Bottles & Pacifiers

We tossed the bottle on her 2nd birthday. There's no rush, they're only babies for a while, no need to push it. GL!

I am a mom of 3 kids ages 13, 12 and 11 now. My middle child was the one who held onto her bottle and pacifier the longest. At 18 months (much like you are doing) I was determined to get rid of the bottle AND pacifier all at once. I picked a day and just determined to stick to the plan. I stopped giving her the bottle and pacifier all together and it took 3 nights of her crying herself to sleep, but that was all it took. After those three nights she was over it! Granted, every baby is different, I had no troubles with my son (my oldest) or my youngest who never really wanted the pacifier to begin with. Good luck! Remember you are the parent!

While all three of my children are older now, 12 - 9 - and 6 years old, I stopped the bottle at 1 year of age. About a month before I pulled the bottle away, I gave them sippy cups on their tray/plate at the same time. When the year came, the bottle mysteriously disappeared and we adapted to the cup. Also, I never gave my children pacifiers. I ,(personally), don't like seeing kids walking around with them all the time. Small babies with pacifiers is one thing but when the child can crawl or walk around, the time has come to get rid of it.

I made the mistake of letting my daughter keep her bottle for WAY TOO LONG! She looked at it like it was her security blanket though, she was more attached to her bottle than anything else in this world, and because of this I felt horrible trying to take it away. She's my first, my second will be off the bottle at one no matter what!

First try not to put anything in there except water if he is going to take it at least for a little while, my daughter took one in her crib so I had to only allow her water. Of course for the lat 8 months she took a bottle it was one of water at night and that was it.

Now, for how I got her to let them go: About a week before her second birthday everyday I would tell her how she was turning two and becoming a big girl, and big girls are not allowed to use bottles. Then the night before she turned two i told her the "two-year old fairy" was going to come in out house and take all teh bottles away to give to babies who needed them and leave her a big girl surprise. So after she fell asleep I went into her room, took her bottle away and every other one in teh house away and threw them in the dumpster so i wouldnt cave in and give her one the next night. When she woke up she found a set of disney sippy cups with teh straws on teh kitchen table and one spill proof one and I showed her how all teh bottles in the house were gone. So that night she wanted to bring a drink with her I switched it over to the sippy cup that teh fairy brought her with water. She was a little stressed but understood that they were gone and there was nothing we could do about it.

As for a pcifier, It is fine at this age. It is comforting to him and it will not ruin his teeth unless he is still sucking on it by like the age of four. Work on getting that bottle away then let him keep his pacifier for a while, he will grow out of even wanting it.

Good Luck :)

we were completely off bottles when my twins turned 1. We still use pacifiers at bed time, when in the car, and when they are sick...

I think that is a good goal...being done with the bottle and pacifier by 2 years old. Don't worry too much, he will be fine! I have a 16 month old and he is my 4th child. I let him have the pacifier at naptime and bedtime. He also has a bottle, a sippy cup and drinks from a straw. My other three kids were done with the pacifier by around 4 months but he is my best sleeper. He is also the only one that was not nursed at all which I think helped him to sleep on his own quicker than the other kids. The other three were off the bottle by around 2 years. What I did was I only put water in the bottle when I was trying to stop the bottle. That way if they wanted something "good" to drink they would take it from a cup. The bottle with water is also less damaging to the teeth because there is no sugar in water. I hope to have my son off the bottle by the time he is two years old.

Hi;
I think everyone struggles with this one. At 18 months... I wouldn't worry at all about intake. Your child is getting calcium from other food sources too - assuming no allergies (strawberries, cheese, yogurt, yogurt drinks etc.). When they were exclusively getting nourished from milk/formula there is a need to be concerned about intake, but now probably not so much.

I'd just go cold turkey and get rid of the bottles. At first, your child won't drink milk heartily from a sippy cup, but that will change quickly. I recommend giving milk in a sippy cup at all meals (then water and juice/water at snack times). Eventually (probably within a few weeks) you'll see that he's drinking a full sippy cup of milk with lunch and dinner (and 1/2 to 3/4 is probably enough).

I don't have any experience with pacifiers, but a friend of mine who has an almost 3 yr old still addicted said that she's having the "Pacie Fairy" come to their house to take all the pacifiers to 'donate them to new babies' and the fairy will leave a nice 'grown up boy' present in place of the pacies. I thought that was a cute idea...

