups either, he would refuse them as long as he knew he got a bottle. Eventually I just stopped offering him the bottle so he had no choice but to drink from a cup. He was a bit upset, but it honestly wasn't as big of an issue as I thought it would be. He cried for a bit and then moved on.

Susan - posted on 04/21/2010

We got my daughter off the bottle one week before her first birthday. Our goal was by her birthday and it was difficult. Our pediatrician told us that the cold turkey approach was fine too. They will drink eventually. We started her on the cup around 6 months with just water and she hated it. We just kept trying and trying different cups. The ones she liked were the Munckin cups that have the silicone spouts so they're soft like bottle nipples. You can get them at Target or Walmart. We also had the Gerber sipsters that are like a rubber so they're sort of soft, but not as soft as a nipple. Even now that she's 20 months, she's still not a big fan of hard spout cups. She loves her straw cup now. Just keep offering him the cup instead of the bottle. He'll get it eventually when he realizes that's his only option. Unfortunately you might have to put up with some screaming in the meantime.

Poo - posted on 04/20/2010

i like this approach. At this age they like anything they shouldn't have I am going to try this.

Poo - posted on 04/20/2010

I just posted somewhat of the same post. I should have skimed the community before I posted. Anywho my daughter does the same thing and I know she should be off the bottle. What advice have you been giving so far from you doctor?

Tamara - posted on 04/20/2010

My daughter is 16 months and we just broke her of the bottle. She was getting one only at night and then in the morning. Then we took the at night from her. She did not like it but we just make sure she was really full before she went to bed. Then in the moring we just feed her as soon as she woke up. She sleeps through the night and has since she was born. That also makes a big difference. If you have a toddle that is not sleeping though the night I do not think i could do it.

Shelby - posted on 04/20/2010

my son was 18 months old when i took him off the bottle. I told him the bottles were for babies and he was a big boy now...i got a Nuby soft tip sippy cup from Walmart....It was a very smooth transition. He got mad at first, i set the cup on the floor in the kitchen and when he was ready to accept it he grabbed it and there was no issues after that.