What is an appropriate age to stop bottle feeding a baby?

Question

How do you get the baby off of the bottle?

Answer 1

I started intoducing a sippy cup to my daughter @ 6 months and @10 months I cut her formula intake down to 2 8oz bottles a day. It's a long process but you just have to trust your judgement and stick with it. Babies thrive on routine so one day don't give her 2 bottles with solids and then the next give her no solids and just formula...see what I mean? There will be times where your baby will cry for the bottle and you will want to give it to him/her but trust your instincts and go with it. Be strong and be sure that you are providing your child with the nutrients he/she needs each day. Refer to links below for more information.

Answer 2

Around 9 months your baby will have good muscle control and can sit in a high chair for meals. At meal time, offer the baby a sippy cup or a cup with a built in straw. It may take some practice for him/her to realize how to use it correctly and that there is something to drink in it. Use the bottle strictly as a means to give your baby nutrition between meals and not for comfort. This can be difficult for some babies who are used to drinking a bottle at bed time or nap time or when upset. If your baby is like that, offer an ounce less breast milk or formula in the bottle every few days and add the ounce to the sippy cup at meals instead. By a year, your baby can easily be done with the bottle and get all his/her milk or water from a cup. If your baby uses the bottle for comfort try adding a second "lovey" when he is drinking from his bottle such as a favorite blanket or stuffed animal. Gradually substitute the lovey for the bottle when he is needing comfort. After a year, if your baby still wants the bottle, only allow him/her to have water in it. I personally am a no juice advocate. In my career as a daycare provider for the last 20 years, I have seen so many children who are poor eaters because they constantly have a bottle or sippy cup of juice or milk. In consequence, their little tummies are always so full of liquid that they don't eat well and become picky eaters.

Answer 3

I stopped bottle feeding at eleven months. At six months, I started giving my daughter sippy cups during the day. Finally, I just decided one day a few weeks before she turned a year old to take her bottle away. It was a cold-turkey kind of thing. However, I did give her a sippy cup in place of a bottle. She cried for two days and after that, we never had a bottle again. Believe me, those were two long, difficult days. I just toughed it out and never looked back!

Answer 4

at 12 months....after that things start to become habits and the little ones come more set in their ways. Switch to the sippy cup.
What worked for me because the night time bottle was the worst to give up is put water in the bottle and milk in the sippy (or whatever they like to drink) They want what is in the sippy more than the water so they will take the sippy cup. The Nuby brand of sippy cups with the really soft nipple are a great transistion cup.

Answer 5

I would say about 12 months except for bed time. Then about 18 months all together. Just dont give the bottle to the baby anymore use sippy cups. It will be hard telling your child no, but you have to get used to it now because you will be saying it more times than you could ever imagine.

Answer 6

when my children turned 8 mths old I just gave them a sippy cup and never gave them another bottle they never cried for the bottle so as long as they still drank enough milk I just continue to give them a sippy cup. I would introduce the sippy cup and offer it to them instead of the bottle you might be surprised they might not want the bottle back. Before bedtime I gave my child a little milk and then brush their teeth and put them to bed. BEST OF LUCK.

THE LONGER YOU WAIT THE HARDER IT WILL BE TO TAKE AWAY THE BOTTLE

Answer 7

I would say at 1 year. I've heard that if you wait till the first full moon after the baby turns 1 to take their bottle away they will not want it any more.

Answer 8

I HAD TROUBLE W/ THIS.....AT FIRST MY LITTLE GIRL WAS TAKING IT WELL. I WOULD ONLY GIVE HER A BOTTLE AT BEDTIME, AND NAPTIME, AND SHE WAS FINE W/ THAT, THEN WHEN I TRIED TO TAKE IT FROM HER AT THOSE TIMES, SHE WENT CRAZY SCREAMING SOMETIMES FOR 30 MINS OR MORE, NON STOP. I TRIED GIVING THE BIG GIRL SPEECH, PRAISE WHEN SHE USED CUP....EVERYTHING IN THE BOOK. FINALLY I ENDED UP HAVING TO JUST THROW THE BOTTLES AWAY AND SUFFER W/ HER. AFTER A FEW DAYS SHE KNEW THAT SHE WASN'T GONNA GET A BOTTLE, AND SHE ACCEPTED THE CUP EVERYTIME. NOW, EVERY NOW AND AGAIN, WHEN SHE'S AROUND OTHER SMALL BABIES SHE WANT'S THEIR BOTTLE...BUT SHE DOESN'T FUSS VERY MUCH OVER IT, WHEN I GIVE HER A FIRM NO. SHE IS 17 MONTHS. SHE WAS 15 MONTHS AT THE TIME.

Answer 9

One year old. I weaned my boys by one year by offering them a sippy cup with their meals, starting at about 6 months old. They didn't catch on right away, and we usually ended up giving them a bottle anyway, but at least we offered it to them and let them look at it, chew on it, etc. They both were experts at drinking from sippy cups at about 10 months old, and only had two bottles a day--one in the a.m. and one in the p.m. By one year, they were down to only one at night, and to get them off of it, we just took it away. I started putting them to bed a little later than normal (30 minutes or so) and they were so tired, they were nearly asleep before they were in their cribs, so they didn't cry for a bottle.

Answer 10

I took my son off the bottle completely on his 1 year birthday. He didn't even notice and liked the idea of being a big boy. The longer you wait, the harder it'll be to take it away.