Good luck with it all. And, don't stress about the milk... your boy will adjust sooner than you think.

All the best.

hey- he should be off the bottle.. by one year. i was in your boat with my first and we switched from a bottle of milk to a sippy cup of juice at night-yikes what a mistake,... if you are worried about his milk intake, don't worry.. he will get his dairy from cheese, yogurt and ice cream.. your child will be quite upset when you take it away but it's best for teeth if you get rid of it.. good luck
J.

My daughter was the same way when I first tried to get her off the bottle at around a year, although she was only having a bottle in the morning. I continued to the bottle until around 18/19 months. Then as I continued giving her the sippy cup, she started to drink more and more... just as she had with the bottle. My doctor said do not worry as much about the in take of pure milk after one... he said try to get her off the bottle. He said that at one they are eating just about all foods, so they are getting dairy from other sources (cheese, yogurt, etc.). Pacifier... my daughter is two and still sleeps with 3 in her crib. I think it's more of a security for me... I know she'll be able to part with them in do time. Good luck!!

Hello T.. My kids are a little older, 12 and 8, and were babies before this popularity of getting rid of the bottle by a year which I don't really believe in. I had planned to be done by two though, I think it's icky seeing kids walking around with bottles and pacifiers at 4 years old.

I took the bottle away from my daughter at 18 months, although I hadn't planned on it til she turned two, but she started drinking 2 or 3 bottles of milk when she'd get home from daycare and then not eating dinner so I ditched them cold turkey and she wasn't traumatized. She was also drinking from a cup by then anyway. My son wanted nothing to do with a cup until past a year old, then I found one cup that he loved so I kept using that. One day (he was 14 or 15 months), I realized it had been at least two weeks since he'd had a bottle so I got rid of them, couldn't see any reason to ever offer one again.

As for the pacifiers, my daughter used them only in the first few months. When my son was around your son's age, maybe a few months older, he was still using his at bedtime. I decided to just get rid of them and thought it would be a nightmare but it wasn't. He asked for it the first night or two and I just ignored him and he didn't make a fuss. The third night he asked and I just told him that he's a big boy now and doesn't need it anymore. For a moment I waited, certain there was going to be a tantrum, but he just looked at me and said "Oh!" and went to sleep. It was that easy. I hope it will be for you too. Good luck!

T. ... dont worry i have 5 but all babies are different
ur baby will let go the bottle on his own .. as he get older he will relieze that he is to big for the bottle there will be a time where he will only ask for it at bed time ... and its ok if you take the bottle away now he will not drink the milk his body needs ... if it makes u feel better ... my son was on his bottle until 5 but he will only drink milk in it when he came home from school and one at bed time ..

Hi T.,

When my son was 18 mos old I experienced the same exact thing. I finally realized he was getting more attached to his bottle rather than less and it was up to me to force a transition to a cup. I packed up all the bottles and put them away and offered him only sippy cups of milk. He did not like it one bit and would have little tantrums in front of the frig. After 4 days he was guzzling milk from his cups and never missed the bottle again.

Now my second child sees her older brother with a sippy cup and wants that over the bottle at times.

Good luck!!

With the bottle try not using a sippy cup, use one of the straw cups that have characters on them. The straw helps them learn to use their muscles in their cheeks more and reminds them more of the bottle. I learned this from a speech therapist. It has worked wonders for my children (4 year old boy and 2 year old girl) the transition was great. My peditrician said not to worry about the intake, when he/she is really thirsty they will take something to drink.

Regarding pacifiers, my daughter still uses one but only at nightime and naps. She must give me the pacifier before she gets out of bed and knows that it goes in the cabinet in the kitchen where she can't get it and if she wants it before her naps time, she just throws a fit, which is fine. I am also hoping to get rid of it by her 2nd birthday which is in 3 weeks.

I hope this helped.

When my son was 18 months he was still getting a bottle of milk 3 times a day too because he still wanted it. He will use a sippy cup for his water and apple juice but I think the warm milk in a bottle is comforting. He would get one in the morning, then for his afternoon nap and one before bed.

He is 22 months now and gets 2 bottles, one for nap time and one at night. I try and eliminate the morning one and just make him eat breakfast w/ a cup of juice instead.

