How can I get my 13 month old son off the bottle?

Question

He needs a bottle before nap and bedtime...He is too old now and I want him off it completely!

Answer 1

If he is only wanting a bottle at nap and bedtime then he will give it up soon enough. No need to rush this. The guidelines for getting a child off the bottle vary tremendously.

It is not unusual for a 13 to 16 month old to still want and need their bottle. So try a sippy cup with a "nipple like" mouth piece. He may not want it at first but tell him that the bottle or (baba or whatever YOU refer to it as) has gone bye-bye. He may still refuse it. Stick with it as long as you are comfortable with his level of distress.

Then change to a regular sippy cup with a hard spout. To make this more acceptable to him try adding some chocolate or strawberry syrup to the milk. He will drink it for the flavor rather than the comfort.

Make sure he is well fed before bedtime so he is not using the bottle for food.

Maybe try this at nap time and continue the bedtime bottle for comfort for the whole family. And slowly introduce a new sippy.

Also my daughters pediatrician suggested to water the milk down so it is less tasteful to her, she gave the bottle up at 14 months.

Good luck to you and HIM...............

Answer 2

Good Question.... EVERY child is different... but what I did with my son... he had 3 definite bottles every day, a wake up bottle, afternoon nap bottle, and bedtime bottle... I slowly took them away.... First it was his wake up bottle, I gave him a sippy cup to learn from and then use instead.... after that hurdle was over I took away his nap bottle but ( and this step was important for the last two bottles to take away) I gave him a drink in his sippy cup just before I put him down for his nap... That didn't take too long for him to adjust too and less than 3 weeks I had all three bottles gone and he just gets drinks in sippy cups ( now it's a sippy straw cup)..... I hope this helps!! MUCH MUCH luck to you!! But one more thing... some children ESPECIALLY boys who develop and mature differently... so don't be surprised if it takes you longer to take the bottles away.... Have you tried giving him a sippy cup?? Playtex makes the best in my opinion. If your son isn't taking to a sippy cup at all... it may be too soon to take the bottle away... My son was 15 months before he was ready... but when he was... it took me less than 3 weeks to get all the bottles out of his life!! :~) Good Luck

Answer 3

He isn't too old. My daughter is 17 months and I am still breastfeeding her. He will eventually be disinterested in the bottle. However, try weening him off slowly. First take away the bottle before nap by offering him a substitute. Maybe read to him instead and then tell him he must go night-night now. Sometimes they need to cry it out too. Get him on a disciplined routine so he know what to expect. For example: playtime, bath, read, bed and when mommy reads, that means bed time without my bottle, for example. Build up to this since its all new to him. Good luck.

Answer 4

Stop giving it to him. He may scream the first couple of times, but let him scream it out.

I tried the tricks of filling the bottle with water instead of milk and substituting a sippy cup at bedtime. What finally worked for me was just plain cold turkey not giving it to him. I told him he was a big boy. I took all the bottles from the kitchen, so I could show him the cupboard was empty.

Good luck!

Answer 5

I would not rush your baby! The average age of weaning around the world is 4 years old (most children, when allowed to wean naturally, wean between 2 and 6). Babies have a need to suck. If you take the bottle away, your baby will start sucking on toys and his fingers and will get sick more often (from the germs entering his mouth when he needs to find alternatives to the clean bottle that he used to get). Follow your "mom instincts" and don't let others (family, etc.) pressure you to make your son give up bottles when he is not ready. They are a source of comfort for him (just as breastfeeding would be)! Take care and good luck. :)

Answer 6

You could try Nuby brand sippy cups. They have a soft spout not much different than a bottle. My daughter took to them pretty easily. I would just slowly transition him away from the bottle and to something else. Personally, I don't believe in the "cold turkey" method so many parents seem to use. Why cause the turmoil/trauma if it's not necessary?

Answer 7

Over the course of a week, me and my wife gave our daughter less and less bottles and used sippy cups, then after the week was over we completely threw the bottles away. They aren't too happy with you for that but they get over it within a week or so, but it might be harder to do if they use a pacifier also.

Answer 8

wow, i had my daughter switched over the sippie cup by 4 months! she was drinking out of cups by 9 months!

have you tried the sippie cups with rubber tips, as a way to ease him off the bottle? once you have him off the bottle, i'd try finding some kind of replacement for when he goes to bed...his bottle has become his pacifier, so you need to find something like a teddy or something that he can hold and fall asleep with...

Answer 9

properly each and every toddler is diverse, how I were given my son off of bottles at 13 months replaced into that I switched him to the no spill sippy cup. that is extremely like a bottle in a way besides the undeniable fact that it takes it to the subsequent factor. i'm guessing dummy's are passifiers.... a good thanks to wein them off of those is ripping the nipple off of them all and purely go away the plastic area for them to locate and tell them that it broke. tell him that he's a significant boy now and does no longer choose them. It labored for my son. solid success to you!

Answer 10

Try replacing the bottle with sippy cups....or put water in the bottle and use juice for the sippy......he will realize that the sippy has better stuff in it