Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Ok, so we tried cold turkey. Once AJ got used to whole milk we put it in a sippy cup instead of her bottle. She wanted nothing to do with it. She’ll drink Juice from the sippy but won’t do the milk.

We asked daycare to also help wean her off. They give us sad faces everyday and say she won’t settle for naps without having a bottle. Not always does she need one to sleep but it seems she needs one to drink and then she’s either asleep with the bottle or falls asleep not too long afterwards.

She’s a good lil finger food eater and after her meals we (and daycare) give her a sippy cup but she’ll drink like ½ or ¾ and then stop and STILL want a bottle.

And she’s devouring the milk. She was at 6oz and that was all. Now she’s going back for seconds by getting fussy until she gets more.

Hrm…


Any suggestions on how to break her of the bottle without cold turkey screaming, tantrums. I’m a bad mommy, I don’t handle tantrums well. If she gets fussy/angry about something that’s easy like food, I give in. If she’s fussy over a toy or just because, I usually just laugh at her and distract from the issue at hand.

How do you distract from hunger?
I'm a sucker for my kiddo!

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Honestly, I gave up the bottle battle.

After I tried to give DS milk in his sippy for almost 3 weeks and all he would take was maybe 4-6 ozs all I day, I went back to giving it to him in his bottle.

I spoke to my ped about it and he just thought it was silly that I was so anxious about getting him off the bottle. To him, it was no big deal if we kept giving him bottles. What he said to me was "do you ever see a parent sending their kids off to college with a bottle?" and that when DS was ready, he was ready but that I didn't need to push it.

So I don't. He is 17 months old, gets a morning bottle where he has 10 ozs, and then one after his nap of 4 ozs. The rest of the day he drinks from sippys and juice boxes and straws.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

I know they say "by 1 they should be off the bottle". But honestly, I could give a rats azz about what they say. My DD was NOT ready. I gave her the sippy with water and she took that. Eventually, she weaned off the bottle and took the sippy with milk by about 16 months.

I JUST got her off her morning bottle a few weeks ago. DD is 22 months. So I'm a horrible mother, according to the books.

She had to take cups once she moved to the toddler room at her daycare (around 16 months). And honestly, she listens better to her teachers than she does to me, because I give in also.

My DD is not damaged from being on the bottle so long. So my advice to you, wean her at her pace. She is still only a year old. Offer her the cup when you can, and try to test her to see how long she will whine until she absolutely refuses the cup. It's good that she drinks juice out of it. Eventually, she will take it with milk too. Good luck.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

How old is she? Maybe it's not time to take it away just yet. My sons both gave up their bottles on their own b/4 they turned one. I'm lucky that my 2nd son loves his milks and drinks it fine from a sippy cup. However, my oldest stopped drinking milk altogether when he dropped the bottle He wouldn't drink it from a sippy either. If he had wanted to continue on the bottle and that was the only way to get him to drink milk I would've kept him on the bottle even if he was over 1.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

My DD will be one tomorrow and honestly, she's not in any way ready to lose the bottle yet. She is still getting the hang of sippy cups. I'm sure in her own time she'll be okay with dropping the bottles. I just always follow her lead and so far it's always worked out. Maybe your DD is just not ready yet to give them up 100%. You might be ready but maybe she needs a little more time. Good luck!!

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Thanks !

Well I dont think im hurting her but I would like to reduce it for a number of reasons

#1 Daycare wont move her into the next room until she's off the bottle they say

#2 (purely selifsh and not that big of a deal) How the heck can I travel with a milk bottle? You have a whole new set of requirements vs the water/formula. (think i need to start another thread for that one).

But you guys are right. I don't have the real motiviation to take her bottle away and I bet she knows it.

Btw, she's 1.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Have you tried water in the bottle & milk or juice in the sippy cup? That way if she's using the bottle for comfort, it wont' be so bad.

I know it's a struggle to make a change. Speaking from experience (and this isn't only my experience, it's mine & every mother I've ever known, breaking the habit at a younger age is easier for you and quicker and easier for them.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

We just kicked the bottle at 21 months. It was tough and we had to try going cold turkey 3 times before we were successful. Our problem was that DS wouldn't drink anything out of a sippy cup because he won't drink anything but milk.

These are the only sippys he will take so far (nuby sport sippers). In a way it's similar to a bottle, but I am hoping in time we will be able to get him to take other types, or start using straw cups.

She probably will give you a hard time if you go cold turkey. The first two times we tried it, my DS was miserable and didn't nap all day. He kept crying in front of the refrigerator door. The third time, he was less cranky, but I pushed it less. If he didn't want it, I just put it back in the fridge. He went 2 1/2 days without drinking anything and then finally caved at daycare on Monday. If you want to try cold turkey, I would suggest starting on the weekend and getting your daycare on board. Our daycare teacher was the one who finally got him to take the cup.

ETA - I actually found travelling with milk (regardless of bottle or cup) MUCH easier because you can get it almost anywhere. Take a few empty cups with you and you can get it at fast food places, 7-11, whatever. I used RTF and travelling with formula was a much bigger PITA for me.

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Message edited 9/18/2009 11:19:22 AM.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

DD turned 20 months this week... and that bottle isn't going ANYWHERE.

She wakes up and asks for her miwk (hee hee)... before she goes to bed she also asks for it... and if I try to give it to her in anything other than a bottle she flips out.

Sometimes if she asks for milk during the day I'll take out a cup with a straw and I'll have her watch me pour it in the cup so that she *knows* it's milk but she never takes more than a few sips.

And I am willing to sit through a tantrum with DD - I don't give in to her anymore because she was becoming a monster - but with the milk thing I really don't know what to do.

My next baby is being takenoff the bottle at their first birthday.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

DD is 17 months (today) and still takes a morning bottle and an afternoon nap-time bottle.

I see no harm in keeping her on the bottle. She drinks water from a sippy, but won't drink milk from it.

Re: Ok.. could use some advice - the great bottle break away

My DS is 15 months and still gets 2 bottles a day - nap and bedtime. He drinks out of a staw cup and will drink milk, but he uses the sucking of the bottle to get himself ready to sleep. He doesn't always fall asleep with the bottle, but it usually puts him in the mode to go down. I've decided to just start reducing the number of ounces he drinks in the bottle. I'm hoping, eventually, he won't need the bottle to go to sleep. My goal is 18 months. I want to make sure he's off before the next one is born, and before he's onto a big boy bed.
Maybe once your DS starts drinking from the sippy better, you can try the same.