IF your child wasn't completely weaned from a bottle to a cup until after the age of two...?

Question

how old were they when they finally stopped drinking from a bottle altogether and what got them to that point? Did you force them to go cold turkey? Use some fun, little "trick" to help facilitate the switch? Just wondering what worked for you...

And please, for the love of Pete, if your child was drinking out of a cup (all of the time) before the age of two and/or you just want to spout opinions about how and why children should be weaned from a bottle before they're a year old, I don't want to hear it. That's not my question.

Sorry, yes, I meant a sippy cup. : ) My 20 mo old son still drinks his milk from a bottle, but juice (maybe 5 oz or less per day) and water from a sippy cup. I don't have any problems with him waking at night wanting something to drink. PS - His teeth get brushed before he goes to bed at night, so he's not going to bed with milk on his teeth.

Answer 1

I wish I had a magical answer for you. But alas, I do not. :)

My daughter was about 21 or 22 months when the doctor finally said that it was way past the "time" for no more bottles.

He suggested going cold turkey. So that's what we did. I let her pick out LOTS of new cups at the store. Of course, when it came down to it, she didn't care who the heck was on the cups.

I liked what my pediatrician said, though. I have several friends who said that, to this day, their child "won't" drink milk. I told my ped this and he said, "If you do this correctly, that won't happen. Your friends probably caved because they thought their child was going to dehydrate. That won't happen. Do what I suggest and you will have success."

So I listened and tried. Don't get me wrong -- it was NOT easy by any stretch of the imagination! But it did work and my daughter, now 5, drinks everything, including lots of milk, from her cups.

This is what I did. First, I tossed the bottles in a big garbage bag and made sure she watched them go. That way she'd kind of have permanance (even though kids that age can't grasp it) as to where the bottles went. I also did this so I myself wouldn't be tempted to break out the bottles during what I knew was coming -- lots of resistance to the cups and her wanting her bottle!

Then I filled the sippy cups with milk, and only milk. When offered, of course she refused the milk. I offered her whatever food she wanted throughout the day but NO DRINKS except MILK FROM A SIPPY CUP. She refused it most of the day, but I kept in mind what my ped said -- she won't dehydrate! She will eventually cave herself and realize you mean business and she'll DRINK FROM THE CUP!

This did not take a short time. It took a couple of days. But actually by dinnertime on the first night, she drank a good amount from her cup. By the second day she was drinking more and more from the cup. She still asked for her bottle, but less and less.

By the end of, I'd say, 5 or 6 days, she had forgotten about the bottle and was ready for full-time cupping!

But I found getting off the bottle to be far more difficult than sleep training and potty trained put together. I'd put the bottle battle up there with getting rid of the buggy (pacifier).

Just to realistically prepare you. :)

Good luck from one parent to another!

Answer 2

My daughter pushed this one so much. I started only offering the milk in a cup but she had to actually WATCH me put milk in it or she wouldnt drink it. Alot of kids struggle with letting the bottle go so some things you can try are buying the soft spout sippy cups or even a sports bottle that looks like a bottle but doesnt feel like one so they know its changing from a bottle but not too much at once where they cant stand it. In the end all you really can do is throw out all the bottle and switch to something else like the sports bottle and soft spout cups. How long they use those really doesnt matter. My daughter is 3 1/2 now and uses regular cups at home but if we are in a car or out running around its always a cup or sports bottle to avoid the coke on my floor in the car lol The reason people worry about the bottle is because its been shown to cause whats called bottle rot or deform the gums and cause the teeth to be crooked if used past the age of two just as the paci is said to do. Hope this helps

Answer 3

My son is 17 months old, and he is still drinking from a bottle quite a bit. He drinks from a sippie cup, but not usually milk. He has also been going through this stage where he doesn't want to eat anything. All he has all day is milk and some cereal mixed with milk, with a couple of orange slices or some little table foods every once in a while. He also hasn't given up his pas yet. I have been worrying about whether or not I'm doing something wrong with him or if it;s just a phase. My doctor said he really doesn't need to eat all that much right now because they really don't do all that much growing between 1 and 3 years, and that if he wasn't eating much and was still drinkin his bottle, it's ok just as long as he is still getting some nutrition (which he is). So if I were you, I wouldn't worry about it... when your child is ready to give up the bottle, they will.

Answer 4

My son is I think like many toddlers in that from about age 1 through 2 and a half he has used sippy cups. If this is the change you are asking about, it should be pretty simple, as drinking from a sippy isn't to radically different from drinking out of a bottle.

If you are talking about the transition to actual cups/glasses then it will be a challenge. I know my son really likes to drink through a straw, and that has made things a little more fun for him, and a motivation to try adult cups. Realistically however, I'm not sure I want him at age 2 to be drinking out of glasses or cups that do not have a lid, at least not all of the time. It's good practice to do some of the time, but it's stressful for both the parent and the child to constantly be worries about spilling. Try sticking with either sippy cups or kids cups with lids and straws till around age 4, just my humble opinion.

Answer 5

Cold turkey is best, they will cry for bottle for 2 days maybe but once it's gone, it's gone. Deal with the crying, weekends work best for some people, but after the age of 2 the kid can handle it just fine.
I let my son sleep with a sippy cup of water if he needed something, this is not as comfortable as bottle so they learn that there is a difference between a "comfort" need and acual thirst.
And the cup in bed didn't last long.

Answer 6

My mom is going thru this(yes, I'm an adult, my sister was a "surprise! I thought this was menopause" baby). She is 26 months and my mom had gone to bottles only at night(my sister still wakes up sometime in the night). Unfortunately, the only thing that worked is just letting her cry until she drinks from the cup during the day. She is so tired during the night she doesn't notice as much. My mom has had to hide all the bottles so that my sister doesn't see them and she tells my sister they are all gone. It's slow going, but she says it gets better every day. My baby is 3 1/2 months, I can't wait! Good luck.

Answer 7

My daughter grew to become a million on the twenty fourth of October and that i nonetheless provide her 3 bottles an afternoon. She does drink from a cup, yet no longer properly adequate that i could basically furnish her cups and it somewhat is a convenience element for her. Her physician pronounced getting her off the bottle yet i do no longer think of now it the time. i would be attentive to whilst she is waiting. there is not any injury in her having a bottle for a splash longer. i'm a dental hygienist so oral wellbeing isn't a difficulty. She would not get a bottle in mattress along with her, we practice appropriate oral hygiene and she or he isn't on the age the place it reasons injury to her tooth placement.

Answer 8

I know alot of kids who still use sippy cups at the age of 3 but my son stopped the bottle at 9 months, I basically said no more and only gave him a bottle before bed and at 11 months that stoppped. good luck

Answer 9

it's not a big deal for a kid to drink out of a bottle at the age of 2. they have a natural sucking instinct that needs to be fulfilled. a friend of mine's son is 2 and still drinks from a bottle and the dr told her to let him follow his own pace because he still had a very strong sucking instinct. don't let other people's opinions bother you. choose your battles with your children and this is such an unimportant thing that time will take care of.

Answer 10

my 15 month old Broke herself off the Binky at 12 months,and then she started throwing her bottles . so we just stopped giving them to her, but started her on the Nuby sippy cups. she now loves them . it make her feel like a big girl.