How to Wean My Child from the Bottle

My mother in law and her mother did it for my 2 year old. He went to visit for the weekend and she never gave it to him. Same with his nuk. At first i was mad that I had no say but it ended up very easy for me. I would say to get rid of them. Toss them, then there is no getting them back out. my son was 13 months old when we did this so he forgot and got over it quickly so it might be harder for you.

I bought the sippy cups with the really soft tops, so they probably felt like nipple tops to the babies.. Nuby makes a good one.. That trasition went pretty good. Then I made it as exciting as humanly possible..lol But, the sippy cups with the really soft tops worked great... Good luck.... A.

Hi-My son used a bottle at bedtime till he was over 2 years old. We started asking him, at some point, if he would rather have a sippy cup, and he eventually started saying yes some of the time. Gradually the sippy cup at bedtime just became the norm. Now we're phasing that out too. He got to decide when he was done with the bottle, and it just kind of happened. I'm not sure what you think "we all" are thinking! As a mom, you just have to choose your battles, and this doesn't seem like a problem at all to me! I bet your son will naturally grow out of using the bottle, if you let him and trust him. Good luck! H.

Hi, I had the same problem w/ my daughter but she's only 14 months old, what i did is switched her from the bottle to the sippy cup, not much better but its a start. All i did was give her a sippy cup and laid her down for a nap. she fought it for the longest time but when she's tired and thirsty she gave in it took maybe 3 days of her naps being this way. Then eventually after she was fine with taking it during naps without a fight, I took away her bottle at night time and it wasn't as hard as her naps. Hope this helps.

I LOVE Laura's idea with one exception: don't have any hidden in the house. That's WAY to tempting for you to give in when you're tired and he's determined and then you're back at square one. Congratulations Laura for your success and good luck to you A.. Remember, you're the parent... encourage the good habits, break the bad ones ASAP. :)

Try using the nuby soft top cups i used that since my son was 4 months old and got him off the bottle using those by age 6 months

I had the exact same problem. We were on it much later than you because it was the only way to get my Daughters reflux medicine in her. Don't beat yourself up about it. We did what was suggested before which was get a special sippy for the milk and make a big deal about it. Also, go cold turkey - the sleep gets messed up a little bit but it works the fastest. The only other thing we did that no one suggested was have her throw the bottles in the dumpster herself. That way when she asked for her bottle - we told her "Remember, you threw them out because you are a big girl". That always seemed to make her understand. Don't keep any bottles in the house. It's too easy to give in. :) Good Luck.

I started giving a sippy cup with meals and his bottle at nap and bed times. soon enough he got about 2 when he got off the bottle completly. any time a parent is trying to take something away and introduce something new you have take your time it will not happen over night or even a year sometimes but be consistant. Unfortunatly children deside when it is time.

Hi A.,
I've actually been asking people for advice about this lately too....my daughter is almost 10 months old and I want to get her off the bottle by the time she is a year old...lately she's had a cold and been really crabby so I'm going to wait until she's feeling better. But, I have tried different sippy cups and they haven't worked and someone finally told me to get the Nuby sippy cups...they have the softer silicone top that's more like a bottle, and so I bought a couple last night...they have them at Walmart and they are under $2/each. I'm going to give them a try and I think you should too...other people seem to really like them too. Other than that, I've read that getting rid of the lunchtime bottle and afternoon bottle slowly works best, then the morning one and lastly the bedtime one because that one is the hardest for kids to give up. Also, I know it's hard because I've started trying already, but I think you just have to be firm and not give in...because I already have...they won't starve, they'll drink when they're thirsty and learn to drink from the cup...Good luck to you and let me know what works!

I had the same problem my daughter's security object was her bottle. She had me wrapped around her finger with this. She would whine in the middle of the night for me to refill her bottle and I would do it. Smacking myself right now LOL ! At about 2 and half years old I couldn't do it anymore. I had to just take it away cold turkey. It was hard, harder on me than her. I felt so bad and just wanted to give it to her, but I finally stood my ground and after a few days it was no longer a issue. I'm lucky she only had water in her bedtime bottle or her teeth would have been rotten out I'm sure. It get's easier and easier when they beg for it and you refuse but you'll be so glad when it's gone. I would try and talk alot about it and getting rid of it and then just get rid of it. My daughter was still asking for it occasionally at age 3. I was like no way. She found some extra's in a cabinet somewhere around 3 or 4 yrs.old and put water in and tried to drink from it. I was like no, we got rid of the bottle at 2.5yrs.old your to big. Good luck!

this is what i did with my daughter.. i went and bought sippy cups.. told her ok.. you are to throw your bottles away after you use them.. which she did.. once her bottles were gone guess what she felt like a big girl as she made the steps on getting rid of them.. there was also awards for doing so... as she did fight once in while to throw them out.. but once the last one was gone i dont think she thought bout it.. good luck..

