Getting off the Bottle

I have never been for the "cry it out" thing. He is only 2, still a baby himself. Would he understand "letting go" of the bottle for a baby who really needs it? I wouldn't say it's for the new baby coming into his life, but some other baby. On a "Supernanny" episode, there was a little one who just wouldn't give up his pacifier. Jo tied all his nuks to a tree with ribbons and said the pacy-fairy was going to take them to a baby that needed them. Next morning, the nuks were gone and there was a thank you note from the pacy-fairy with a little bag of small toys and treats. Worked for them!

Has she considered breastfeeding her new baby? I wouldn't let him cry it out in any case.

He's not a baby, he's 2...and he is way too old for a bottle, as you realize, Im sure. Waking 3 times a night for a toddler is totally habit. A 2 year old does not need to be fed at night. I would probably have her start offering water only in the middle of the night. He will realize that it's not worth waking up for. As for the daytime...just stop giving it to him, period. He's old enough to understand that bottles are for babies (which will be reiterated when baby comes). It won't cause him any psychological harm or feelings of neglect, as some will tell you. Kids are pretty resilient and have survived much more than getting a bottle taken away! LOL

~L.

She really needs to get rid of the bottle now. I know its hard when you are pregnant and you have a child waking up, but she will be sorry if she doesnt do it now. My son stopped the bottle at 1 and never took it to bed with him. Like every bad habit it will have to be broken and Mommy is the only one that can force it. Maybe she can tell him that the bottle fairy needs his bottle to give to the new babies that need them, or she could tell him that he can go buy something at the store with his bottles. I did that with my sons pacifier. We took all of them to Toys-r-us and I let im pick something out then we took the paci's to the cashier and she took them and threw them away then we left.the first night was rough and then for about a week he would ask for it. We did one thing wrong with giving the pacis up we talked about it with so many people and he started asking about them again. This is just my advice and I hope it helps. Tell MOMMY TO BE STRONG!!

I agree with the moms, the bottle should be switched to a sippy at the age of one. Does he use sippy cups throughout the day? I had to let me daughter "cry it out" a couple times when she was learnign to sleep all night. In my opinion its fine as long as you dont let them cry for a super long period of time, I have a video monitor so I could see her and make sure she was fine, just upset. After a few times she learned how to make herself fall asleep on her own and started to sleep through the night yay!I would tell your sister to start soon, maybe go to the store and let him pick out a couple sippy cups of his choice, and have him throw the bottle in the trash, thats how my oldest was able to be broken from her pacifier. We told her she was a big girl and pacifiers were for babies so she threw it in the trash and I couldnt believe that was it, she was fine with it. Good luck, hopefully everything goes well.

I agree that 2 is too old for a bottle and waking up for it is just a habit now, he doesn't need it nutritionally speaking. I took both my girls off the bottle at 5-6 months and they did fine. I think giving him a paci instead will just be one more thing you'll have to break him of. Can he drink out of regular cup? I would give him a cup of water by his bed (or even a straw cup) that he can take a drink of if he needs it. I really dont have any other advice, my girls transitioned very easily from "baby" stuff to big girl stuff so I didn't have to deal with that.

As a Dental Hygienist, it must be said that that is way too much sugar (milk or juice) on the teeth in the middle of the night and babies should not go to bed with a bottle. That is how you end up with "baby bottle tooth decay". My 18 month old drinks milk out a sippy before bed, then we brush her teeth, and she sleeps the whole night through. If they are thirsty in the middle of the night, water only. And you can tell your child that after a certain time, "water only". But your nephew has his mom trained to be giving him that many bottles in the middle of the night. She needs her sleep and him, too. She has plenty of time to fix this and take away the bottle, too. It has to start right away, and there may be crying now, but will be so much better in the long run. Especially once the new baby comes. So, yes, let him cry in the middle of the night. You can check on them once to be sure diaper is dry, take a drink of water, all is OK, then they can cry until they learn you will not be giving bottles. Might take a few nights, but they do get it. Good Luck to her...

She needs to pull the bottle now. The longer she waits, the more likely it is going to be that he will want the bottle. We took my oldest off her bottle at a year old. Our second daughter joined us 6 months later and the oldest still wanted to play with the bottle (wouldn't drink from it, but would stick an empty one in her mouth). We also took the younger daughter off the bottle at one year old. They got sippy cups at that age and were not allowed to take one to bed with them. We had a problem the first couple of nights, but then it was done. We were told by our dr. not to send them to bed with a bottle of milk or juice because it would ruin their teeth. My Aunt had this problem with her oldest son, also around 2. She finally told him you aren't going to get the bottle any more. When he woke up, she told him to go back to sleep. He was oldest enough to understand and finally broke the habit.

Please try to break the bottle in bed habit- if formula is in the bottle, it will destroy the child's teeth. Only put a child to bed with water in the bottle. A 2 year old should not really be hungry at night if he is eating well during the day- have they tried a pacifier? Sometimes babies just need to suck, and the pacifier might do the trick. Try to find the NUK orthodontically shaped one. He might become very attached to that for awhile, too, but in the long run, that habit may be easier to break.

I usually start giving my kids sippy cups by then so I am not sure what you could do. I guess introduce sippy cups to him and tell him that he is going to be a big brother and it is time for him to use a cup.

If this were me I would switch to a sippy cup with water in it, The kind with the soft spout seems to satisfy most children. Hopefully she has learned that putting baby to bed with a bottle makes life easier at first then they don't want to give up that bottle. Babies should never have anything but water in a bed bottle due to the sweet milk or juice sitting on their teeth all night and causing tooth decay.

Hi I am surprised this little guy is still getting a bottle let alone taking it to bed. Our dentist always told us to never give kids anything in a bottle at bed time as it promotes tooth decay.He could have a sippy cup during the day and be told he is the big boy now and does not need a bottle. I know it is hard to break but a bottle at this age is a habit more than anything else. I would try to get rid of it before baby comes. It will be easier than you think. God's blessings.

Move quickly!!! Your right about him picking up the baby's bottle. Depending on his personallity, you need to figure out how to convince him that bottles are just for babies and he is a big boy. I suggest at his age you skip the sippy cup and get him a straw cup. Playtex makes a nice one that has a flip close lid. Take him to the store. Let him pick the big boy cup and take away the bottles now!

Losing the bottle was soooo easy in my house. Granted, we never put milk in bottles...just formula. I'd give her a 4 oz. bottle. I think it was 2 scoops of formula. Every couple nights I'd reduce the amount of formula poser I mixed in with the water. 2 scoops, then 1-1/2 scoops, then 1 scoop. So every couple nights it got more and more watered down. Granted, if it's milk, do the same...water it down more. By the time we reached about 1/8 cup of powder to the 4 oz. of water it was nasty. She'd take a sip and give it back. I put the bottle in the frige. Next night, same bottle with day old mix came out. That was the last time she asked for a bottle. Best part was, it was HER giving it up and NOT me TAKING it away from her!

Similar thought, my parents soaked my brother's pacifier in vinegar. When he asked, they gave. He gave it up instantly.

As for swapping the bottle with a cup, etc. bad idea. When it comes to potty training the drinking at night habit will only make night time accidents a regular thing. Breaking the night time drinking habit is best!

Tell him to give the bottles to the new baby. Let him help pack them away (good and tight so nobody is tempted to re-open). I've heard that works well with certain toys, lovies, and pacifiers. Maybe it works for bottles, too.