2 Year Old off Bottle

Pick a day and pitch the bottles. No fair keeping them. My son (I thought) was resistant to giving up his last of the day, night time bubby (as we called them). O. night I stashed the bottles and handed him a sippy with his warm "moo" and he just drank it! I think it was ME who had a harder time getting rid of the bubbies!

I would say just throw them away , at 2 yrs old while you are at home he/she can drink from a regular cup , maybe put a straw in to make it seem more exciting , then for out and about you can get sippy cups that has a straw attached or use a regular water bottle with a sports top.

Hi A.-

I know this is not what you want to hear but the simple answer is throw away the bottles! If you don't give him the bottle and only offer him a sippy cup he will eventually learn to drink from it. Start with the soft spouted sippy cups so they are similar to the bottle. Also if he is dependent upon a bottle before bed or naptime you could keep those bottles but go to a sippy cup the rest of the time. It won't be easy, but he will adjust if you are consistent and make the change. If you always give him the bottle he will continue to want it.

The other option is to skip the sippy cup altogether. Just go ahead and give him a "big boy cup" instead of the bottle. My son just turned 2 in November and was off of the bottle and on sippy cups for a little over a year. He is now using a regular plastic cup most of the time. We only use the sippy cup in the car or to go to the park, etc.

Good luck,
K.

When it was time for my daughter to give up the bottle we had her help us pack up all her bottles. We explained that Aunt Dorleen and Uncle Lee were going to Germany, and the babies over there needed her bottles. Uncle Lee was in the Air Force and had a postcard of a German neighborhood. We showed her the picture and explained that she was a big girl and the babys over there were waiting for her bottles. When they left for the airport we made sure she saw them take her bottles. After that everytime she asked for a bottle we showed her the postcard.

It worked and she had something visual to remember. We still have that postcard and my daughter is 23 with a daughter of her own.

as my pediatrician always says- do not worry about it - they won't be doing that when they go to college- she is very old school - has had a practice for about 30 years- needless to say if she says don't worry I don't- I didn't push any of my boys (I have 3) and don't plan on pushing my daughter (21 mos) My third son thought that the only way to drink milk was in a bottle- he would drink anything out of a cup all day long but at 4 he still had to have his milk in a bottle in the morning at lunch and before bed. I didn't listen to anyone and their "2 cents worth of comments or discouraging words" - I stuck to my pedi's words- "my doctor said he won't take it to college with him so I am letting him take the wheel on this one" My MIL was not impressed to say the least. But I noticed this last Nov. that he wasn't drinking all of his milk. And then one morning I gave him his bottle of milk and he said, "No thank you mom" He gave up the morning first and then the night and there was no crying screaming or anything- he was ready when he was ready. My other two boys weren't quite as old but they both gave up theirs on their own to. I always offered them all the cup with milk or juice in it before the bottle and if they didn't want it I would give it to them in their bottle. No fuss no big deal. BTW I have used the same approach with pacis and potty training. My kids are far from perfect and there has been enough noise (ie. fits and screaming that goes along with having kids) in the house to add more to it. Don't worry mom- she won't go to college with it : )

My kids pediatrician said to put strong coffee in the bottle then hand your child the sippy cup. If they don't want it hand them the coffee bottle. After they push the bottle away hand them back the sippy cup. It only took my son 2 times. After that he was fine with the sippy cup. sippy cup tastes good! Bottle doesn't!

Get rid of the bottles. That way neither one of you can go back!

Don't use a sippy cup. He's old enough for a straw. Much better for the child anyway.

Take the bottle away. Either let the child watch you wash them and pack them away, if you are keeping them for a future child, or let the child watch you throw them out. Explain that he/she is 2 and is a big boy/girl and this is what they will drink out of now.

i agree get rid of the bottles. janis had the best idea. i wonder if womens shelters can take used bottles?

we started our taking our son off bottles when he was almost one. there are different stages of sippy cups. we bought a couple of soft nipple sippy cups, then a firmer untill we reached the standard hard plastic sippy. get the cheap ones for about a dollar each (nubby brand) my favorite sippys are the playtex brand. seems to work best for us!

The way i took my daughter off the cup was only give the bottle at night at first so she can get used to it(dont ever give in!) and then one night (dont make it a big deal)just give her the cup(if she sleeps with cup) andgo on with ur life. my daughter didnt give me any problems with it and now doesnt even need a cup to go to sleep with... Hope this helps u

Hi A.,
Baby's love their bottles! It is still young at 2 years old to give up the bottle. Maybe buy a really cute sippy cup for juice and save the bottle for milk. Make it seem really fun and give a big applause for using hte sippy cup. You can even pretend to drink out of the sippy cup yourself.

Have fun. 2 year olds can be really stubborn.

W.

Throw them away. She will eventually need something to drink. I have yet to see a child suffer dehydration because they didn't want to drink out of a cup.