Getting Rid of the Bottle - Cleveland,OH

My daughter was drinking from a sippie cup at 5 months, at 12 months was drinking from a straw, and at 22 months, she mastered the cup without a straw, though will still drink from a sippie cup or straw. But, I know of a girl who at 3 1/2 still takes a bottle all day long, and won't drink out of anything else. So, I don't know if this will help, but here goes...

On Rachel Rhae (sp?) a few days ago, Leah Remini (Carry from The King of Queens) was the guest. She was having an issue with her 3 year old daughter wanting bah-bahs at night -- 6 to 8 of them!!! Leah admitted she wouldn't say no or deny her. She enlisted the help of a viewer, but didn't follow-through with the plan of just giving her the bottle without the nipple on it. Finally Leah's mom offered to take the little girl to Disneyland over a weekend (3-days, I think she said), but only one 1 condition - that she left the bah-bahs at home. When she got back from Disney, they bottles had been trashed and although she's asked for them occasionally, she doesn't get them.

One other trick you might try - cut a tiny bit off the tip of the bottle nipple - just a little at a time. When they don't have to suck to get anything out, and it becomes more like a straw, they might not care for it anymore. Good luck!

I just took the bottle away and hid them. Both of my girls cried for a little bit and they knew they were not going to get a bottle so they finally took their sippy cup.

My only suggestion is to stop giving them the option. I know this sounds harsh, but the 3 year old definitely does not need a bottle. I'm not sure what you mean by "at night" but he doesn't need anything at bedtime except a drink in the bathroom before bed. With the younger one, try the sippy cups with a straw - munchkin has a good one that is a "spill proof" straw. These were great for my son. As long as the option is there they're going to take it. Tell them the bottles are going bye-bye and make it happen. Once they know that there isn't going to be a bottle they'll drink.

Call me lucky, but at 12 months for each of my girls, I took away all bottles one day (They were only ever bottle fed). They never asked for them again and prior to the bottle being taken away, refused to use a sippy cup. My pediatrician said they may need to be weaned, but when I switched from formula to milk at one year, I just put the bottles away and they never asked for one again. I think out of sight, out of mind was part of it. Not to mention, children are smart enough to begin manipulating us at a very early age. No more means no more, not just, "okay, one more day", or "just for bedtime." Good Luck!!

I feel your pain. I would love know the advice you get. I am working with my 14 month year old right now and we are down to morning and evening bottles only but I am ready to get rid of that as well but it has been tough. So I would reallly appreciate any feedback you may get. Thanks and Good Luck!!!

At this point there is probably only one way...throw the bottles away. Your 3yr old should not be drinking from a bottle. He is just in the habit of drinking from the bottle. Go out and buy him a special night time cup. The longer you give him the bottle the harder it will be to break him from it. As far as the your 15 month give him the cup when you know he's thirsty. A lot of praise will go along way especially from the sibling. Sometimes you think something will be so difficult and it end up being no big deal. Motherhood is tough........

I'm a mother of 3 grown children....grandmother of 2 and pediatric nurse

N. I have the same situation; I can't wait to hear what people say. Here is what our pediatrian said. Don;'t worry about it until 18 months. Keep offering the sippy cup (and we find the nuby straw is the best). Hopefully the summer heat will make them want to drink. You can always go cold turkey, which she said would work, but it is not necessary yet.

People will tell you that it is terrible that he is still on it, but it is ok. Don't be so quick to get rid of it. IF he wants it at night, it is a comfort thing. I would not wake until he is three, but relax and give him time.

I don't know if this will help you now, but when my son was about 8 mos old, I offered a cup at every meal, then he got his usual bottle after ward. At one year, when the last can of formula emptied out, the bottle was gone. I never offered anything but formula or BM from the bottle to him. To be honest, the spitting the liquid out thing is normal. I don't think it has to do with drinking from a cup. I plan to do the same with baby #2 it worked so well the first time. Offer cups that interest him, or maybe the type you are offering him are too difficult for him to use? Once the bottle is gone, he will have no choice but the cup. It will be hard for a few days, but it will get better. Hope this helps.

With the 15 month old you may want to try a straw instead of a sippy cup. My younger son never really liked sippys all that much. The Take-N-Toss ones are cheap and pretty leak proof, even through the straw. (We don't toss them - they go in the dishwasher fine). As for the older one, good luck and I'd say lay down the law with no more bottles. It's awful to have a fight right before bed, but I don't know what else would work.

I used the generic Nuby brand cups that had straws to wean my daughter off the bottle. It only took a few days. My ped told me that she would drink it when she got thirsty enough! I just made sure she had her vitamin and gave her cheese and other dairy products so that she got her calcium when she was rebelling against the sippy cup. Also, the longer you let your 3 year old have the bottle, the harder it is going to be to break your 15 month old because he is sgoing to see the older one have it. It stinks and it is HARD, but, as I always say, Mommy wins! Goodluck! :)

Just throw the bottles away. If they are really that thirsty they will drink from a sippy cup. A woman that I babysit for started her daughter on sippy cups about 7 months (here and there) and at 11 1/2 months threw out all the bottles and went to a sippy. Of course it was a struggle for a day or two, but after that everything was fine.
Good Luck!

