How can I get my son off the bottle?? HELP?

Question

My 22 month old son still takes the bottle with him to bed. I have been trying to wean him for the past couple of weeks, but all he does is cry, cry, cry until I give up and give him the bottle. I am worried about his teeth! Please Help!

Answer 1

Don't put anything in his bottle but water...that way you don't have to worry about bottle rot cause by milk or juice. Only offer the "good" drinks in sippy cups so the bottle isn't so attractive.

If that still isn't working...then start enlarging the holes in the bottle nipples...so they don't work anymore. Then don't buy any new nipples/bottles. Tell him bottles are for babies and they just don't work so good for big kids. Let him pick out a new big kid sippy or straw cup or whatever at the store for his new cup for being a big kid. At night when he gets whiny remind him that his bottles don't work anymore for a big kids and let him have his drink in his new cup. Don't give in...it may be rough going for a couple nights but he will move on - I promise!

Answer 2

Sorry to say it, but you never should have given him a bottle in bed in the first place. It's a bad habit to start, and as you know now, it's a really hard one to break. We never gave my daughter a bottle in bed, because it goes against everything professionals tell you to do. It's bad for their teeth, it hinders their sleep (because now your son won't go to bed without it), and it will eventually hinder potty training.

We just got rid of bottles alltogether one day and told my daughter they were gone. "We don't have them anymore, so now you have to drink out of a cup like the big kids do." Relating a sippy cup to being a big kid helped a ton. She's always eager to do things the way big kids do :o)

You'll have a heck of a time potty training too if you don't get past the bottle in bed thing soon. If he's drinking in bed or even just before, more than likely, he's peeing in his diaper during the night and will be peeing the bed during the night when he moves on to underwear.

Don't mean to sound brash, just being honest and trying to help you out. Good luck and best wishes! Hopefully whatever you choose to do works.

Answer 3

The only true way to do it is to stop giving in, and if you do that it shouldn't take more than a couple days to get it over with, but every time you give in you have to start over. What we did for my step daughter was tell her that the new babies needed bottles so that they could eat. Then we took her favorite bottle (The one she used EVERY night), and tied it to a few helium balloons and told her that the bottles where going to heaven where God hand picks each baby for it's family. The ironic thing is that we found out we were pregnant with are little girl about 4 days later. My stepdaughter asked me if I thought our baby would get to bring home here bottles. It was so cute.

Answer 4

He's using his bottle as a comfort tool. You need something to replace it such as a stuffed animal or a blanket. Make sure he picks it out and you constantly offer it to him for comfort instead of the bottle. Once he has endeared himslef to the stuffed animal or blanket, take away the bottle and switch it with a sippy cup of water. It's going to be hard, and there will be crying involved, but stay firm yet understanding and comforting to your son. He only knows what has been taught to him, and in his mind he equates bedtime to his bottle.

Answer 5

He's not even two! He is a BABY! He has the rest of his life to be an adult and drink out of a big cup!

This is what soothes him and how cruel for you to take away his security!

Books and studies have shown that when he is ready to give it up, he will. He may even be hungry and need the milk to fill his tummy.

If you are that worried about his teeth, give him water, the fluoride will help.

But don't take him off the bottle, he's a baby still! Let him enjoy his babyhood. It may not be convenient to you but to him, he needs that. I'd hate to hear of him having some sort of emotional disturbance because of something as silly as that but you never know. People have reported memories (especially traumatic events -which this would be for him) as early as a few months in life. Why would you do that to him?

Answer 6

Well that's how people get their baby off the bottle by letting them cry.Buy him a non spill cup and try it.He will resist it but that's OK because he will get thirsty and want to grab it.Try it every time he wants something to drink.The dentist claims it's bad for their teeth to stay on the bottle after they have formed in.If he has a certain favorite cartoon character that he likes to watch buy that type of cup.Buy the plate as well.It works.Don't give in.It will take time for him to like that cup because it is not like a bottle.

Answer 7

I know it's difficult and much easier said than done, but if you want to break the habit you have to just take it away and get rid of the bottle. After a few days, he will start settling down and eventually forget about the bottle.

Answer 8

You have to let him cry, cry ,cry, as you put it. Now it's going to get harder, because every time he threw a tantrum he had to throw a bigger one to get the bottle. You actually taught him to throw the tantrum. It is going to get worse before it gets better. Don't give it to him. Let him cry - and he will until he realizes the game is over - and then he will find another way to sooth himself to sleep, but he will always cry for it if you keep giving in.
Good Luck.

Answer 9

try first to give him a sippy cup to take to bed( one that has a soft nipple) and then go from there. You have got to make him quite event if that means putting him to bed screaming and letting him cry himself to sleep. I had to do that with my daughter and she just turned 1 year and it took a few days and no more.

Answer 10

stop giving in, that's why he keeps crying, he knows you'll give in. Try letting him through it out and replace it with a special cup. in time he'll love the new cup.