My Son Matthew just turned 2 at the beginning of the month and he refuses to ditch the bottle. He has a multitude of sippy cups. I think his bottle has turned into a comfort item. He was never a pacifier baby, however, he is at the point where he is WAY too old to have the nasty bottle any longer... any ideas of how you switched your kids from their bottles would be much appreciated. Thank you!
Here is some info that I hope might be helpful for you...
http://www.mother-2-mother.com/cups-older.htm
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t032200.asp
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/3/t030800.asp
Best wishes,
J.
I agree with the other posts that cold turkey is the only option. I think pediatricians recommend removing the bottle at age 1 so he definitely past the time that he "needs" it. So it obviously is just a comfort item.
Yes, cold turkey. Throw them out. All of them. It will only be rough for a couple of days. It's like putting on big girl/boy underwear for the first time out in public. You don't really want to, but it has to be done. It really is the only way. You are going to have to show him all of your cabinets, to prove that you have no more. Don't even save one. You will cave, it's almost impossible not to when your child is crying and you want them to stop or to feel better.
Good luck, by Wednesday it will all be over if you start today. :)
Yep, pitch all the bottles. Don't just "put them away" because when he whines the temptation to get one out will be too great. I would tell him, "You are a big boy, and after today, that's it; there will be no more bottles." That night when he's in bed, get rid of them - to avoid a fit, don't let him see you throw them away. Then the next day when he wants one, remind him there are none. He may be upset but he'll eventually get over it. You are the mom and you make the rules!
I also worked full time when by boys were little. With any milestone cold turkey is the only way. Get rid of them all. Both my boys did like sippy cups or other cool looking cups. Tuppeware also sells cool cups that have lids and you can put a straw in. My boys loved drinking out of a straw.
My advice would to just go cold turkey! He's definitely ready to give up the bottle. I would just take him to the store, let him pick out a few sippy cups, tell him "you are all done with bottles now, big boys use sippy cups;" then hide all the bottles where he can't find them. From that point on only offer him liquid in the sippy cup. It shouldn't take much more than a day or 2 for him to accept the sippy cup. Even the most stubborn child won't allow them self to reach the point of dehydration. Good luck!!
Gather them up and get rid of them. Do it cold turkey. Yes, he will be upset for a few days but once he learns they are no longer available he will adapt just fine. Make sure you throw them all out; he WILL throw tantrums and be an absolute crab and if you have them in the house you will just be tempted to give in and give them to him (thus teaching him that screaming and whining will get him his way).
I've always found the cold turkey method to work best with my kids in lots of those transitions (bottles, diapers, crib etc). It will be painful for a bit but they will get over it. Like the other mom, my son will be 1 in a couple weeks and he's no longer using a bottle. As soon as I was sure he could use the sippy cup to drink, the bottles were quickly faded out. I say go quickly - and since he's older maybe tell him tomorrow will be the last day for bottles. Say good bye together etc. That's what I did with my daughter and diapers. When I opened the last box of diapers I told her that was it - once this box was gone, no more diapers. Good luck.
You are going to have to go cold turkey with this one. I have two children, my son was a pacifier and a bottle baby however as soon as he turned 12 months I ditched both the bottle and the pacifier. The first week was horrible but by the second week he was better. He is now 3. My daughter is now 12 months and she was not a pacifier baby but she loves her bottle. I just ditched the bottle and of course the first week was horrible but she is much better. The longer you wait the worst it will be, you have to just take it away and throw them out so you do not give in to the urge to sooth your child with the bottle. I always kept in mind how embarassing it would be that my child was walking and talking but still sucking a bottle. The thought of that helped me to endure the first week of no bottles, it really does get easier. Good luck!!
When my youngest daughter was too old I explained to her that we were going to pack her bottles up and put them in the attic for safe keeping. I gave her a box and she put her bottles in it. She helped me seal the box and I wrote "bottles" on it. I then lifted her up into the attic, gave her the box and she put it in a safe place. She never asked for one again. Oh, I forgot to mention; she was three and a bear to get the bottles away from.
S. O
I just kept cutting out bottles during the day until my sons were only getting a bottle at night. At 1 year old we eliminated all bottles. Worked for us but they couldn't talk and ask questions. Good luck
I started giving my son a sippy with just water around 9 months...just to try it out. He was still on the breast/bottle of course too. I just wanted to introduce it early so he would get the hang of it by the time I wanted to switch over full time. On his 1 year birthday, I packed up all the bottles and put them in storage. I also stopped nursing on that same day. He had no choice, but to take the sippy. I was ready to deal with a few meltdowns, but surprisingly, he did great! Good luck!
He is 2 and old enough to understand that he is not baby anymore but a "BIG KID"!!! Maybe trying to convince him that bottles are for little babies and sipping cups for Big Kids would make it work.
Good luck!