I wouldn't worry too much about his milk intake as long as he isn't getting too much, 3 bottles a day is 24 oz and I would think that is ok. You can always run that question by your pediatrician to be on the safe side.

Now about the pacifier: my son was absolutely ADDICTED to that thing! The trick in which I got him to stop using it was I cut the nipple out of the pacifier. I told my son that it broke but he could still hold it (For comfort). At first he tried to put it in his mouth but after a while he finally stopped doing that and just holds it in his hand, it's like a security blanket for him, but the best part about it is it's not ruining his teeth!! Try that with your son and see if it works..just be patient. :)

hi, my daughter will be 2 april 5th and she's still on the bottle. at this moment she's only really drinking the bottle for naps and bedtime (on occasion my mother will give one to her when she's having cookies...but i keep trying to make sure it's in a sippy cup when she's awake). she drinks about 16 oz of milk a day through the bottle, but about 4-6 bottles a day. what i do (since i don't want her to have bottle rot, and can't seem to get her to sleep without something there to drink...just like mommy) is i take her 10oz bottle and fill about 6 oz of HOT water, then pour in about 4oz of milk so that it's diluted. usually she 'chugs' the 1st bottle, and i have to make a 2nd one, then she drinks 1-4oz of the 2nd bottle before passing out. once she's asleep, i regularly check on her and keep filling it up with water until it's nothing but water (nap time i usually don't get it to just water, she doesn't sleep that long) but by the time i'm going to bed, she's sleeping with nothing but a water bottle to drink. i'm still trying to get her to really drink milk through the sippy during the day so i can try and get her on nothing but water at night (and start weening off the bottle ALL TOGETHER!) but i'm not really worried about her being on the bottle right now. 1st of all (and most importantly to me) her dr. said that as long as it's not pure milk at night, not to worry about the bottle rot..that and brushing her teeth. and all but 1 of my friends say that their children all drank from a bottle at least 1 point during the day until they were just a little over 2 yrs old (and 1 has a son 1 yr older then my daughter and still drinks from a bottle..but has a baby sister, so we think it's just digressing).
i would double check with his dr. and just see what he says. from what i've seen, and am experiencing, it seems to be normal. though the pacifier...i'd suggest trying to get that one stopped asap. everyone (friends, family, dr.s and dentists) that i know freaks every time pacifiers are mentioned, they swear that when they're kept in the mouth that it can cause problems with the teeth, like buck-toothed (sp.?) my daughter's dr didn't have much of a problem, other then telling me to keep an eye on her, but that's because she ONLY uses them as teethers. i buy the extra thick ones so she doesn't chew through them too quick, but check daily to make sure she can't choke on them...though she hasn't touched one in a couple of months she does have another molar coming in and has been looking for her pacifiers again. just be careful. good luck.

You need to get rid of the bottle by 1 year. At first they won't drink as much, but then they realize that they are thirsty and the cup is the only thing that is coming. Throw the bottles out. The longer you wait the harder it will be. My kids went to a cup at 10 months and my friend's kids waited. Some of them until 2 years and they are having such issues with temper tantrums. The pacifier should only be used at night and for a nap. Same idea as a bottle. They eventually get rid of it by 3. Hope this helps. Any more question, just email back.

hi T.! i'm very impressed w your ability to set limits for your child. my son is going to be 3 in june and he uses his paci all the time. but i think that bed time and nap time is perfectly fine and in fact, my uncle who is an orthodontist, and my cousin (his son) who is a dentist, both say that there are no teeth problems w the use of pacis or thumbs unless the kid is going beyond 4 or 5 years old.

my ped however is very insistent that i have to get rid of my son's "bink" because she feels using it outside the house contributes greatly to colds etc; and i'm sure that's true. i'm trying to scale back w him on the use of it; wish i had done it at 18 mos like you~!

as far as bottles i don't know. we never used them because we only nursed until he was old enough; about 15 months, for a straw cup, and i only give water and rarely milk, because my kids eat sooooo much dairy, they will start mooing if they drink milk as well. but i don't measure, i just remind them to drink from the straw cups many itmes throughout the day and they pee plenty!

good luck!
j

My son is 2, and takes a bottle at night still. I can't get myself to take it away from him. He really enjoys it, and will not drink any milk from sippy cup. At 18 months we moved to 2 bottles, one in the morning and one at night. At about 21 months, we cut out the morning bottle. I personally don't think one bottle a day would cause any longterm issues, I hope I'm right.

