On My Side

He may not grow out of it. I know a 5-year-old who still takes a bottle. Personally I think it is better to get rid of the bottle while he is young.

if he sleeps with his bottle or lays down with it, it could cause ear infections and decay of his teeth. Try to go a whole day without the bottle and replace it with a soft nipple sippy. Just a suggestion.

You and your mom are not alone (though MY mom would totally disagree).

There is a HUGE difference between 2 and 3! I was amazed at how different my daughter's security was between the two ages.

At 3 she is more independent and able to understand WHY she needs to give up something.

I did not have a problem with a bottle, but with Bfing!!! Howevr, we discussed giving up bfing for nearly one year before I finally cut her off.

We'd talk about it each time I gave it to her, I'd remind her, when you are 3 no more booby milk, right? And she would say yes. I'd ask her over and over again through out the last 6 months, what happens when you are 3??

Finally, we had her birthday and I gave her 2 days (wanted to stop on Sunday to start a new beginning on Monday) to finally give it up cold turkey.

I said, this is the last time, Morgan, can you say goodbye? I am going to go to the doctor and he is going to take away the milk starting tomorrow.

I realize it is NOT the same as the bottle, but it WAS her comfort activity.

Monday came and when the times came where she felt she wanted it, I just gave her a big hug and held her and said how proud I was that she was such a big girl. Then, we'd use the distraction method.

Eventually, she just stopped asking!

So, I suppose you might have a 3 year cut off point (I mean seriously he isn't going to go to college with it so what is one more year!) and just work together to give it up.

As long as his teeth are not being hurt by it, what difference would a year make??

I have a friend who has 3 year old child in diapers, she feels this same pressure to potty train. My thinking is, it's not like she is going to be in diapers her whole life, so what if she needs a bit more time!

I'm sure you are not as concerned about what other people might be thinking, but if you are, who cares what they think?? Your son is YOUR son. Don't compare!!

Listen to your mom! HTH!!

My peditrician said to get rid of the bottle around 12 months, and transition to a sippy cup and regular cups. His reasoning for us was to reduce the sucking that constantly pulls moisture into his ears, and was making his ear infections worse (I don't remember his exact phrasing for the reasoning, but it was something to do with the sucking and the bacteria in his ears).

So, sorry, I'd have to agree with your husband. The previous responder has a great idea to let your son pick out his own cups and help you replace his bottles with them. Good luck!

With my first child I let her have the bottle till after she was 2 and then only took it away because I got tired of buying new ones when she would throw it down and crack the plastic ring around the top. Bedtime was horrible after that. She is 12 now and I still have a hard time getting her to bed. As for the rest of my children. My second was off the bottle at 11 1/2 months my third was off at about 15 months(she was premature)I took the bottle from my 4th at exactly one year, and my last one only took a bottle a couple of times he was breastfed. I will say that my fiance's little girl is 8 and all her teeth are rotten. The dentist says she has baby bottle rot teeth. Had to have the front ones pulled at 3 years old and they just grew back in last year. Keeping the bottle is not good on his teetb but if you must let him have it make sure all he gets in it is water. At least then you shouldn't have to worry about the bottle rot teeth and from my experience that is something no parent wants their child to go through. Good luck!

my kids were both off their bottles by the time they were 15 months old. if you let him keep the bottle it will mess up his teeth. if its security then take him to the store and let him pick out a lovely and let him trade it for the bottle at the register and throw all the other ones out.Its a bad habbit he needs to kick and he cant do it on his own. Bottles are for babies and hes not a baby.

I tend to agree with your husband. Two is way too old for a child to be on a bottle. I have four kids and 14 months was the longest any of them were on it, the others were all off at 12 months. You should talk with your pediatrician, but in my experience, the docs want them off before two, most before 18 months. Good luck to you.

Sorry to say u don't have my vote.The bottle can ruin his teeth in the long run and he is well above old enough to be given a sippy cup and able to adjust.My first lost his bottle on his first birthday and my 11 month old barely uses his anymore,he has a sippy cup.It doesnt necessarily mean ur a bad mom,it just seems like you'd rather him trasition out without the fuss.It makes it so much easier when they go to the sippy cup and he is only attached b/c he hasnt discovered a new favorite.Letting him pick out the cup would help and so would placing some thing like juice in the sippy cup and nothing but water in the bottle...what's inside will matter more to him than whats on the outside.Ur a great mom and he wouldnt think any different of you wether u let him keep it or take it away,he will forget he even had a bottle in a couple of weeks.I know how hard it seems, my oldest was highly attached to his paci till he was 3. I only let him have it that long b/c the doctor told me that if he wasnt off by 3 1/2 or 4 then take it away but otherwise let him hold on to it so that he didn't take up thumb sucking.

I think that it's up to each parent...my situation was I had the youngest child on a bottle and the two older ones wouldn't get off theirs..so when the youngest was 2 a little over I said to all of them here's some special tippy cups for you you can drink milk etc out of them I got fancy one's and I put out a plastic bag and said help me put these bottle's in it we have to give them to children that don't have bottles and their momma's and daddy's need them for their new born babies...they did it haven't looked back. Yes I kinda lied I wasn't giving those used bottles to any babies, to make it right I bought a new nursery set almost $20 and gave it to St. Vincent De Paul thrift store. I wish I didn't have to wait to break the other 2 from bottles but all 3 at once..it's the smoothest transaction we've had on anything. Yes children need something of security my youngest now has a fav blanket, the middle child a blanket, the oldest a elephant. It's up to you it's your home your child but you all have to live in harmony and that's best for everyone. I can say this if I didn't do what I did my 6 yr old would still take a bottle to this day all of us want to be someone's baby in some way. Remember you are the leader it's your move that needs to be made first he'll follow and be fine. Good luck with whatever you deceid and when.

