just wondering how old your baby was when they stopped taking a bottle?

Mary - posted on 10/03/2011

It will be harder to get the bottle from you child the older he gets . He has to know there are no bottles in his future . Throw them away or hide them where he won't be able to see them . You will definately have to put braces on him if you don't get the bottle and passy away . It is inportant he knowes the bottles are gone and not a possibility . He will drink from his big boy cup but it will take a day or two and he will not be dehidrated by the time he gives in . It sound like he has a stronger will than mom . You have to be strong till he gives in .

Vladana - posted on 09/10/2009

Hi Janelle,
We still let our son Petar (2 years and 5 monyhs old) drink his evening milk with a bottle. I think that this is not good, of course, but we do it for him and also for us! It is the only moment during the day that he has a pause and is quiet for few minutes...
Hopefully we will soon have him off the bottle, but I have to say I am full of doubts if it is possible with the evening milk..It gives him lot of pleasure!

Sonja - posted on 09/10/2009

3 days after turning 1...but my lil girl never held her own so it was easier to take it away.

Robin - posted on 09/09/2009

I took my first child's bottle away at 1 year. He did fine with it. My second child was different. He was not ready to get rid of his bottle at 1 year old and since he didn't take a pacifier like my first child did, I gave in until he was 18 months old. During that 6 month time period, I slowly cut down on the usage of the bottle, and would give him a sippy cup during the day as much as I could. By the time I took his bedtime bottle away, he was fine. He cried for about 2 nights wanting that bottle, but I would give him a sippy cup with some juice in it and either he drinked it or he didn't. Trust me, he will drink out of anything if he's thirsty enough. Everybody raves about the Nuby, but I had a bad experience with them with my first child when he was 16 months old and choked on a piece that he bit off. The best sippy cup I ever used was the Gerber bottle with the blue sippy cup spout. They were expensive, but I didn't have to worry about my child choking to death.

Michelle - posted on 09/08/2009

My son turned one and within a week the bottle was gone. The best advise i received was from my girlfriend who said to take the bottle away at one - after one it becomes a want and not a need. I introduced the sippy cup around 6-7 months. He was fine with it and i had no problem getting rid of the bottle. I plan to do the same with my second

Analise - posted on 09/08/2009

I have 1 son and he'll be 2 tomorrow & he still loves his bottle! ive bought loads of beakers, sports bottles & he still prefers his bottle, he is interested in them for a few hours because their new but after them few hours hes asking for his bottle and im not gonna take it away from him, i just hope he grows out of it soon. plus he wouldnt take a dummy from birth, he's always loved his bottle & his bottle only lol

LaTonya - posted on 09/08/2009

My daughter was 14 months when she completely gave up the bottle. She had been drinking from a cup (she wanted it because we drank from a glass) and sipping from a straw since she was 9 months old. We sent her cup to the daycare and asked that they give it to her whenever possible and she only took the bottle at night before she went to bed. eventually she put it down herself. Try giving your little one a big girl or big boy cup and bring it out when you drink from a glass or cup and see if they take to it. They have them with the spout that almost resembles a nipple.

Robyn - posted on 09/08/2009

my son was a year old when he decided to chew a whole in his nipple on his bottle and he lost his bottles the very same day, i didnt want him chewin on the nipples and possibly swallowing rubber or whatever they were made of, he was a bit mad about it for a day or two but then all was well never had a bottle since and he's 6 now

Sharon - posted on 09/08/2009

My daughter was about a year old. I introducted the sippy cup when she was around 10 months but she refused to take her formula in the sippy cup but would drink other things. When she went to whole milk, it went right into the sippy cup and I had no problem.

Chelsi - posted on 09/08/2009

My daughter was a year old. We had to take the bottle away b/c we were trying to thinkog ways to stop her ear infections and her dr. said that going off the bottle might help, but she had no major problems with going off the bottle, we just had problems with getting her to go to bed by herself and not me rocking her while giving her a bottle.

Meredith - posted on 09/08/2009

my son just turned 2, and is still taking a bottle before bed. my dr. said as long as i'm not letting him hold it while he sleeps, and especially because it's only milk, then it's not doing any harm. i give him the bottle, and take it away when it's empty - i never let him fall asleep with it. that is the concern, that the nipple sits on their teeth, and even with milk the sugars rot their teeth. i was concerned because my daughter easily gave up all bottles at 1 year, but i have relaxed about it. it's not worth it to me to make him miserable, i feel that he will grow out of it eventually, and for now it makes him feel secure at night. i never let him have juice or anything else from a bottle, and during the day he uses sippy cups. but we had to experiment with several types of sippy cups before he started using them. the playtex plastic cups are his favorite - plus they have some with the movie "cars" characters on them, which he loves! i don't personally think there is anything wrong with letting your son have his bottle, and just continuing to try to introduce him to cups. if anything, as he gets older and better able to understand things, it will get easier to try to get him to give up the bottle by making a game out of it or something. we have enough to worry about as parents - if it's not hurting him, i say let him go for it until he's more ready!