Hi,
my son hated bottles. so he was breast feed untill he was 11 months old. he liked the nubby sippy cups-they have a soft spout more like a bottle so it still has the comfort of a bottle but is a big boy cup. we dont really worry about how much just how many usually 3/5 cups a day not measure but sippy cups.

hope this helps,K.

just keep an eye on him if you do get the nubby-my son used to break the valve in the top and pour milk all over himself and the dog.

Hi T.!

I took both my kids off both the bottle and the pacifier at 1! Although it took my daughter a bit longer to get off the bottle, I weeded it down each day. I took my daughter to the dentist at 1 yrs of age (because my son was getting a cleaning, and she wanted to do what her big brother was doing) and she was told by the Dentist NO MORE BOTTLES. Or, only water in the bottle at night. She was OK with that, until I made a big deal about her having her own bottle of water by her bed. She was thrilled at that. Yes, she was only a year at the time. But due to compensating her bottle for something similar, and showing her how her bottle could leak in her bed and get her all wet, and the bottle of water won't do that.... she liked the bottle of water that closed on the top better and was fine with it.

As for the pacifier -- the longer a child has a pacifier that they carry around with them in their mouths when they begin talking, the higher chance they could have a speach delay. Trying to talk around a pacifier is extremely difficult for an adult -- then try having a child who is learning to talk do it is even worse. So I took it away right at 1 year. Although my son had a speach delay anyway, but I know it wasn't due to the pacifier, but hearing loss. Can you imagine if I allwed him to keep the pacifier???? LOL!

So my suggestion is to start taking them away. I wouldn't suggest cold turkey, but the faster the better. One woman I know started snipping off pieces of the pacifier until it was gone. She told her child she wasn't going to buy anymore that when the one they had was gone then that's it! Eventually it was so low it wasn't worth sucking on and they gave up. Good Luck!

J. B.

Hi T.,
My daughter is 2,5yd and gave up her bottle when she was 10mo old,started drinking from a sippy cup, then a straw cup.As far as I know it's not very good for their teeth at this age.
We had some problems with a pacifier,so i cuted the small peace out and the air started to come through. She tried to take it couple of more times and did not like the result. She was 18mo.
I think it's better for a child to give up bottle or pacifier at the young age.
Good luck, anyway.
T.

My daughter was bottle obsessed and wanted it over food. She was 2 years and 4 months old when we finally stopped giving her a bottle. We kept prepping her for the day that we would take it away. We told her she was a big girl and bottles were for babies. It was tough for two days and that was it. We hyped it up about how she was such a big girl and how proud we were of her.

She only had a pacifier for 7 months b/c she loved the bottle so much.

I had a hard time getting my first born to take anything but the breast at a year old. I found a sippy cup with a silicone nipple like a bottle, but shaped like the spout on a sippy cup. I found this "Nuby" sippy cup at Wal*Mart and it did the trick. Within a week or two she was drinking milk out of a regular sippy cup.

Hey T.,

I am one of those moms that never had and still do not have a routine. My daughter turned two years old in Jan. She is still on a bottle. My daughter will not a sippy cup. I have forced it during the day. I have tried Nubby, and all sippy cups available. I even let her pick her own. I truly have nothing to say here but either be patient or just try to stick with it and do not give in. I had her cut off for two months and then she wouldn't sleep at night or even eat for me because she wanted that bottle....so be consistant and it will get better

The best thing my pediatrician ever did was to tell me to introduce my daughter to sippy cups at 9 months old. She had actually shown interest in my sports bottles (water bottles) when she was 7 months old so it was fairly easy, so you might want to give that a try in the beginning. As for the pacifier, I thought for sure I was going to go through 2 weeks of hell when I took her pacifier away at 18 months, but within a couple of days she had forgotten about them. In fact, she slept better at night because she wasn't "spitting" it out in her sleep and then waking to look for it. She's my first too, so I really value the advice here. I hope I have helped you out in some ways!