Sorry M.
I totally agree with your hubby. If you only knew the long term effects on the teeth you would trash the bottle. Having you childs teeth removed because there rotten in a few years because of the bottle you will feel so horrible he's in pain you'll forget that the bottle was his security at two. Then when hes an adult the rot returns and he ends up with false teeth. If you think I'm kidding about all this you need to talk to my husband and his sister who both keep there bottles/security. The grandparents raised them and felt the way you do but as adults they have pay the for it.

don't worry about the bottle thing. i have learned the hardway not to let him have it all the time and at bedtimes (the 400 dental bill told me to stop that). so keep away from bedtime but otherwise i wouldnt worry about it. i think society wants to make the babies grow up to fast. i will tell you that if you have made the decision for him to stop. stop cold turkey. dont try weaning. just throw all the bottles away. he will get thirsty and figure it out. good luck. remember your the mama and mama's know best. dont worry about what people say or think.

I have to say I agree with you. Why is it that a 2 year old shouldn't be on a bottle or use a pacifier? Just because "society" thinks that is too old doesn't mean that it is. If there is no harm being caused(like dental damage), why force your child to not be a child? I have never understood why kids are expected to grow up so fast. Our society tends to force our children into becoming little adults and I just don't agree with it. I say let him enjoy being a 2 year old and he will let you know when he is ready to let the bottle go.

Okay so maybe I am wrong but I am going to agree with you. My son is 2 1/2 and we just got rid of the pacifier. Now for all those people that say it messes up their teeth. I have talked to 4 different dentists that say that it is not going to mess up there teeth. You either have good teeth or you don't. I had a pacifier until I was 2 and I never had braces or any other dental gear. Talking to your pediatrician is most likely going to frustrate you because they will agree with your husband and tell you to get rid of it. Lets be honest you know your child best. You need to do what is best for you and your child not what is best for everyone else.

Good Luck
B.

My little one is 17 months and I am trying to ween her off the bottle. We had already gradually taken it away so that she only had one or two at night when she went to bed. She wakes up in the middle of the night for one still and has a great fuss for it. It has been 3 days since she had one though and it's getting better. I think its going to be harder to get rid of the pacifier. Whenever she whines, I pop that sucker in there and she's good...Good luck.

I have to agree with the others. At the very least I'd give him nothing but water in the bottle so that it's not a problem for his teeth. My daughter had her pacifier (at bed and naptime) until almost age three because I couldn't bear to take it away for the same reasons you are talking about. When I finally got up the nerve to take it away cold turkey, I was shocked at how easy it was for her to go without it. I bet he'd find other ways to soothe himself. I certainly don't think you'd be a bad mom to let him keep doing it, but I think he'll adjust sooner than you think and that left to his own devises, he's not likely to give it up anytime soon.

No,your not alone!I went through this same thing as well. My son is now 2 1/2 years old. But I had started him at day care when he was 15 months and the presure was on when he was still drinking from a bottle. I tried everything. I didn't want to take the only thing my son felt confort in besides his parents. So... I started with giving him only milk in a bottle until it became only at night then not at all. The day he took a sippy cup for the whole day. I put up the bottles and that was it. Remember OUT of Sight Out of Mind! I used the Nuby sippy cups, they are great they remind children of bottles but their not. You can get them at walmart, target .... they cost about a $1.oo or so each. Good luch but remember also be consistant.

At this point, you are right in that this is a security item for him. Sometimes it does more damage to separate a child completely from their security item than to "break them" of the habit. At the same time, we want to teach children how soothe themselves.... he is soothing with the bottle but will need to develop other means of self soothing because eventually his peers would not "approve" if he were to go to school with a bottle, obviously.... So, I would cut back on the bottle, wean him off. Only allow him to have it at night before he goes to bed in his bed and then cut back to three nights per week and so on until it's not such a big deal to him. I would provide him with special, soft blankets you have slept with and a special pillow he has for soothing... Introduce a special music cd.... try a lavendar bath soap.... special lovey toys....Keep trying to find subtitute self soothing options and slowly cut back on the bottle's availability but not cold turkey for sure.... Yes, he would definitely grow out of it but I'm betting his dentist would recommend you not allow it to continue much longer for a the reason of teeth formation too.... good luck!

i'd agree with Kristi. I feel parents are constantly comparing their kids to others' and trying to let their child grow up too fast. Whether it's a blankey, a bottle or a boob, babies need to feel secure (hey, I can't sleep without a sheet over me even on the hottest summer nights- strictly security reasons). Transitioning should be slow, and you have already started the process. As for it being bad for their teeth, I'm not sure as my son was never on a bottle, but, he is still nursing (20 months) and has never had an ear infection and I'm sure you know not to let him sleep with a juice bottle. It can be traumatic to force a child to get rid of thier security item with no warning or without slow transition, be on their time table not yours or any other mamas. It sounds like you do, but just remember to stick with your gut.