How to wean a toddler from bottle if...?

Question

My son is 2 years old and still drinks his milk from a bottle - - warm. (He drinks juice and water from a sippy cup.) As far as I'm concerned I have a two-fold issue - the fact that he will only drink his milk warm AND the fact that he's still drinking milk from a bottle. If I give him milk in a cup (even warmed) he throws it down. For those of you who have actually been in this same situation with your toddler, how did you wean them from them from drinking their milk warmed? I'm ready to go cold turkey on the bottle part. We are throwing them out next week. However, I'm not so sure it's a good idea to throw the bottles out cold turkey AND stop warming the milk all at the same time. Should I offer him warmed milk in a cup (only) and once he's gotten over the bottle addiction, THEN worry about getting him to the point of drinking cold milk. Please no judgemental comments. My son does NOT go to bed with a bottle and his teeth are brushed every night after he has his milk.

Also, please, no comments about bottles causing crooking teeth because, frankly, I think that is a complete crock. How is sucking on a million different shapes and kinds of spill proof sippy cup spouts any different?

Sorry, I meant "crooked" teeth. Damn this Yahoo Answers...won't let you preview you additional details before you add them. : )

Answer 1

No slams here. I never bottlefed, but I breastfed up until 2 to 2.5 years with each of my children, and believe that babies' need to suckle doesn't magically disappear at their first birthday party. It's nice to hear that some other people recognize that in their babies as well. And it sounds like you are taking the precautions to avoid tooth decay, so you're a huge step ahead of the game. :)

I wouldn't worry much about the warm/cold factor for now. Keep warming it for a few weeks after the bottles are gone, and maybe just slowly warm it a little less and less until it is being served cold eventually. We warmed our youngest's milk until she was well past 2.5.... she was really the only one of our children who cared much about the temp once they had weaned to cow's milk, though, so I didn't mind continuing to baby her that little bit. ;)

Do you watch SuperNanny at all? She has a trick for doing away with bottles, where you wrap them all up pretty and set them out somewhere for the "Bottle Fairy". Make a huge deal of it with the toddler, and tell them the Bottle Fairy will be taking the bottles and giving them to smaller babies who really need them. The Bottle Fairy will be leaving a special gift for the Big Boy/Girl! Then the next day, you go find the gift the Bottle Fairy left for them-- some special brand new sippy cups, just for the Big Kid! It seems really cute, and has worked well for all 3 or 4 children I've seen her use that on in different episodes. (Not to exalt Nanny JoJo or anything-- I don't agree with ALL of her tactics, but many of them are great!)

Best of luck with the transitions ahead! Your son is luck y to have a mom like you. :)

Answer 2

Some kids hang on to a bottle because they know they can. No disrespect meant here....They know that if they holler long enough the bottle will be there when they want it.

With my first child I was going to be the perfect mom and not upset her world, so she got by with it until one day I had enough.

I told my daughter about this poor mama duck down by the water at the park that didn't have any bottles for her new babies and she didn't know what to do because she couldn't go to the store to buy any.
My daughter loved animals and always took good care of them so she naturally felt sorry for the mama.

I asked her if ---mayber because she was such a BIG girl now...if maybe she would like to give her bottles to the babies. It could be a special gift from her to the mama and babies.

She thought tht was a great idea so, We put all of the bottles in a bag and went to the park so those little babies could have something to eat.
We put them on the bank, close to where the mama was. My daughter told the mama that she brought them for her babies and not to worry anymore because she was a big girl and she could use a cup.

Sure, that day she could have changed her mind a million times (when she wanted the bottle) but then I would tell her how happy I was tht she was such a BIG girl and that she felt sorry for those babies and "I bet they are eating and thinking of you all the time".

My son gave his to the tigers at the zoo
My second daughter gave hers to the squirrel in the back yard.
The third daughter gave hers to a horse at a farmers house. the part about the warm milk will go away, Just take the milk out a little early so it is at room temperature when he drinks it. Some kids can't tolerate cold milk, juice is fine a matter of fact everything else is fine...They just have a thing about milk. My son went through that until 3 years old.

hope this little suggestion helped. It worked for 4 kids and 7 grandkids and in a month we try it on the 8th grandchild so cross your fingers, we have some good odds so far!!

Answer 3

My daughter was still drinking milk from a bottle when she was 2.5yrs old! (there were a lot of changes going on at the time so I didn't want to take her bottle away too) Anyway, one day we were looking out the window and we saw some monkeys with babies. My daughter asked why the baby monkey didn't have a bottle and I seized the opportunity! I asked her if she'd like to give the baby monkey her bottles as she was now a big girl and could drink from a cup. That night we put all the bottles on the windowsill and in the morning when she woke up they were gone. She was very excited to think that the monkey had come and taken her bottles for the baby. My point is go cold turkey, but make up a story and make your son the hero. Kids love to be made a fuss of! Also why don't you tell your son that since he's now a big boy and will be drinking his milk from a cup he is allowed some flavouring (warm horlicks is great before bed!) To this day my daughter still has her cup of warm Horlicks before she goes to bed. During the day he could have cold milk and give him those nesquik straws / cocopops straws. My kids love those and they're happy to have cold milk with it!