My son was 18 month old when we took his bottle away, and we basically did it cold turkey! (with some hidden in the kitchen just in case!) But we told him that he was a big boy and needed to use his big boy cup and let him throw away his bottle and then we put him in the truck with the bag of garbage in the back and took it to a dumpster and we said bye bye to the bottle and made a HUGE deal out of him using his cup. There were some rough days after that, but my husband and I never gave in to him and after about a week, he didn't even ask for his bottle anymore. Good luck with it.

A. - I had the same exact problem about 2 months ago. My son is 22 months right now. We started by giving him less milk....watering it down so it wasn't as "wanted". Eventually I just got frustrated and went to the store and bought my son a brand new special "big boy" sippy cup. I picked a gerber one with green frogs on it. My son loves jumping...so I made this big deal about it and said that this is his special night night cup. I said look, there are even frogs jumping on it. THEN...since he seemed to associate going to sleep with HAVING to have a bottle...he'd have his bath, and we'd go sit in the living room. I'd give him his cup with milk in it and look at a book and have some quiet time. Then I took the cup when he agreed he was done and told him it was time to rest. He fought it and it took two nights of him waking up in the middle of the night crying and whining but we didn't give in (it was HARD). Now he sleeps all night and it worked. It takes time. I think the biggest issue is that they associate the bottle with bed time. Once you can break them of that...it helps.

i have let both my kids use the bottle way past one year. dont beat yourself up over it....but i agree that cold turkey is the way....he will cry but get over it (hopefully) within a couple of days. get him so cool sippys that he picks out himself and praise him for being a big boy!

JUST HAVE TO COMMENT ABOUT AMIE'S IDEA ON THE NUBY CUPS AT WALMART. THEY ARE THE BEST THING THAT CAN HAPPEN FOR PARENTS WITH CHILDREN WHO WONT GIVE UP THE BOTTLE! THEY'RE GREAT AND I STRONGLY RECOMMEND FOR YOU TO TRY THEM OUT.

whem my son was 1 yaer i had decided that i had had enough of the bottle, my husbands mother, who was living with us at teh time kept giving them to him , so i washed tham and put them in baggies and put them in the trunk of my car. Outta sight outta mind. It worked really well for me there were no fits they just disapeared.

My daughter is 12 months old. A few weeks ago, at her doctor's instructions, I switched from formula to straight milk. She's not crazy about the milk, but she'll drink it from the bottle most of the time. I really want to get rid of the bottles too, but she will only drink milk from the bottle. I started putting juice in a tippy cup to get her used to it, and she glady drinks the juice from the cup. I figure I'll give it another week or so & try the milk again in the tippy cup. I have found that if I introduce things slowly to her & let her get used to them, she'll accept them over time. Good luck!

We just did this with our youngest with both the bottle AND the nuk (he's now 21 mos old). Be direct and FIRM. I just told him, nope, no more bottles, you're a big boy now, would you like a cuppy of milk instead??? Make that part REALLY EXCITING and upbeat. If and when he throws a fit, make sure he can't slam into anything and walk away. When he's calmed down, offer the cuppy again...or another diversion. It sucks, but it'll be OK! I PROMISE! I don't recommend the soft NUBY cups, I know someone whose 4 year old STILL INSISTS ON ONE AT BEDTIME. One habit for another, I suppose. Works the same with potty training, too. Go right for the undies. But that's a whole 'nother topic!! Be firm, be supportive and he'll get it. A little extra snuggling, reading, rocking, etc during the roughest times (naps and bedtime) helps too. Just don't let him take advantage...they learn that too fast! :)
Good luck, I feel your pain!
C.

Put the bottles away! If the temptation isn't there, you won't turnto them! Also, straw cups from Playtex are a good option instead of the Nuby b/c he is old enough to use that type of cup/straw at this point. My daughter is 16 months old and we weaned her at 15 months--she never took a pacifier before either, but now goes to sleep with one instead of a bottle. It might work!

IT SEEMS EVERYONE HAS TRIED THE NUBY CUPS AND LOVE EM AS DO I BUT I HAVE 3 CHILDREN AND ALL ARE DIFFERENT SO WHEN MY MIDDLE CHILD FOUGHT IT WHAT I WOULD DO IS PUT HIS MILK IN THE NUBY AND LUKE WARM WATER IN THE BOTTLE AFTER 2 DAYS HE REALIZED THE BETTER OF THE 2 WAS THE CUP AND WOULD JUST THROW THE BOTTLE ON THE FLOOR.

Hi A.,
First do not beat your self up for your son still being on the bottle.. It was hard for me with my son too, he soo loved his bottle. Stephen is turning 2 in a few weeks and I finally took his bottle away in August. It was a hard few days, especially the nights. Ibought these really cool Thomas the train sippy cups, and we have not had a bottle since. My husband did give in the first night, because I threw out all but one bottle, just stay firm and paitent. I wish you all the best.
D.

What I did was start to dilute down the bottles and put the straight stuff in the sippy cups. After only a few days they were loving the sippy cups. You can also offer a bottle of water or a sippy cup of milk. They usually go for the better one.
Good luck,
J.