How do I get my 2 year old off the bottle? He does not want to use anything but his bottle! HELP PLEASE!?

Question

My 2 year old boy insists on having his bottle all the time. He don't go to bed or take a nap without it. He also has it around 4 or 5 times a day. I've tryed sippy cups, reg. cups, you name it i've tryed it. Any help from those mommy's or daddy's would be great! Thanks

Answer 1

Throw them all away. You waited a long time to get rid of them, so be prepared for a lot of resistance. The first two days or so might be rough. He'll have to get over it. Let him scream it out--you're doing nothing to help him develop emotionally and socially with the bottle. Maybe get him to throw them away himself (if he will) or give them to the "Bottle Fairy" and replace them when he's sleeping with a new toy or stuffed animal. Or, empty the cupboard and replace them with sippy cups and act like you're just as surprised as he is that they are gone. Then you can both be upset together...Good luck!

Answer 2

I will be honest, i had my two off the bottle at 9 months, and i am NOT trying to be braggy, just saying do it NOW... (Before a year old is the best time because they don't realize the difference as much.) I simply replaced their bottle with a soft spout sippy cup more and more throughout a week and by the end they didn't even notice it wasn't a bottle.. If he isn't working with that.. cold turkey is the best option.. If he gets thirsty enough, he'll drink out of anything! The taking a bottle/sippy cup to bed needs to be cutout anyway, because it can rot his teeth.

Answer 3

Well, when my first turned one, I tried hiding all the bottles. But he cried & screamed sitting under the kitchen cabinets. (he knew where they were) So, slowly I only gave him the bottle in the morning and nighttime! During the Day - He took the sippy cup! Try that for a while. If that doesnt work, give him the sippy cup & the bottle during the day (BUT - make sure the bottle has a #1 nipple so hardly nothing comes out.) He might bite it, but at least the sippy cup is right there for him.! Any trick will help.
I learned the hard way, and with my 2nd one, I only gave him the sippy cup all day starting on his 1st Birthday. He took to it like a baby! No problem. But I had started to introduce it to him about 6,7 months old. I learned my lesson with the first one. GOOD LUCK!

Answer 4

At age 2, time to just throw them away, and tell him he's a big boy now and has to use a big boy cup. He's too old to be having a bottle during the day and extremely too old for a bottle at night. He's spoiled so he's going to fight you about this. He's still using his bottle like a baby would. He will have tantrums about it, let him. Just keep reenforcing that he's a big boy and has to use a big boy cup now. Keep working with him. When he's thirsty enough, he will use the sippy cup. DON"T give in to him. If you do, it's going to be alot longer and alot harder to get it from him. I'm mom to 3. When my 3 were babies, we did it the old folks way, we took their bottles by the signs of the moon. Never a fuss, no arguement, no problems what so ever.

Answer 5

weening is the hardest thing in the world to do, especially for parents! The best thing to do is just throw the bottles away, all of them so neither of you will be tempted. If its not accessible then its not an option. It will only be hard for the first few days. expect alot of crying, I just weened my 15 month old from the bottle, She, much like your boy would not go to sleep with out it. So I promised my self over the spring vacation I would do it. I say this cause it takes alot out of a parent. The first 2 days are HELL. After the first two days, It gets soo much easier, then by the end of the week he wont even remember what his bottle looked like. Put him in his crib at the same time you normally put him down for naps. Make sure you have an established word for bed time. mine is "mimis" (Spanish) then they know its about that time. put him in his crib ask him to lay down like he usually does then close the door and leave the room. Go in and check on him every 10 min or so. The crying will be intense for the first day but remember that it hurts you more than it hurts him. Same for bed time. There a huge possibility that he might not have a good nap the first day and he will be reluctant to go to sleep at night but by the next day he'll get the gist and give in. Take some aspirin for the head ache and be patient youll be glad that you did in the end. Good luck

Answer 6

I changed from milk to water and only half full and every couple of days would lessen the amount of water until there was only a drop left. After that I said no more bottles your a big girl now. Then I took her shopping and bought a special soft toy for her to cuddle when she went to sleep instead of sucking on a bottle. She chose a lovely sheep that had a half moon on its back. So every night before she went to sleep I got her to press the moon and tell the sheep what she wanted to dream about that night. My daughter never had a problem with this. She was fine with her "sheepy" and loved it more than the bottle.

My daughter was still having a bottle at three and now her teeth are all decayed from the bottle. I cant see it, they look healthy to me. But when I took her to the dentist she needed 4 fillings. And the dentist could tell what side she slept on because all the teeth on that side had started to decay. Thankfully there is no permanent damage. But the guilt I feel is permanent. If I had just been stronger and not given in to her sad looks and crying when she was younger her teeth would have been fine.
Just thought I'd let you know that as an added incentive to get your son off the bottle.
Hope my water trick works for you.

Answer 7

here is an idea i saw on Super Nanny, or one of those shows. what she did is she collected up all the bottles and put them in a bag (letting the child help) then, she hung them on a tree branch one night and told the child that the bottle fairy was going to come and take them and give them to the needy children and she would leave a prize for being so kind. the next morning hanging in the tree was a prize for the child, just something small. that is a way to get rid of all the bottles and just switch to a sippy cup or whatever you want. the child may give you troubles at first but eventually he will get thirsty enough to drink out of a cup.

Answer 8

*IF* the bottle is his security item you can't just take it away. First you need to get him a different security item. Try watching Poko, Poko hugs his stuffed monkey when he is sad/upset.

ALWAYS give the cup in addition to the bottle. Don't make it a battle that you are only going to loose. Water in the bottle, other drink in the cup. Eventually your goal is to only offer sugary beverages (milk included) at set times. Sipping sugar beverages is bad for teeth.

The other thing you need to keep in mind is IF there is only water in the bottle generally speaking bottles are no worse than pacifiers and most dentists agree that if you do not take a pacifier away until age three it has still has no impact on the teeth. Sippy cups are actually worse for teeth/jaw development because they are not meant for long term use.

Answer 9

I would say that you just have to take it away unfortunately. It's will be a tough couple of days and nights, but once he realizes the bottles are gone or he gets to the point he wants it bad enough, he will take the sippy cups.

Answer 10

You are the parent, right? The main problem that we as parents have is the tendency to give in to our children's whines and whimpers to get their own way. We just don't want to hear it so we give in, just to soothe our own nerves. It's not helping our kids any when we do this. As for the bottles, toss them in the trash and tell your son that if he's going to be a big boy, then he has to drink out of a big boy sippy cup. He will resist for a while but if you don't give in, then he will accept it eventually.