I started taking away the bottle at one year as my pediatrician suggested-one bottle at a time with the morning and night bottles being the last ones. We had no problems removing them and I offered her the drinks at meals and any time in between that she seemed to need one(she was a good eater so I was not concerned that she was filling herself with liquid). I would not be too worried about the intake especially since it is winter-if you can get him off the bottle now and into a sippy cup-by summer time when you want to make sure he gets enough fluids, he should be doing really well.
As for the pacifier, my pediatrician always told us that if we only used it in her bed and it was not being used when she needed to be talking(where it would affect her speech) that we should not be worried. We ended up waiting until she was 3(only using it for naps and bedtime) and the binky fairy came and left her a gift and took the pacifiers. She loved her gift and only asked for her pacifiers the next night and then it was all over! Good Luck-enjoy your first little guy-they bring so much joy every moment!

1. Bottles were gone as soon as my babies turned 1.

2. I would only worry about intake if he is above average for weight. I believe toddler's should be drinking about 8 oz a day. I could be wrong, my kid's hate milk.

3. I agree the pacifier should go at 2. After that 2nd birthday each day that passes will be that much harder. I pulled the binky at 2. Toddler's do not have a need to suck the way infants do. Teach him to soothe himself in other ways.

Keep up the good work!

A.

You will know when it is time to give up the pacifier - they begin to leave them everywhere. At that point you just stop replacing them.

As far as the cup and bottle issue, stop with the bottle or only put water in it. What ever his favorite beverage is should be in a cup. Long periods of time on a bottle leads to bad teeth, very expensive bad teeth.

No don't worry about the intake it should increase as he gets used to the cup. Try different brands, cartoon characters, etc. My children enjoyed the tops that were soft like a bottle-NUK.

Hey honestly I woulnn't sweat it so much. Because if you spend all your time worrying about it you gonna go nuts....Trust Me! Try different bottles like the NUBY brand they have a really soft spout and they feel alot like a bottle , but they are a cup.
Another idea that worked for us is instead of saying do you want a bottle? say do you want your big boy cup?
They respond very well to that. The pacifier I am not sure on my daughter never used one but I have heard as long as you limit when he gets it as you are for nap time and bed time and slowly sneek it away here and there he may respond very well. Also on the intake thing he will come get you when he needs it. I would constantly put juice or milk or water in front of my daughter and of course she drank it because it was there. And i couldn't figure out why her diapers were exploding every time she pee'd. I started waiting until she points or asked for something and she hasn't wet through her diapers in almost 4 months now. So essentially, do what you feel is right. You will know when he is ready. And if it gets harder then try a play group were everyone is a little older and he will soon realize that big boys use BIG BOY cups and dont suck on pacifiers. He make kick it like there is no tomorrow. Just try not to drive you self nuts over it. Really how much can it hurt. Plus the ages they say a child should do some thing is a Range. Like between the ages of 18 and 30 months is when a child will gain control of their bladder but gradually it will happen.

Both of my kids drank their milk from a bottle until they were 20 and 22 months old. I think that sippy cups are awful. In addition to being really hard to suck on and get much liquid, they also inhibit clear speech. So, I used the plastic straw cups made by First Years. They come in many colors and the straws are also different colors. They are not leak proof but I didn't have too much trouble with it since I only let them carry it around if water was in it. I had a countdown to the big day. About a month before, I had them drink milk at breakfast from the straw cup and water in the afternoon from the straw cup. I kept their before nap and before bedtime bottles. If they didn't drink much at breakfast, well, then I just offered water in the cup all morning. I figured we had the rest of the day, so it didn't matter if they drank much or not. When the big day came, I announced that the bottles were going bye-bye and seriously threw them away. I said the garbage men needed them. I made my kids sit in one spot to drink - table, in front of T.V. show. I had to encourage them, after all, no more bottle. But, I would say things like, ok, take a big suck on the straw and I'll make a silly face:) The flow of liquid is a lot faster so it did take some adjustment. They did a lot of biting on the straws at first, but that stopped. I did keep track of my kids' liquid intake as this is important. And it didn't go down too much, maybe like 6 ounces less than usual. My daughter wouldn't drink milk from the cups so she drank yogurt drinks that I added some milk to. My son drank Silk Very Vanilla Soymilk, what had been in his bottle. Good luck!

