DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

She will be 16 months on 4/6. She still takes 8 ounces 2x/day of milk after morning wake up and before bed. The afternoon she gets milk in a sippy.

Questions:

1. Should I be switching to a sippy and dropping all bottles?

2. Should I change one to a sippy (the morning one) first and then ease into dropping the second...or just go cold turkey?

3. Am I supposed to be eliminating the milk before bed? How much milk should she be getting?

4. I have baby #2 arriving in about 2 months when she is 18 months...if I drop bottles will she freak when she sees the baby on a bottle? Should I wait?

Thanks for the advice. Our ped doesn't give me straight answers (starting with a new one) and I am anxiety ridden feeling like I am doing something wrong.

Thanks again for the help

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

First you arent going to do anything wrong!

I didnt drop Ds1's bottles until 18 months and then I did it 1 every few days and 10 days later (he was taking 3-4 bottles a day) they were gone.

Personally bc you are expecting #2 I would take them away starting today. My thinking is if you wait until after the baby, you will have to wait a few months until she is adjusted and wont see the baby as taking her bottles away KWIM. So you are looking at 2yo. I know my ped wanted Ds off the bottle at 15 months, but I didnt do it until 18 months. But based on her recommendations I would think 2yo is late. And my whole family has bad teeth, so I didnt want to push the envelope as I keep hearing how prolonged bottle use can lead to future issues.

I would think if you took them way now, she has a few months to kinda get over it. She might regress but you never know.

Anyway, how you do it is up to you. Is your DD really attached to her bottle? I figured 1 at a time was easiest. I took way his afternoon bottle first (he could care less about htat one) then his bedtime bottle and lastly his morning bottle (which was his fave he would wake asking for it!)

My friend just switched her DS and she was told a good amount is 10-16oz per day. When I took away DS's bottle he gave up milk, if he was getting 8 oz a day thats alot,. But my ped said that was fine as long as he was eating yogurt, cheese etc to make up for the loss.

GL!

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

My daughter will not drink her milk in anything other than a bottle. She is 14 months old. I do not care if people comment that she still drinks from a bottle. She needs her calcium and she could drink from a bottle until Kindergarten for all I care.

Message edited 3/26/2012 11:16:59 AM.

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

Posted by MrsFlatbread

My daughter will not drink her milk in anything other than a bottle. She is 14 months old. I do not care if people comment that she still drinks from a bottle. She needs her calcium and she could drink from a bottle until Kindergarten for all I care.

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

Posted by Kelly9904

First you arent going to do anything wrong!

I didnt drop Ds1's bottles until 18 months and then I did it 1 every few days and 10 days later (he was taking 3-4 bottles a day) they were gone.

Personally bc you are expecting #2 I would take them away starting today. My thinking is if you wait until after the baby, you will have to wait a few months until she is adjusted and wont see the baby as taking her bottles away KWIM. So you are looking at 2yo. I know my ped wanted Ds off the bottle at 15 months, but I didnt do it until 18 months. But based on her recommendations I would think 2yo is late. And my whole family has bad teeth, so I didnt want to push the envelope as I keep hearing how prolonged bottle use can lead to future issues.

I would think if you took them way now, she has a few months to kinda get over it. She might regress but you never know.

Anyway, how you do it is up to you. Is your DD really attached to her bottle? I figured 1 at a time was easiest. I took way his afternoon bottle first (he could care less about htat one) then his bedtime bottle and lastly his morning bottle (which was his fave he would wake asking for it!)

My friend just switched her DS and she was told a good amount is 10-16oz per day. When I took away DS's bottle he gave up milk, if he was getting 8 oz a day thats alot,. But my ped said that was fine as long as he was eating yogurt, cheese etc to make up for the loss.

GL!

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

I dropped all bottles at 18 months. From about 12-18 months she was getting a morning bottle and one before bed. I dropped the bedtime bottle first and a few months later the nighttime one. She refuses to drink milk out of a cup or sippy (which I told the ped) so now I just make sure she has enough calcium rich foods each day.

We are expected DC#2 as well so that was a concern of mine too. She will be 2 when the baby comes so hopefully it won't be an issue. However we visited a friend's newborn 2 weeks ago and when she saw the bottle she wanted it.

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

I weaned my DS from bottles a couple of weeks ago... he's the same age as your DD.

He was only getting 2/day as well with an afternoon sippy of milk. I started switching out the morning bottle for a sippy first, waited a couple of days and then switched the night bottle for a sippy. At first he wasn't drinking as much milk, but after 3-4 days he was drinking the entire thing. With anything else, it's just an adjustment. You will be surprised at how well she does,.. I know I was!! I was dreading this soooo much, but it really wasn't bad at all. When he didn't drink the milk in the beginning, I would just make up for it with yogurt/cheese throughout the day.

Given the fact that you are having the baby soon, I would try to wean her from the bottles now. Like a PP said, this will give her enough time to get over it before the baby comes. Taking the bottles away when she sees the baby drinking from them is just going to make it more difficult for both of you.

I just want to add... our Ped said that if we needed to wait until 2yo to get rid of the bottle, it would be totally fine.

Good Luck!!

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

Posted by LadyBug1209

I weaned my DS from bottles a couple of weeks ago... he's the same age as your DD.

He was only getting 2/day as well with an afternoon sippy of milk. I started switching out the morning bottle for a sippy first, waited a couple of days and then switched the night bottle for a sippy. At first he wasn't drinking as much milk, but after 3-4 days he was drinking the entire thing. With anything else, it's just an adjustment. You will be surprised at how well she does,.. I know I was!! I was dreading this soooo much, but it really wasn't bad at all. When he didn't drink the milk in the beginning, I would just make up for it with yogurt/cheese throughout the day.

Given the fact that you are having the baby soon, I would try to wean her from the bottles now. Like a PP said, this will give her enough time to get over it before the baby comes. Taking the bottles away when she sees the baby drinking from them is just going to make it more difficult for both of you.

I just want to add... our Ped said that if we needed to wait until 2yo to get rid of the bottle, it would be totally fine.

Good Luck!!

Re: DD is 15.5 months...Should I be dropping the bottle?

I think Sean was about 15 months -
I would have done it sooner but my Mother made me feel guilty "He's still a baby ................."
I phased him out pretty quickly b/c he was drinking from a sippy too (so it's not like if he didn't drink from a bottle, he COULDN'T drink at all - KWIM)

IMO, being that you have the new baby coming, I'd do it sooner rather than later. If you give her a few months to get used to it, it won't be a big deal - If you try to take it away WHILE the baby is here that could be an issue.