Tips on getting my 12 month old off the bottle?

Question

My daughter loves her bottle and in the last month it has gotten to the point where she doesn't want to eat food, she screams for her ba- ba. I have tried cutting her back to 2 bottles a day to try and slowly get her to stop, and she's having none of it. I sit her down to eat and she just plays and then expects a bottle. She does drink from a sippy and has for the past 5 months but now has no interest in them. She also decided at 9 months old she no longer wanted breastfed so we went to bottles, so I don't know why she loves her bottle so much. How could she become so attached in 3 months? I just can't figure her out. My boys were never this difficult so I'm clueless on what to do. I would appreciate any ideas. Thanks.

I wanted to add the pediatrician said to try and get her exclusively on a cup, I did with my other kids at this age, no problem. Do you think I should let her have her bottle or would that be worse in the long run? Sometimes I feel like this is my first baby and not my third.

Answer 1

Every child develops at their own pace. It's not such a horrible thing to allow a one year old to have a bottle as long as they don't fall asleep with juice or milk in it. (causes nursing bottle mouth and decays teeth).
The best way to wean a child is "don't offer and don't refuse". Don't automatically give them a bottle to drink from and don't make a big deal about taking it away. It becomes too exhausting to fight a battle over it when in the span of a lifetime it makes no difference when they wean- eventually they all do.

Answer 2

I wonder if there is a magically reason to try stop the bottle at one year? I know you are concerned about her not eating, too.

Sounds like she moved from the breast to the bottle independently and can use the sippy cup. SO I suggest you only give her water in the bottle and milk in the sippy cup.

There was a study years ago the small ones may decide to eat only one food, that in the long run this did not hurt the child, and eventually the child moved on.

As for the food, have you changed the texture or types of food. Perhaps she does not like the change. It could be a very small change, but perhaps she does not like the change. Try giving her exactly what her brothers are eating, perhaps in small portions for safety. Maybe she wants to eat what she smells they have???

Boys and girls are diffinatedly different so don't try to compare them.

Answer 3

Your daughter needs to let the bottle go, no question. Especially because she is so dependent upon it and is not eating solid foods well. The sooner you get her off of the bottle, the better. The hard part is how you, she and everyone else in the family will feel while you are trying to get her away from it!

I had this problem with my daughter and I had to just stop her cold turkey. There was lots of yelling...I felt like I was the worst mother in the world. The guilt was overwhelming on my part when she would just cry and cry and I wouldn't cave in. I showed her plenty of gentle love and affection during this time to try to let her know that I wasn't just trying to be a wicked witch. However, after 3 days she was completely weaned and the problem was solved. Just don't let your guilt get the better of you, and talk to her and your family beforehand so they all know what is coming. It won't be easy, but it will work.

Answer 4

my son was a bottle baby and very attached! I slowly took it from him at about 12-13 months. I started by letting him carry around and sleep with an empty bottle. If he wanted a drink he had to drink it from the sippy cup! I learned that it was not really about whats in the bottle or if its empty... its like a blanket they just want to hold. After about a few weeks of that, I started sneaking the bottle away whenever I could and not giving it back to him until he noticed it was gone. Like when he was playing, after he fell asleep. Slowly he got used to not having it all the time and didnt give me a hard time about taking it completely

Answer 5

start by bumpping her bottle size down. then go to sippy cup and put in some real organic milk then start to do jucie an whatever else

Answer 6

there is this harmless stuff that my mom used to get us off of binkies and to stop biting our nails-------it is called stops it, or no bite there are lots of different names and brands but basically it is a nail polish that tasts horible---it is to stop from biting nails or sucking thumbs..... just coat your daughters bottle nipples with it let it dry and give it to her she will not want a bottle again just be concistant.