N.,
Sometimes you have to let the child know you are in control and they are not. It is hard sometimes, trust me! When we took our son off the bottle, we simply just took it away. When they eventually get thirsty, they will stick with the cup. It worked day one with my son - he refused to drink from a sippy cup all day long. Then, when he got thirsty, he just drank from the cup. It works - it is difficult, but you have to do it, especially at that age!!! This also worked with potty training - my husband told my son that there are no more diapers and he is not getting anymore. My son struggled for about an hour, but then started to sit on the potty and is now potty trained!!

Hope this helps!

Only offer the cup during the day. Keep the bottles out of site. If your son knows where you keep the bottles move them to a different location. Try a cup with a straw and see if that helps him accept the cup. He will drink when he's thirsty enough.

You can keep him on a bottle at night before bed til 18 months if you want. We did it selfishly for cuddle time, but it did make it harder to take it away, because she could ask for it and then throw bigger tantrums when we said, "bottle all gone". But that lasted one night, and then we've been good to go every since. We just changed the routine. Cuddle time is books with her blanket in the rocking chair. Then "brush" teeth, and then a song in her bedroom while we're holding her, and then in her crib, lights out, music box on.

With both of my kids, I just simply got rid of them altogether. That way, I wasn't tempted to give into them. I did it right at 12 months though, so I didn't have to deal with the whole tantrum part. If you do things at a younger age, there is very minimal transition for the child. I do recall though, one of my kids didn't want to drink milk out of the sippy that first day. All I did was continue to offer it to her when she asked for "juice" and eventually she got thirsty and drank it. If your child is spitting it out, simply put him in a high chair or someplace where he isn't making a mess while you give him the sippy, or even place a bib on him. It doesn't hurt a child to go most of the day for one or two days without drinking very much while they're transitioning from bottle to sippy. Believe me, when they get thirsty, they WILL accept a sippy. As for the bedtime bottle, just tell him no. He may throw a fit, but after a few times of you telling him no, he'll learn that a fit is a waste of his time. If he doesn't take a sippy at night, no big deal. I cut off juice for my kids an hour before bedtime anyway. You have to remember who's in charge, you or them. If you're finding that you're asking how to take certain things away, then you should identify to yourself who's in charge, and just stick to your guns. I know it's hard at times, because it's difficult to hear a child throw a fit, but it's much harder to hear them throw fit after fit after fit because you've given into them before, then it is to just say no one time, and stick to it.

Have you tried the Avent Sippy Cups with the soft spout? Those worked out great for my son and we just stopped offering the bottle - we were lucky because he made the transition with no problem. We bought almost every sippy available and our son only liked the soft spouts and then went right to the straw cups.

I would try giving them a full cup of whatever and an empty bottle if that doesn't work just get rid of the bottles all togeather don't keep one in the house and they won't have the choice to drink from a cup or not.

Hi N.,

May not be the best advice but some time they just need their time; what worked with my son (not in the 1st attempt, but when he was ready) was to take him to target and have him choose a sippy cup himself with whatever caracter he liked. I told him it was only for his milk (the only thing he kept drinking in a bottle at 3 yrs) and that was it, didn't ask for the bottle again.

Good luck!

Cold turkey, darlin'... that's my advice. Throw them out and buy those cool soft-tipped sippies to replace them. Make a big deal out of them being "big kids" now. They will probably rebel for a few days, but eventually forget about the bottles. Out of site, out of mind! Don't give in and be consistent whatever you do. Yes, they will make messes - but remember that these kiddos are smarter than we think they are. He might be spitting out the drink on purpose because he knows you'll give him his bottle. I am a SAHM and have also been watching little ones for over four years in my home. I've had A LOT of experience with this. Just make that decision and stick to it - everything will be alright!

When my son was 15 months old, I started weaning him off the bottle, by the time he was 18 months old, he didn't need the bottle any more. I started by giving him his bottle at night before bed, and in the morning when he woke up. Other then that he got a sippy cup.

Just take it away. He doesn't really NEED a bedtime bottle, you might have a few rough evenings but it will be over soon and you won't have to deal with bottles anymore

When my daughter was 2 1/2 I had the same problem. What finally worked for me was getting rid of all bottles except for a plastic one. I told her when this bottle wore out she would be a big girl, and not need a bottle any more. After a few weeks I took a sharp knife and put a hole in the bottom of the bottle. That night after her bath, I had her watch me fill it up. When the water started running out we looked at each other and I looking quite surprised tryed to fill it again with the same result. I looked at her sadly and told her the bottle wore out, but that she could still keep it if she wanted. We put a few small toys in it, put the nipple on and she went to bed. Even though she kept that bottle for quite awhile after that she was over wanting anything liquid in it.
As far as your 15 month old spitting out what ever he's drinking in a cup, that's pretty normal. What we did in the day care was never give up and never let him see it bothers mommy. The only other thing is maybe a sippy cup would help him get use to a regular cup. Hope this helps, Good luck.

I think (and this is just a personal thought) it has to do with the sucking motion being comforting/soothing for the older child. For the younger one try cups with built in or replacable straws. Again the sucking idea limits the amount of liquid going into our mouths and makes it easier for them to swallow the whole amount. We had the cups with the three little holes in the part that came up allowing them the same feel as sucking on a nipple when they started drinking out of cups and it worked really well.