Answer 4

When I weaned my daughter from the bottle, the first thing I did was open up the holes in the nipple to get her used to the faster flow of liquid. The next step I did was switch the tops of her old bottles ( I used the Avent bottles) with soft spout tops and that worked fine. It looked like the same old bottle to her. From then I went to the plastic sippy cups and now she uses sippy cups without a top.
Regarding your temperature question I would gradually warm the milk less and less until he is eventually drinking cold milk or maybe just give him cold milk in the daytime and warm milk before bed .

Answer 5

OMG i am so there with you girl... my son who is 2 years and 5 months just gave up the bottle last week!! and here's how i did it..

He was only getting it at bed time and he also had to have his milk warm or he wasn't going to take it.
Well a week ago i took his bottle away and gave him a cup and that's all he went to bed with it was his choice if he was going to drink it or not and low and behold when we got up in the morning the cup was empty. Yeah he cried a little and fussed a little more and even tried to throw a tantrum but he drank it cause he really wanted it. so in the morning i had him throw his bottles away and the whole time im telling him that hes a big boy now and he don't need a bottle anymore.

Now you can try the nuby sippy cups with the soft clear nipples or you can go for the Parents Choice (walmart for both) and they have a soft over coating on the mouth piece for the cup. i have tried them both and well the Nubys only last for 2 days because he would chew through them.. But he has the Parents choice and hes holding it down with that really well.. now for the warm milk.....

Answer 6

We got my boys the sport bottles that had the spill proof tops. Instead of the pull up tops like most sport bottles these are one piece with a seal inside the top that keep them from spilling. They are a clear/white color with color squilly rubber design on them. I got them at Wal mart for about $1.00 a piece. He will still have to suck to get the milk out but it puts him on the way to get off the bottle. Once he gets use to it. Slowly warm the milk less and less until he drinks it cold. Good luck. Just remember to pop out the seal and clean under it. It takes a little getting use to then it's like old hat. My boys went from these sport bottles to regular cups in a couple of months. They are 6 and 4 now we still use them on walks, at the pool and in the car.

Oh I almost forgot we bought them a a piece of oak tag made a table with things that big boys do we started with the Sippy bottles then as they grew added more things. Every time they took the sport bottle with no tantrums crying etc. they got a sticker to put on their board. Children need rewards and incentives. Everyone does, would we go to work if we didn't get paid? To a child stickers and praise work wonders.

Answer 7

Hi,
My little boy is also two, he no longer has his bottle during the day. All I did was hide them out of his sight and everytime he asked for a bottle I just gave him a drink in his sippy cup and after a few days he was fine. So I guess as the saying goes, out of sight, out of mind.
As for the warm milk, try not warming it as much as usual, I dont know if this will really work as my little man just wouldnt drink warm milk after about 18 months so he just has 1 cold bottle of milk before bedtime.

I hope I have helped in some way, and hope everything goes well, he'll get there!

Goodluck!

Answer 8

I would first try putting cold milk in the bottles, getting him used to that. Then, I would move on to bottle-like cups. They have water bottles that look kind of like baby-bottles with Bob the Builder/Barney designs, still using cold milk. Then one day, hand him a cup with milk during the middle of the day without warning. See what his reaction is. Continue to do this until he accepts it.

However, at two, I wouldn't be worried about the bottle thing. When my six year old brother gets upset, he asks for a bottle. It's just a comfort thing for them.

Answer 9

It sounds like he is smart enough to know how to manipulate you . When it is time for the milk in a cup pick him and tell him what a big boy he is and give hime the cup of warm milk. When he throws a fit ask him what happened to the big boy. And ask him to stop. If it doesn't work give him something else to drink. But it sounds like the bottle id a security issue so you need to start him on another security thing like a favorite blanket or toy or stuffed animal. And let him have that to help sooth him. My son still asks to sleep with his baby blanket every once in a while. But he never lets go of his kitty. lol. And he is 7. So just start with one bottle time to replace with a cup. Also make a big deal out of the cup when he uses it. Maybe he can go pick out a new cup just for his milk like one that changes color when it has something in it.

Answer 10

I would worry about one thing at a time. Break the bottle first, then worry about the milk being warm or cold. You didn't mention what type of cup your using... Try some of the cheap no spill ones from Walmart that have the soft top. My daughter wouldn't touch a hard cup at first, but she did accept these.