how do i get my son off the bottle?

Question

my son will be turning 18 months and he always uses a bottle for nap time and when he goes to bed at night. It is the only way he will sleep. I tried during the day to give him milk in a sippy cup but he refuses to drink it. He drinks Juice and water out of a sippy cup but not milk. I would like him to have his milk in a sippy cup and before he goes to bed. what do i do?? do i just let him cry in bed till he falls asleep without his milk??/

Answer 1

Well, he shouldn't be having a bottle OR sippy cup when he goes to sleep. Take the bottle away-cold turkey. Offer him the sippy cup with milk, eventually he will give in. A few days without milk will not hurt him.

Answer 2

You have to do it COLD TURKEY. That is the only way and the best way for the child. The parent is more dependant on the bottle than the baby. They will eventually get over it, you just need to be strong. If he is thirsty, he will eventually use the cup. Try a cup with a straw - they have some that dont leak and kids like them. Also, the best sippy cup I found to get my son off the bottle was at Walmart it is a silicone top and is only $1 or so. It resembles a bottle and the spout is really soft. That is what worked for me. But above all - Do NOT let them go to bed with a drink because it will rot their teeth. That is a bad habit to start in the first place and will be harder to break than a bottle. Not only does it hurt their teeth, but it will be harder to get them to stop wetting the bed later on if they are used to drinking in bed.

Good Luck and try Walmart.

Answer 3

There is a problem with an 18 m.o. on a bottle. It is bad for their developing teeth.

I would put the milk in the sippy, and not give in when he fusses for the bottle. Just tell him that his milk is in the sippy cup.

They have the Nuby brand sippy cups that have the silicone tops, that might be similar to what he is used to drinking from. Try those.. that is what helped my son from the bottle, to the hard top sippies.

Answer 4

My daughter was on the bottle til she was 12 months old she got sick and the doctor told me to put her back on the bottle so when she went to bed she had a bottle nce she fell asleep i went in her room and took it from her...It took a while to get her back to just sippy cups just try giving him a bottle at night than once he's asleep go in and take it when he wakes up give him a sippy cup that way he won't really have time to miss it...Good luck

Answer 5

There is a wonderful cup sold at Walmart and Babies R US, not sure about Target, it's called the NUBY. It has the softness of the bottle (really soft), that's how we converted our child over to the sippy cup, then once we had her soley on the NUBY, we then went to the regular hard plastic sippy kinds. Beware though, the NUBY does leak if thrown around! They are also really cheap in price. Worth a try!

Answer 6

I used those avent sippy cup attachments for the bottle so it didnt leak and i warmed the milk just a little and my daughter liked that..he may not i dunno...but i did that for awhile and let her have it at bed time and then every couple day i put less and less milk in the cup and told her when its gone its gone and it eventually worked for me. Good Luck =)

Answer 7

try a cup with a lid and straw...my son's 20 months and still sucks at sippy cups (pun intended!)...if he wont drink that, do what we did...try the bottle for the day nap or two and play with him/let him stay up a bit later and tire himself out...our son went off the bottle easily after 12 months or so, but maybe we were just lucky

Answer 8

I asked a similar question a while ago as my son just turned a year old and is still on the bottle and will not take a sippy cup at all...he will just bite it, he really does not know how to use it...I have tried every sippy cup. I hate my son on the bottle but what i learned is he will do it when he is ready...if you push them, he will not do it. don't worry, your son will do it when he is good and ready!!! good luck

Answer 9

I would suggest only water at night. When he gets thursty, he will drink. You have to stand firm on your choices. If you back down and give him what he wants, when he wants it what kind of lesson are you giving to your son?

I suggest a drink of milk, then brushing of teeth, a night time story and a song. Then lay him in his bed and let him know you love him, and it is time for sleep. Maybe replace his bottle with a stuffed animal he can snuggle. Being consistant is the key here. You have to devote your time and energy, because he will be.

Answer 10

Take the bottle away cold turkey. Don't put a bottle or a sippy cup in his crib. I know from experience, you'll be battling ear infections non-stop if you do.