How did you get your child off of the bottle?

Question

I have a 3 yr old son and a 1 yr old daughter. I got my 3 yr old off the bottle when he was 1 and it was so hard. I am trying to get my 1 yr off and she is just as stubborn. My son was not the kind of kid that will cry his self to sleep. I would literally be up with him until the next day and he would still be crying. My daughter is just as stubborn, except now I'm pregnant and exhausted trying to stay up with her. I would let my husband help but he has to get up to go to work in the morning. Any suggestions on an easier way? Or is there nothing else I can do?

First of all she doesn't use the bottle at all in the day just at night when she goes to sleep and I have decided that she is ready to be off the bottle. She can drink out of a regular cup. She can eat all the same foods that I eat.

Answer 1

AA works for me.

Answer 2

I am a mother of 3 and I understand what you are talking about. The Dr. tells you take them off the bottle at a year but they don't tell you how or what to do. Well honestly it is up to you (I also worked as a nurse 10 years) I didn't see the harm in leaving it up to them to get off the bottle. It was only an additional 3 or 4 months and my children were easier to deal with when it was their choice. The only thing I did to make it a smooth transition was I put something in the cup that was better than what was in the bottle. Make it a gradual change like 3 times a day put out the cup and the bottle but put something they love in the cup and something that just OK in bottle like water and after a while make every bottle water and every cup milk, juice or something else they like. After a while she will give up and come over the cup side and you can just get ride of the bottles altogether. Oh and make sure she pics out her own cup it will be more important to her to use it if it was her choice to begin with.

Answer 3

One day just take ALL of the bottles (and all bottle accessories) in the house and put them in a trash bag and put in the attic to store away for next baby. Then tell your 1 year old all of the bottles are gone, if she is thursty she'll have to drink from a big girl cup (sippy cups are good to try since their like a bottle in the sense that they don't spill like a real cup and it requires some sucking to get the liquid out). She might be fussy at first but she'll quickly learn that if she wants to drink using a big kid cup is her ONLY option.

Answer 4

well for me it was very easy, when she was 11 months old i started giving her a sippy cup. Then the day of her birthday she just didn't get a bottle at all, she took her cup in bed just fine and didn't cry at all. So it pretty much only took me a day to get her off. Just don't let her have one, throw them all away right now and just give her a cup, it may be hard but you just gotta do it. Tell her she's a big girl now and other babies need her bottle, sure, she proly won't understand but stick with it. Only rock her to sleep for 10 mins. If that doesn't work, just let her lay down with you till she goes to sleep then put her back in her own bed.

Answer 5

at 15 months i had enough of the bottle i just took it away because my kids only wanted it at bed time i threw it in the trash with all the others! my first born had it until 15 months my second son just quit taking it around 10 months he hated it and right now i have a 10 month old son and he will be able to take it until 15 months and if he doesn't stop on his own i will throw it out too! they don't need the bottle anymore they should be drinking from a sippy cup by then because all of my kids were by 10 months of age and all the other babies i have been around too! so the best bet is to just throw it out they will forget about it in a couple of days!
the Binky was the worst for my second baby he loved it so i cut the tips off at 15 months and he threw it across the room so i told him to throw it away and he started doing it by himself until we had none left not even my new babies so we had to buy more my first and third sons quit taking the Binky by 6 months of age! so what i am saying is those things are just a security thing the sooner its gone the easier it is to get rid of! the longer you go the worst it is!
i hope this helps and if you need other tips contact your pediatrician!

Answer 6

In the first place, one year old isn't the magic number for weaning. It's okay to let it go a little longer.

When you've made up your mind to do it, don't start the war at bedtime. Let your child know in the morning that bottles are no more. I told my kids they got lost. We went around the house looking for them, but we couldn't find any. If you're thirsty you'll have to drink out of a sippy cup. (Mine was 2 yo).

I think you're going to have another war on your hands when next baby comes along and bottles reappear and daughter wants the attention the baby is getting...

Remember to take care of Mom. A worn out, frazzled Mom is not conducive to happy families. So, at least until you're feeling perkier, it's okay to procrastinate a few things or ask Dad to help over the weekend.

Best wishes,

TX Mom

Answer 7

I had a hard time doing just that until my husband said enough and he just made all the bottles in the house disappear and so my daughter started using the sippycup. Now she's in the habit of taking it to bed, so what I satarted doing when she asked for something to drink right before bed is I take her all the way to the kitchen, give her what she asked for in a regular glass and wait there until she finishes it. Sooner or later she'll realize it's not worth the effort and just go to bed and wait for her drink until the next day. If she's really thirsty then she won't mind getting up for her drink. She's two weeks shy of becoming 3 years old

Answer 8

I would take her to the store and let her pick out a big girl sippy cup. with my son we started at ten months and had given him one of the avent sippies that have a softer spout to be similar to a bottle nipple. Every time she asks for something to drink say okay lets get your big girl cup. Don't let her have her way even though she's exhausting you. It's setting yourself up for total misery when the new little one gets there.
Don't stay up with her if she's throwing a fit over a bottle. Just go in every ten minutes or so if she's still screaming and offer her the sippy cup. If you don't give in to her she'll get the message in a few days.
Good luck! We went through a similar thing getting my son to understand that he has to sleep in his own bed.

Answer 9

gradually. Show them the milk carton and let your child see you pouring it into a bottle and then in a cup. They'll start to realize that it's the same thing. When they don't get a bottle just let them be thirsty and you may have to waste milk but eventually they'll settle for milk in a cup. Plus, IGNORE your child saying "bottle" and looking at the cup like "what the f is this?".
BTW, What the **** is Stephania talking about? What an idiot!
Well, don't rush your child off the bottle. Doctors are always pressuring parents to do this and do that. If you get your child off the bottle a little later, it won't hurt your child.
Just my opinion.

Answer 10

start using the sippy cup during the day, only let her use the bottle at night, if she insists, because you and your husband have got to get some sleep, too. I wouldn't let my kid take their bottle to the bedroom, they had to stay awake to drink, then, go to bed. I announced Rule #1-no bottles in the bedroom. so, they usually chose the sofa. After a week or two, new rule- No bottles in the Living Room. Another week or two, new rule- no bottles in the kitchen, so they all "mysteriously" disappeared. Offer the sippy cup-take it or leave it, but I can't find any bottles- the "bad man" came and took them! or so she said.

Answer 11

well you can start by only giving him a bottle for naps and during the day give him a sippy cup so that he can get use to that. then as time goes on talk to him about the bottle being for babies and he is growing up and he needs to start trying to just drink from a cup. after a few weeks he may just start wanting that cup only and maybe he will want to take it to bed with him and that would be fine. also you could try and read to him when he is going to bed and he might fall asleep without remembering about his bottle. setting a routine for kids is the best thing if they have nap times and bed times that is great. I know with my kids i just let them cry in there crib and they eventually fell asleep I would do this at nap times in the day so they werent preventing anyone from sleeping.