Brandy - posted on 09/08/2009

my daughter was VERY attached to her bottle! it took a lot of work but its a slow process. first we started off by just giving her the sippy cup during the day and bottle at night. for the first few days she refused to drink anything till she got her bottle at night. she soon realized that she was thirsty and then gave in to the sippy. i also used to use a straw, she liked that cuz it was different but fun! when it came time to taking the bottle away completely we just sucked it up and delt with the crying. we explained to her every night that bottle were for babies and that she was a big girl now and didnt need it.it took less then a week and then she woulnt cry for it anymore. hearing them cry makes you wanna give in and its hard to stay strong. you gotta keep telling your self its for the best!

hope this helped you! good luck!

Virginia - posted on 09/08/2009

1 year old and we used nuby's worked like a charm!

Stephanie - posted on 09/08/2009

i was able to take the bottle completely away at 14 months. but just slowly introduce the sippy cup he will take it when he is ready. good luch

Jenifer - posted on 09/08/2009

My son suddenly refused the bottle at 11 months, but he still breastfed and took sippy cups no problem. Have you tried different sippy brands? The Avent ones worked best for us when we were starting him on the sippy cups. The spout is soft and it is more similar to the bottle.

Donna - posted on 09/08/2009

Hi Janelle! All of mine stopped the bottle completely by (or before) 12 months. I just set their first b-day as the day it would disappear, and it did.

Perhaps you could start out by giving a bottle in the morning, but switching all others to sippy cups. Eventually, you would just phase-out the bottle.

It could be that the type of sippy cup isn't preferred. We had to try a few with my last child before he was really able to drink successfully/happily out of it.

Good luck!

Krista - posted on 09/08/2009

Maleek was 11 months

Michelle - posted on 09/08/2009

My firstborn gave up the bottle around 9 months, voluntarily. My second son wouldn't let them go until he was 14 months I think, and we had to try several types and several methods of introduction, several times over before he gave in on the deal. We graduated him from having everything in a bottle, to juice or water in a cup and milk in a bottle, to everything in a cup. It took being out one day and only having a cup with us, and only milk left in the cooler, to get him convinced milk really could come from a cup.



The reason your ped says you should switch to sippy cups is that bottles can cause problems with their teeth; especially if you let them have bottles at bedtime. (They don't tell you if the bottles in their study had milk or water in them.) Research "proves" that sippy cups are better than bottles for babies with teeth.



That said, a little patience with this might just be in order. After all, just because "1" is the magic number in the books doesn't mean your son will clutch to the bottle for another year! He might just need that comfort for another month; you never know when kids might decide that a bottle just isn't for them any more.



Do try out different types of sippy cups. That Nuby someone else mentioned is very popular with many kids moving up from bottles to cups. We didn't care for them, but they work for other people. There are some kids who go straight from bottles to a "normal" cup, skipping right over the sippy. Other kids prefer the sippy that has a straw over the one with the spout top, so add that to what you try, too.

Dana - posted on 09/08/2009

My son, 7mo. has a sippy cup with an isert. the insert stops the cup from just pooring out.. he has to give it a suck to get anything.. it is a trainer sippy cup.. he loves it!!

Clare - posted on 09/08/2009

try those soft topped sippy cups like Nubby so it feels like a bottle also try the ones that have handles on the sides so its easier to grab, my sons pediatrician has already asked me to try him at a sippy cup and hes only 7 months, he shakes it and spills it all over his face,lol, so ive put it on hold for a bit. good luck.

Berta - posted on 09/08/2009

My kids are now 20 and 24, but this was a big problem for my oldest he carried a bottle until he was six. My Ped told me he would grow out of it. I was completely confused since he was breast fed and I had stopped at 18 months. My daughter was about a year when she decided to let go of the bottle and wanted the sippy cup. Each child is different and the advice I was given waaaay back when was 18 to 20 months the child should be completely off the bottle. It is a hard process even harder than it was for me to potty train. Good luck!

Kim - posted on 09/08/2009

My oldest one was 1yrs she hated being wet so we put a fast flow nipple on her bottle.. After a week she was done with the bottle. Also can have him pick out a sports/character bottle. Hope I helped a little.......

Dana - posted on 09/08/2009

I stopped all my girls from taking the bottle at about a year. I started inroducing the sippycup when they were about 6mo. I would put applejuice or sweetwater.. something really tasty for them in the sippy cub.. at 12mo.. I had them help me take all the bottles and throw them away.. "bye bye" bottle... Im a big girl now". I now have a 7mo old son.. I plan on doing the same thing.. has worked for me so well... goodluck with whatever you decide :)

Sara - posted on 09/08/2009

They say to take it away at one year, but I'm not so sure about this. I just think of it this way: if I were breastfeeding, I would still breastfeed past one year of age, so why should I be in a hurry to take the bottle away? Granted, my daughter only gets two bottles a day, and she drinks from sippy cups the rest. I would just try a few different kinds of sippy cups (I use the kind with a soft spout..Nuby I think is the brand..it's like a bottle in the way it feels) and keep giving him the sippy cups. I think an effort does need to be made to move away from the bottle, but IMO you're not doing any harm by letting him have some fluids in a bottle at bedtime or something...he'll work it out when he's ready, you just gotta keep plugging away! Good luck...I'm right there with ya!

Brandy - posted on 09/08/2009

I have 3 children, and I had all of them off of the bottle between the ages of 6-9months