My son is 3 1/2 years old and I can't get him to let go of his bottle?

Question

At 3 1/2 years of age a child should no longer need his baby bottle, but my son keeps holding on to his (especially at night), and everytime I try, it ends up in a huge, HUGE tantrum... Please help

Answer 1

If he's almost 4 he must have some concept of Father Christmas.
Tell him that in return for his baby bottle on Christmas Eve, the big FC will leave him presents.
Make a chart and tick off each day the nearer to xmas it gets, and continually remind him that he has to leave his bottle for pressies.
Leave it by the fireplace and buy a big boys beaker, one with his favourite character on, to replace once he's asleep.
Maybe a message from Santa too, about how grown up he is.
Good luck x

Answer 2

My son didn't give me a hassle...I just gave him a sippy cup and he had to figure it out because I wasn't going to let him shake milk all over my carpet. He didn't seem to care but did find another way to make a mess by just spitting it on the carpet.

Anyways, thing is you only have a year and a half before kindergarten and the kid who still carries a bottle will be made fun of or just excluded because he is different. I am sure you remember how cruel kids can be.

If I were you, one morning I would get up with him and say "no more bottle" and pull all of them out of the cabinet and have him throw them in the trash. You may have to take his hand in yours and physically throw them in the trash and repeat "no more bottle" but if they won't do what you ask that is the only way to let them know they have to do it whether you make them or they do it themselves. After they are in the trash say "good job here is your big boy cup" and give him a sipper type cup with his milk or whatever in it. Then repeat "no more bottle" and say "you are a big boy". At bedtime, he should be going to sleep on his own at 3 1/2 so when he asks for the bottle give him his cup and say "no more bottle you are a big boy and they are all gone". Of course you will have a fight but you need to be consistent with him and repeat yourself. In a way he "has your number" because he tantrums and you give him what he wants (the bottle). He will tantrum but not giving in is your first step to winning battles with him. It may take a couple of nights but that's the way to do it.

I use this method with my son a lot and once he figured out that tantrums didn't work and he had to do what I asked, he is improving every day. Good luck.

Answer 3

At an age of 3, most children show bad tantrums. Keeping the bottle out of reach or out of sight will only add to his temper. Rather try something cool for him to use. Buy a cool child's cup with color and design that your child loves. Let him do this shopping. In nights, allow him to take with him his best toy.
Explain to him in his own language how big a boy he is and how beautifully he could handle a child's cup and other things rather that the baby like bottle!

Answer 4

I'm not going to ask you why he still has the bottle, that really is none of my business.
But my advice to you is to take the bottle away immediately. TAke them all and throw them away (if you do not need to save them for another child) The reason for this is that he will cry for it, he will beg for it, he will scream for it, he will have a hard time going to sleep, and that will be hard for you. If they are not accesible to you, it's alot harder to give into temptaion and give it to him so you can have some peace and quiet.
A motivational point for you could be this: Letting him in bed with a bottle is bad for his teeth and for ear infections. They tend to hold it all night and take a suck every now and then, and the milk or juice sits in the mouth, causing "bottle mouth", which are nasty cavities, and it is also bad for ear infections, as the liquid can heasily drain to the ear. If you are already just putting water in it, good job!
Take him on a shopping trip and get him to pick out a big boy cup. If he's not interested in the big boy thing (some of them aren't) Talk about how much you would live to have one of those cups, but only children his age can have them. they are special. Be sure to praise his choice and make it extremely special.
The first few days will be rough. For you and for him. You will miss sleep. The can try taking a favorite toy to bed with him, but most likely he will cry untill sleep overcomes him. You CAN comfort him by patting him on the back or sitting on the floor beside his bed facing away from him, you SHOULDN'T pick him up, let him get out of bed, or talk to him if you can avoid it. Children see that as an opportunity to argue with you or try to reason with you. This is exciting because they can prolong bedtime.
With a little time he will learn to live with out it.
My sister had the same problem. Her daughter still had a bottle at 3, they took it away. even though it's been a year, she still takes her brother's bottle whenever she gets a chace!

If you have another child who is one the bottle and needs it, i'm not sure how well this will work, unless you have a bottle with a different kind of nipple that will be unnapealing to your son

GOOD LUCK!

Answer 5

Put them in the trash and throw them away. You know he's too old for baby bottles. Deal with the tantrums for a few days and get that boy on a regular cup!

Answer 6

My 3 yr old triplets were off a bottle at 1... sippy cups are what they use now, just take the bottle away and try the sippy cup, its similar to what hes used so it shouldnt be a hard change.. none of my kids cared when i switched them. 3 is def to late for a bottle. maybe get him a nice stuffed animal to take the place of the bottle at night? take him to build a bear, let him make an animal.. tell him he gets to sleep with his new animal if he doesnt need a bottle.

Answer 7

I had both my boys off the bottle around 10 months of age because i did not want them too attached to it and let it be a problem later if i did not get them off of the bottle early.

Deal with the tantrums, your the boss, not him.....he'll get over it in a few days and he'll have to find something else to comfort him them

Answer 8

leave him alone with it, esp at night.

or give him something else.

Like you. a long cuddle until he falls asleep.

He needs something familiar to make him feel safe in the transition to sleep which can be a scarey time for small children.

His choice is to get comfort from his bottle.
your choice is to let him have it or give him something else to meet his needs.

just remember that he' s not going to rational about it. You won't be able to talk him into getting the comfort from something else you like better.

And answer this question: why does he have to give up the bottle, now or ever? what difference does it make how he goes to sleep at night? Are you worried about his teeth? Or is just "time" to give it up?

This is just the beginning. You have to start to understand that your child will not prefer what you do. Respect his wishes on issues like this until he comes up with some other item to attach to.

By the way, my 11 yr old son still has his "blankie" under his pillow. A bit tattered and a lot worse for the wear, we don't discuss it and he is fine. No, he doesn't wet the bed or suck his thumb. and he's not a mama's boy. but it's his choice and i don't get involved.

Love and respect are the point here.

this isn't one of those if you give 'em an inch they'll take mile issues.

He needs to feel safe.

Answer 9

I took the bottle away from both my kids at 1 year of age. I just took the bottle threw it away and that was that. They cried for the first couple of nights and then they were fine.

Answer 10

my son still had a bottle at that age it is his security blanket so to speak he will put it down on his own if you force him he will fight it i fould let them go at there own pace and you will both be happier about it i would tell the drs that he was on a cup just so thet wouldnt lecture about it he needs to feel right doing it it shouldnt be to long before the bottle dissapears just be cool with it till it happens hope that helped