Weaning from Bottle to Cup - Tucson,AZ

Updated on July 11, 2013
T.P. asks from Tucson, AZ
8 answers

My boy will be 12 months soon. I have offered him several varieties of sippy cups at varying hours of the day filled with water and formula. He most often refuses it and sometimes takes a small amount of water. How will I switch him to whole milk in a sippy cup?

Do I begin by mixing the formula powder with milk instead of water but still use the bottle? Then use only pure milk? Then only offer him a sippy cup? I worry he'll be hungry/thirsty and will wake at night....

I didn't experience this with my 3 yr old daughter... She refused the bottle and formula on her own by 12 months.

Thank you

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M.M.

answers from Boston on

Still use the bottle but mix the milk w/the formula ..first 25milk&75%formula for a few days and then 50/50 and then 75/25 also for a few days...and then just the milk...I used the sippy cup at first for water and wated-down juice at that age...

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O.O.

answers from Kansas City on

I did mix 50/50 formula & milk at first.
Warming the liquid also seemed to make it more appealing.
I let mine have his bottle for his last milk of the day (evening O.) for awhile but sippy cups during the day. Then on the chosen date, handed him a sippy in the evening.
My advice? Pick a date to PITCH all bottles.
Then go forward from there.
Good luck!

1 mom found this helpful

M.B.

answers from Tampa on

Make the formula like normal, and mix half milk/half formula. And have you tried a real cup? My daughter refused to drink out of sippy cups, but drinks out of a real cup just fine.

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G.B.

answers from Oklahoma City on

You start today by adding 2 ounces of whole vitamin D milk to her bottle then make the rest formula.

Then when she is taking that very well and her poop in normal again you start adding half milk and half formula. This is a stage where they often refuse it if they don't like milk. It's also the point where you might see a big change in her poop. It could be lighter in color and stink more.

Then when she's taking that well and her poop is more normal you go to 6 ounces milk and 2 ounces formula. This stage can be really short. If she is pooping normal and not constipated or having diarrhea or it's not stinking so bad you puke every time you change her then you can move on to whole milk.

It's often hard on their little systems when they go too fast and their poop is horrible. For you that is, it can stink so bad you'll have to change diapers with a trashcan right there so you can puke in it.

When she's taking whole milk in her bottle all the time you can start offering her a sippy cup. BUT if she needs to suck and you take the bottle away she'll find something else to suck...like her thumb or her fingers or a corner of a blanket. If a child needs to suck they will suck anything.

There is no biological need for a child to get off their bottle at any certain point. They can drink their milk from a cup, a bottle, a straw, any way they want.

Milk is milk is milk is milk. It does not matter if it comes in one container or any other. It does not matter if your child takes a bottle or a cup. They are still drinking milk. That does not make any difference to her teeth or her bite in her teeth. Drinking milk does not hurt the teeth.

What does cause tooth/milk rot is allowing a child to hold their bottle in their mouth all night with milk in it dripping on their teeth all night long. The milk never gets rinsed off with their saliva. So it sits on their teeth all night, their teeth are drenched in milk all night. This hurts the enamel. Drinking milk does not cause this damage, holding milk in their mouth all night does damage their teeth.

SO there is NO reason your child HAS to be off the bottle at 12 months of age. They may need their bottle longer. Just don't give them a bottle to drink all night long. Give them a bottle then take it away when they are asleep.

Tooth decay has more to do with genetics than if they took a bottle too long or didn't take care of their teeth right.

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P.K.

answers from New York on

He just might not be ready to give it up. What's the rush. He is a year old!

L.M.

answers from Dover on

I alternated one bottle of formula and then one bottle of milk. If I mixed the two I had to throw out the whole bottle because neither child would drink it that way. The first few times I gave whole milk I had to add some light Karo syrup to it and then gradually reduced the amount over the next few days for my son to drink it.

I would give a soft spouted cup all day (not bottles in site) and gradually move to the harder spouts.

L.A.

answers from Austin on

About a month before our daughter turned 1, I started talking about how she was going to be a big girl soon..

I also started allowing her to drink from my cup, when she showed interest.

I started doing half and half with formula and milk. then kept cutting it back to just milk. I wanted to make sure she could tolerate it. She still liked it at room temperature, except when we came in from the heat. Then she did not mind it cold.

I then took her to the store to pick out a cup. I also picked out 1. I kept saying on her birthday all the bottles would be gone, but she would GET to use the big girls cup.

On the eve of her birthday, I got rid of all of the bottle stuff. Threw it all away.. In the morning, I had the cups lined up and asked her which cup do you want to use? Do you want milk or juice?

At her party that day.. everyone gave her a different sippy cup.. so each morning I asked her, Which cup today? At nap and bed time, it was just cups, remember the bottles were "all gone"..

We just made it very matter of fact and confident that she would be fine.

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J.K.

answers from Los Angeles on

My daughter is turning 12 months next week. I started giving her whole milk in a sippy cup/straw cup last month during mealtimes (when she eats solids). She loves drinking cold milk/water out of the cups, although she prefers a warm bottle. I think sometimes the temperature makes a huge difference.

I also started mixing whole milk with my breast milk. She still gets more breastmilk than whole milk, but we're slowly transitioning so hopefully by the end of the month she will be drinking just the whole milk. I think slow transition is really important. She still drinks the whole milk/breastmilk combo out of a bottle, but when she's close to drinking all whole milk, I plan to start taking away the bottle one by one, getting rid of the morning bottle and bottle before bedtime last.

When I first started, she didn't take her bottle well even though I mixed only 1 oz. of whole milk with 5-7 oz. of breastmilk, but after a couple days, she was doing fine. I think it takes a few days for them to get used to things. Hope this was helpful. Good luck!

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