"Seeking Advice on How to Get My 12-Month Old Baby to Take a Bottle"

My son wouldn't take milk in a sippy cup at all either at first. Water only. To help him out, I would put a little drop of chocolate syrup, or strawberry syrup in, and he drank is so quickly! This only lasted about a week before he would drink milk plain. I wish you luck!

I vote for the sippy cup.

You know, if you want her to take milk from a sippy cup, you might start adding just a bit to her water till you build up to a half cup + water. Eventually, you might get her to take something else in the cup.

My advice is to skip the bottle and go to a sippy cup. My little guy is the same way with the bottle. It just makes him angry. He is 8 months now and will drink water from the sippy cup (without the valve, for now).

Dear K.;

I inadvertently weaned my daughter by nursing her after each meal and she was eating 3 meals of solid food per day with the family. I had a cup for her to go with the solid food, but each time the meal was over I nursed her. One day at 14 months of age she just poked my boob and giggled and got down. I didn't nurse her after that and I had no engorgement, so I guess I was just out of milk. I think she ate enough solid food to feel full and didn't need the milk. We never went to a bottle. That's just another pain and it also needs weaning.

Hope this helps. D.

try skipping the bottle and moving her just to a sippy cup. At 12 mos she may not need a bottle any more.

Hi K.,
I agree with the previous posters. Just skip the bottle and do the sippy cup. Also, you do not have to give her cows milk, they don't really need it. They can get protein and fat from many other sources (www.wholesomebabyfood.com). Try different liquids with her -- my daughter loved smoothies made with banana, frozen strawberries, a dollop of whole milk yogurt and some rice milk.

skip the bottle...my daughter is 14mos and also refused the bottle and even most sippy cups. We use small water bottles. The bottle is kinda a bad habit to start at 12mos especially since she doesn't want it. There are so many sippy cups so you may need to kinda try a few and see if she will take milk. I still BF so trying to wean myself! What a task! LOL

At her age I'd just skip the bottle and go straight to the sippy cup, especially since you say she'll take it. I nursed my son the first year, then started giving him a bottle, which he promptly became emotionally attached to like my breast and it was hard to break him from it. So with my daughter I went straight to the sippy cup, which is where you should be transitioning to at age 1 anyways.

If I were you I wouldn't even push a bottle. I'd just give your little one a sippy cup more often. This way you won't have to break her from the bottle later. Even though she will take only water right now; as you wean her she will have to drink milk so I would keep her on the cup. That is what I did and it worked. N. P.

I would never give a 1 year old a bottle. You should get her to take all fluids from a sippy cup. At 1 year old the bottle can mess up the teeth which is why most pediatricians will have you ween them from all bottles at 1. To get them to take the milk from the sippy cup start with pumping some breast milk and putting a drop on the sippy cup tip. Then slowly mix regular milk in with the breast milk until it ius just milk. That is all I can think of to do anyhow.

D. P.

just give her the sippy with milk she will catch on. i would not try to get her to take the bottle.

Skip the bottle! Go to whole milk in a sippy cup.

I would skip the bottle as well. They say by 1 year they should be off it anyway! Slowly put breatmilk in her sippie or juice with water and give it to her throughout the day. Replace maybe one nursing with it the sippie and then slowly move up. It wont take long. It just takes them a little bit to get use to the new sippie. Good Luck!

so I'm going to be the voice of dissension and tell you that "nursing dependence" is a normal natural thing. Why wean if they aren't ready? If you are dead set on it, maybe you should just keep doing the water and maybe a little diluted apple juice.

Our babies are supposed to be completely dependent on us. They don't even begin to view themselves as a separate person til around 7 or 8. They just want to be close to us. Sorry if this pisses you off but I'd reconsider the nursing thing.

I am curious what makes you think she is not getting enough fluids. Does she have signs of dehydration? If so, get to your doctor. It is normal for fluid intake to decrease at this age, as they begin to get more nutrition from the table foods they eat. I agree with the other posts that introducing the bottle now will only add to your frustration later when you try to break the bottle habit. My second daughter would never take a bottle, so we went straight to a sippy cup. She loved juice in it (maybe too much), and we eventually gave her formula and then cow's milk in the sippy as well when she was ready to wean from breastfeeding.

She doesnt need a bottle most doctors will tell you no more bottles. She is too old for one now. Just stick with the sippy cup. Pump and put your milk in the cup. Put whole milk in the cup. Both can be left out for an hour before you need to get rid of it. You may waste some till she gets the hang of things.

After a year, it's so unlikely you could get her to take a bottle now. Stay with the sippy cup, and if she nurses from you and gets water from a sippy then she's getting all the fluids she needs. No, you don't necessarily NEED cows milk (it's one of the biggest allergens in the western world because of the way it's processed, a lot of people don't stop to think about this)...my 3 year old hates milk (frankly, we all do here) and he gets proteins and vitamins from other foods. If she's not ready to wean yet, you may want to reconsider....I understand the itch (been there!!) but my son needed to still nurse daily...once or twice. He ate other foods and drank water and juices but still needed mama for a while. He's done ok :)

I guess I'm not sure why you even need to go to the bottle if she'll take a sippy cup? I breastfed for a year with my son, and he never liked the bottle so we started him drinking water from a sippy cup early on. Now he drinks milk and water from a sippy cup or even a cup with a straw. After 12 months you can start cows milk ... just introduce slowly while you wean her from breastfeeding. Most moms are trying to get their children off the bottle at this point so you are ahead of the game!

I would just use a sippy cup, thats what we did for my daughter who was never bottle fed. Then its one less thing you have to wean them from. Nubby's sippy cups work great cause they have a soft spout.

Have her drink from the sippy cup and only drink water. And the problem is.......?

Honestly, I wouldn't even go for the bottle, just continue to work with the sippy cup. AT my daughter's 12 and 15 month check ups, the doctor encouraged me to get her off the bottle.

I breastfed my son until 12 months and then he went right to milk in a sippy cup! Forget the bottle as that is just another thing to break the baby of soon, in my opinion. He had no trouble, took him about a week to get that this is what was happening, and I just help him as if I was nursing him but put the sippy cup at my breast instead. He did great and it proved to be an easy wean for all. I now have a 7 month old and plan to do the same when she is 12 months.
Hope that helps,
J.

When my six month old wouldn't take a bottle I found sippy cups that did not have the plastic piece in the lid and gave her that to use. She drank breast milk and later regular milk from it. If your daughter is eating baby food, try put something she really like on the tip of the cup and see if she will take it. Be persistent and patient. Make a game out of it, she will come around.

Hi K.,

Congratulations on breastfeeding for an entire year! I did this with my son and felt it very beneficial. He went right from breast to cup.

Cup is perfect! In fact, I would purposely AVOID giving her a bottle, as not to create any bad habits. Drinking exclusively water is fine. There's really no need for anything else and water is best. If she's not drinking enough water, dry dropping a strawberry or other fruit in the water and telling her she can have the fruit when the water is all gone.

Good luck! :)

Warm Regards,
G. Van Luven, H.C.
Healthy Habits Wellness Center, LLC
www.HealthyHabitsWellnessCenter.com
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