How did you get your baby to give up the bottle?

[jonestavern]

We had a sippy cup & it helped a lot.
DS would only get juice from the sippy cup -- no bottles for juices. I learned that helpful hint from one of my co-workers.
I have to say DS wasn't real interested in the sippy cup for long, he wanted a 'big boy' cup. It was a lot easier for him as his older cousins were around a lot & he longed to do whatever they did!

Jean

 

[trip]

I started putting water in them, and they were not allowed out of the house and only laying down, If he needed it for comfort at night it was there-no decay from water. This got real boring real quick.

That's what I did. At one year, only water was in the bottle.

 

[ChrisnSteph]

My son was 2 and still on the bottle. We simply cold - turkey'd it one day. It was a couple of rough nights, but we all survived it. I wish I had the nerve to do it sooner.

 

[LisaNJ25]

My daughter's pediatrician keeps hounding me to get her off the bottle (she's 16 months), but I am finding it to be almost impossible!!! I always offer a cup first when she asks for her "ba-ba", and sometimesshe will take it, but other times (esoecially when we are in the car or away from home), she will scream endlessly for her bottle.
Anybody have any secrets for making this an easier transition???

I just tell me pediatrician.. yes, she is off of the bottle.

I dont have a problem with the bottle. Mine have given them up between 2-3. After 2 I dont let them leave the house with it. They are "closet bottle drinkers"

Usually by 2 they were down to 1 or 2 a day.. I figure I know they are getting milk. I do not put juice in the bottles.

Now the pacifier.. that I cant stand.. my older 2 were off of it by 4 and 9 months.

My 17mo Belle is addicted. She is so bad when Will was born I could not give im a pacifier. She would take it out of his month. He is a thumbsucker.. something the other 3 didnt do.

Once I round them all up she we will be going cold turkey.

 

[rt2dz]

Had a hard time getting DS#1 off the bottle. I finally just said no more and wouldn't give him one. He could scream all he wanted, I don't give into temper tantrums. When he got thirsty enough, he took the cup. He also started eating a lot more, which was good.

To help with the transition, you could find one of those cups that are more bottle-like. I've seen them at Babies R Us.

 

[2sweetangels]

When DD was 11.5 months old, I just took the bottle and threw it away and told DD "your a big girl now, you can drink from a cup" kinda harsh, but it worked and I will do the same to my 6month old DD when she turns 11.5months. I figured the faster I take them off the better. They may cry for the bottle a few times at night, but I never gave in to my older DD and after the 2nd night od no bottle she was fine with it.

 

[MommyPoppins]

When his last can of formula ran out he was a little over a year. I packed up the bottles and gave him milk and juice in cups. He did cry and take a fit for about a week at night, but when he realized he wasn't going to be rewarded with crying and he wasn't getting a bottle anymore he stopped.

 

[wuv tigger]

Unfortunately, she was a little stubborn and has not had milk since then (other than chocolate milk) but after that 1st day, she seemed to forget about the babas. Good luck!

Hey, the dentist was not happy about the chocolate milk but the PEDS MD said it was better to get the calcium in the cm than NONE at all!

We got rid of the bobbies as my dd called them around 16 months. Then she got very ill ended up in the ER & the 1st thing they did was offer her a pedialyte bottle. IT WASN'T even the playtex silocone nipples that she was used to used to using.

It was much harder to get her off the bottles the 2nd time than the 1st. We did buy her NEW sippy cups that she got to "pick out" at babies r us. I picked up a couple of boxes and asked her which ones did she want. Worked like a charm.

Judy

 

[goofy4tink]

It wasn't too difficult for us. I gave bottles the same way I would have breast fed. Since there was no way my child was going to take 'me' to bed, or in the car seat, or walking around the house, it made it easier for them to give up the bottle. I believe it was at about a year or so. We just stopped giving milk in the bottle, and instead put water in it. It took about 2 days before my dd pushed it away and took the cup instead.

 

[SC Minnie]

DD never held her bottle but she would hold her sippy cup. When she was able to start on regular milk I never put that in a bottle. I never put anything but formula in a bottle. If she wanted something else she had to use the sippy cup.

She had to have cleft palate surgery at 18mos and had to be completely off the bottle by then so we were on a strict deadline but she was off the bottle by 13mos.

 

[SDFgirl]

My little brother had a hard time giving up his bottle so my mom started putting vinegar in it! She said she kept adding more and more until one day he just pitched it on to the floor! I think it took a few days.

That was 20-something years ago, things are a little more "PC" now. My mom was kinda unorthodox, that's for sure.

 

[mrsv98]

DD never held her bottle but she would hold her sippy cup. When she was able to start on regular milk I never put that in a bottle. I never put anything but formula in a bottle. If she wanted something else she had to use the sippy cup.

She had to have cleft palate surgery at 18mos and had to be completely off the bottle by then so we were on a strict deadline but she was off the bottle by 13mos.

WOW! Your DD had a cleft palate? What a testament to her surgeon, she is GORGEOUS! What a smile. Isn't it amazing what medicine can do these days?

 

[ElizK]

With my kids I only ever put formula in their bottles. Juice was put in a sippy cup (and they didn't have those non-spill ones with DD13) at 6 months when they started drinking juice, and when they went from formula to milk it went in a cup. This worked very well for us. It was never a comfort item.

 

[MinnieM3]

I started putting water in them, and they were not allowed out of the house and only laying down, If he needed it for comfort at night it was there-no decay from water. This got real boring real quick.

Pretty much the same strategy here!

 

[Nancy]

I'm another one who only let her kids have their bottles while on my lap (or someone elses) They were not allowed to walk around with them and the bedtime bottle was given about 1/2 hour before bedtime so they didn't associate it with bedtime. It made the transition to cups so much easier..and the sippy cups we had back then were so bad compared to todays cups. I lved the straw cups! They were all totally off bottles by 12- 14 months.

My SIL had a horrible time with bottles. Her kids were definately bottle babies...till at least 3 yrs old and it was for comfort only (like npas and bedtime).

Good luck in your quest for bottleless days and nights.

 

[scduckman]

WOW! Your DD had a cleft palate? What a testament to her surgeon, she is GORGEOUS! What a smile. Isn't it amazing what medicine can do these days?

Thank you. She was fortunate that she only had a cleft palate and not lip too. So from looking at her no one can tell she had problems. Her speech is the only thing that gives her away.

SC Minnie

 

[jacksonsmom]

I didn't read everyone else's responses but here is how it went for us.

First we NEVER EVER let DS walk around with a bottle at any age. If he was hungry, he sat on my lap with the bottle. If he wanted down then the bottle was gone.

Also we never put any juice or milk in the bottle, only formula. Juice and later on milk went into a sippy cup.

When we switched to all milk at 12 months, he only had a bottle at night about 30 mins before bed and that was with water only. He stopped drinking shortly after that, by 13 months he was completely off the bottle. No fuss at all.

Good Luck with breaking the bottle habit. I had friends whose children were really hard to break the bottle, so I don't envy you one bit