I'm in the same boat-my 18 month boy loves his bottles but I limit him to morning and night- same with pacifier-only in for naptime/bedtime. I would go down to two bottles and work from there- Soon I will go down to just bedtime. He will now drink milk from the cup-but he does sip it. I figure I give him 4 6oz a day- he probably doesn't finish the 2 middle ones- so he gets about 20-23 oz a day which is plenty. M.

I would stop worrying about how much he drinks. He will drink if he's thirsty. I try taking him to the store and picking out his own sippy cup, maybe his attachment will transfer. My son wanted a bottle at night at that age. What we did is give him sippys during the day, and one bottle a night. Then we stopped warming the bottle in the summer, and it was not as appealing anymore. Also, we never put anything but milk into the bottle.

Pacifiers are tougher, but I would suggest that if you go away for a few days with the baby, you could "forget" to bring the pacifier back, and just help him cope with it.

i was very militant about stopping the pacifier and switching to a cup. although it is hearbreaking to do this to a toddler, i believe cold turkey is the only way. my child is now 23 months old. i stopped the pacifier at 3 1/2 months (cold turkey) when i was ferberizing him. it really was not too bad. my son had a lot harder time giving up his bottles. as suggested by my pediatrician, i introduced sippy cups around 8 months but he hated them all. i started using the straw cups which he was more inclined to use. it took three days for him to switch completely to a straw cup--again cold turkey (a little after his first bithday). they only need about 12oz of milk at this point so don't worry too much about the intake. be strong and good luck.

My son is 17 months old and he recently got sick for three weeks. He has reverted terribly .... he used to drink 3 bottles a day and the Nuby cups of water and milk. Now he will not take a cup at all - he only wants his bottle. It is making me nuts because I have another baby on the way and I want him off the bottle. He is sick once again so I am not dwelling on the bottle but I also wish I could get it away from him.

As far as the pacifier my older son (3) is still obsessed with his, I never gave one to my younger son because I didn't want him attached to one too. I only give the pacifier at night time - but he asks for it all day. I was told by one of his teachers to cut the rubber so that there is a hole in it and he will not like it anymore but I feel like the germs will just live inside and I do not want him to get sick. I have also been told to wait until a holiday and "give it to the Easter Bunny or Santa" but I am not sure that is right either. I have been struggling with the binki for a long time.

My son do not drink much with a sippy cup but he can drink all with a cup. Like my son, your son may need a transition period. You may use a straw to replace the nipple of the bottle first. In this way, your son would feel that he is still using "his own bottle". Once he gets used to the straw, then you can replace the bottle with a cup.

My son is now 2.5 years old. I still keep him drinking 3 cups of milk a day to ensure that he has enough calcium intake. If you son loves milk, then I don't think it's a problem.

Regarding the pacifier, my son used pacifier when he was still a baby. I always took it out once he got into sleep. Eventually, he took it out himself to play instead of using it. And he stopped using pacifier when he was about 3 months old.

Bottles are only a habit as is the pacifier. The only way he will kick his habit is cold turkey otherwise it just gets harder to give up as they get older.

I breast feed my children but got pregnant with my second child when my first born was 6 months old. I had to cut back on nursing and started giving him the bottle. The end result was that he got attached and it was a hassel to get him to stop. I too felt guilty and went from the big bottle to the small bottle and limited to only one bottle at night. Until we threw all the bottles in the garbage he would cry at bedtime until I gave in Finally we threw the bottles away. I made him part of the decision. We went outside and gave the bottles to the sanitation men on trash day. He had a hard time getting to sleep two nights and then it was over.

My third child I nursed as well but at 10 months she just stopped nursing. I asked the doctor if I should introduce the bottle to her and he advised me that she is not interest in nursing I should just go to the cup.

The lesson I learned at that point is that babies probably don't need a bottle, pacificer or breast past their first birthday and at that time it is easy to ease them into a new venture.

Good luck to you. Don't feel guilty, your son knows you love him. He may need a little more attention for a few nights but then he will forget all about both the bottle and pacifier.

Everyone's giving you great advice, so I won't repeat any of it. One thing that helped in my house with the bottle was that they had to sit with me in my lap for a bottle (the child can't walk around with a breast if they were breast feeding!). Eventually, they didn't want to sit like that with me anymore!