Hi Moms!
My son is 17 months old. We took his bottle away (cold turkey) a little over a week ago and he has REFUSED to drink milk ever since. He only drank milk out of a bottle - water has always been in a sippy cup and he's okay with that.
Since taking his bottle away, he flips out at the sight of milk in a sippy cup or chucks it across the room. I've tried ALL sorts of different sippy cups to see if there was one he preferred. He still asks for his "babba" but I tell him he now has a big boy babba like his big brother. He gets angry and will not drink it.
He still drinks water just fine out of a sippy cup, just not milk. :o( When we did this with my older son, it only lasted 2 or 3 days and then he took the milk out of a sippy cup. But my little guy seems to be more stubborn. Any advice?
My son did the same thing. I eventually tried a regular cup (no sippy top) and that has convinced him to at least drink some daily.
Ditto Lee P.
My son, drank milk out of bottle until 3 years old.
GASP!
But he drank out of regular cups for other liquids with no problem. He did know how.
Really though... its not unusual. And many cultures, do not see it as a problem. In our culture however, detaching a child from something... is more emphasized.
A child/baby.... 'likes' to drink milk from a bottle... because it has a 'nipple' on it... and it is instinct. Milk comes from a nipple. A child/baby has a natural inclination for that. Thus, they do not like drinking 'milk' specifically, from anything else.
Whole milk, is an important nutrient... because the 'milk fats' in it is crucial for brain development. Whole milk is recommended until 2 years old.
Each child is different.
My daughter, drank milk just fine from a cup, at even 1 years old.
My son on the other hand, would NOT at all....
all the best,
Susan
Ok, moms, get ready to gasp in horror.
My son, 4 1/2, drinks his milk, at night before bed, out of a bottle. Yes, I said it, out of a bottle. I know, the horror.
He knows he's not a baby. He drinks all other liquids out of a cup. A regular cup. He knows bottles are for babies. And the only time he'll drink milk is before bed. He likes the comfort and familiarity of his nighttime milk bottle to relax, and I let him have it. At this age, it's undoubtedly more of a novelty, being allowed to have his milk in a bottle. And I let him have it because he won't drink milk any other way. (I use the word "won't" lightly. I haven't really forced the issue with him.)
In my humble opinion, a 17 month old is a baby. I have no problem allowing a bottle for milk, especially if that's the only bottle they get.
Ok, I know I'm in the minority on this one, but hey, in the grand scheme, it's just not that big of a deal.
And yes, he brushes his teeth before sleep.
Mine did it too. We found some "sippy cups" that look like bottles. We have only found them at Kmart. The ones we have have Strawberry Shortcake or race cars on them. The 'spout' is in the middle like a sports bottle although you cant open and close it. Our girls still use them and they are 2yrs 3mo. old! They will use the others for anything else, but milk still has to be from the sippys that look like bottles.
Maybe I'm the 'freak', but my son is 26mos... He still gets a bottle once a day... Just before his bedtime while relaxing.
I say that if the Pediatrics Association says that bfing my child as long as possible (min of 2yrs recommended), then why do I have to force my child to give up their bottle (comfort like bfing) before the age of 2?
He will drink out of a sippy at 'school'/daycare and outside of our night time routine because the bottle was never part of any other routine that we are currently doing.
My son was extra stubborn as well. I talked to a pediatrician, and she suggested that we withhold all liquids, except milk in a sippy cup. She said his survival instincts would kick in, and he would eventually drink milk out of the sippy cup. no water, no foods with a lot of liquid. After 3 days of crying, and my heart twisting everytime he cried for his bottle, he eventually drank out of the sippy cup. Tough love, but it worked.
This sounds exactly like my daughter - she always had milk in a bottle and had started drinking water from a sippy cup but whenever we tried to give milk in a sippy cup she refused. We ended up getting her off the bottles at around 21 months, but she still wouldn't do milk in a cup. She is now 3 and still not much of a milk drinker. She does eat a lot of cheese and organic yogurt, and will drink the milk that is left over in the bowl after eating cold cereal. She drinks calcium-fortified orange juice. She will get chocolate milk as a treat and we mix it ourselves, with only a microscopic amount of chocolate syrup in it, so it's not a ton more sugar and she's still happy that there's some chocolate it in. I ran all this by her pediatrician at her check up a few weeks ago and she said that was fine. She's getting enough calcium and vit D, plus she gets a multi-vitamin every day with D in it too.
As long as he has other sources of calcium and vit D, and he's not drinking soda or Kool-Aid instead (duh!), I wouldn't sweat over it.
Keep trying, it took my oldest son up to 3 weeks before he would drink cow milk out of a cup. keep offering water and other dairy products like yogurt. cottage cheese, and cheese to get the calcium in him. He will get over it eventually
Bottles beyond age 1 are NOT evil. My son had a water bottle in his crib until he was a little over 2 when I switched him to a hard-spout sippy cup. The problems with bottles regarding cavities are when you put the child to bed with a milk bottle because the sugars build up on the teeth. You can even help combat that by making sure you brush his teeth before bed and in the morning after breakfast (our dentist suggested all this as well).
In terms of drinking milk, I would drop it. He can get his vitamins, nutrients, etc from other foods. Broccoli, for instance, is high in calcium & vitamin c. You can also give other dairy products like yogurt, cheese, etc. I know I did the same thing when my son refused milk, but now that I know differently, I wonder why we make such a big deal when our kids won't drink milk from another mammal. LOTS of other foods :)
I was successful in making this transition by taking the bottle full of milk and an empty sippy cup, sitting in front of my girls when they were expecting their morning milk (and hungry for it!), and pouring the milk from the bottle into the sippy cup in front of them so they could see. Once they saw their milk go from bottle to cup, they took the cup with no issues.
Also, I bought dedicated cups for the milk that we only used for milk ... the Bornfree soft trainers I think. Use straw cups or sippies or whatever ... the goal is to get them off the bottle bc it gets a lot harder the longer you wait.
Good luck!
this seems to be an issue with alot of children. I think as long as he's getting calcium from other foods, he's fine. My daughter is 20 months and is just starting to drink milk. I've been mixing vanilla milk with plain milk, and chocolate milk as a treat once in a while.
I'm sure he will come around to it, just might take some time
good luck!
My daughter did the same thing, but I let her have the bottle with milk only until she was two. After I took it away, she wouldn't drink milk (she's 4 almost 5 and still won't drink milk but every once in a while). So I just make sure she gets plenty of calcium in other ways through yogurt, cheese, and veggies.
Give him his milk in other forms... yogurt would be my first choice, cheese is another. Don't give in to him on the bottle, but also don't fight the issue of drinking milk. He'll most likely get over it and begin accepting milk from a cup in a while.
