How do we get dd2 (20 months old) off the bottle?

[wuv tigger]

She was put back on them in the ER to help her get rehydrated. She's supposed to be on them through the weekend to keep her fluid levels up to fight off that nasty ear infection along with the yucky virus we all have had.

She's been off bottles & on sippy cups for months ... 5 I think. She's a pistol & I know it is going to be a battle to get her off. I DON'T have the energy right now to have an out & out battle w/ a not yet tenanious (sp?) 2 year old.

Any ideas?

 

[FreshTressa]

Well, if you don't have the energy, than now is not the time!!!

Try making a rule she can only have it while sitting at the table or in some other boring spot, so she won't carry it around with her and it won't hurt her teeth, but she can still have it so it won't be a battle. Then she will only use it if she feels she really needs to.

Then you can worry about fully taking it away later when things settle down some.

Good Luck! Personally, I don't think bottles are that big of a deal unless they walk around with them or go to sleep with them. Both of my kids just got bored with theirs when it was only served with meals and couldn't leave the table.

 

[wuv tigger]

thanks for the encouragement.

Your'e right! Now is NOT the time to battle this out w/ dd 2.

I will make sure dh reads this & make her drink it only at the table. She's not getting them in bed ... just a sippy cup w/ water.

 

[Mamu]

When January comes around pick a date and just throw them away. Get a couple of sippy cups. There's no easy way to do this.

You just need to be strong. The first day may be difficult.

Good luck!

 

[wuv tigger]

she's only been back on the bottle since her er visit on Tues.

I think I will wait til Jan. & all the holiday stress will be gone by then.

We off to see Mickey the 1st week of Jan. & if she's not off of them by then, I will tell her Mickey wants her to drink out a sippy cup again 'cuse she's a big girl!

 

[ducklite]

Start one thing at a time. First only water is allowed in the bottle. Then the bottle can only be had at the table. Then only a certain time of the day. In all honesty, once you impose more and more rules, she'll get rid of it on her own. And I wouldn't even offer a sippy cup in exchange.

Anne

 

[trola2]

What is she getting in the bottle? Of course I wouldn't do any sort of milk or other product at night or nap... only water if you are allowing it in the crib.... We also had a rule after about 8 months or so that they couldn't take a bottle out of the house...only at home. Made them get used to drinking from something else when they were distracted.

Then if she's drinking something other than water from it, take about a week. Put the "full force" drink in a cup or sippy and start diluting the bottles...first day do 7 ounces with 1 ounce of water. Then the second day do 6 ounces of drink and 2 ounces of water. By the time you are down to about 3 ounces of drink she won't want the drink/water bottle. Always leave the cup at full strength and give her both and only at the table.

As far as the bottle goes, though...don't stress. Do what is best for you and if her having a bottle for a bit keeps you sane, then it isn't worth the fight.

 

[always quiet]

My youngest was VERY attached to the bottle!! Didn't care what was in it either! (I thought that only offering water in it would discourage her, but not a chance!! ) I can tell you EXACTLY when she went off of it for good though! When she was about your daughter's age, we had taken a 2 week trip to FL....one week with SIL in Miami and one week in Disney. We were so busy, that she totally forgot about the bottle!!! I had, at first, simply put the bottles in the suitcase, in case she went looking for it again, but when we were in Disney, and she STILL didn't notice them being gone, I simply tossed them!! She never looked for them again!!

I notice you are planning a trip in the near future. Why not see if this method works for you as well?? It was a very painless (and FUN!!) method!!

 

[BeautyLLM]

Wuv Tigger,

I like your idea about using your visit to WDW as incentive to stop using the bottle. Just before a visit to WDW when my daughter was a little over 2, I said to her" wouldn't it be great if we could go see Mickey with no diaper like all the big kids?" Two days...totally trained...never used a diaper again! Granted...she was more than ready, but nothing like a little incentive to help things along.

Good luck, and have a great trip!

 

[MerryPoppins]

Sounds like you are getting great advice. I can't really help you much. My DD was breastfed and DS pretty much decided the bottle wasn't as good as a cup on his own.

I can tell you what my mother resorted to with my brother. She had begged and bribed, but nothing was working. So she put used coffee grounds in the bottom of all of his bottles. When he wanted one, she'd pull one out of the fridge and say, "Oh no! Your bottles are getting so old that they won't come clean. Look at this one." Then she'd offer it to him anyway. He'd take a sip or two and then give it back, so they'd throw it away. They made a big deal out of the fact that he was big and those old bottles were dirty. In no time the bottles were gone and he was drinking out of a cup.

 

[wuv tigger]

let's see IF she will do the same for me when's he's @ work today.

Judy

 

[Serena]

My mom's advice would be to just throw them away. My advice is closer to what you've already gotten.
Do whatever works for you.

 

[s&k'smom]

Hi, what worked for us is that DD was a very good eater and that really helped nutrition wise. She also has an older brother on a sippy cup. I started with taking the evening bottle away then afternoon, then morning. I also would give her a yogurt before bed and that seemed to keep her from getting hungry. It's funny the last bottle she had was at WDW. It was our first night and she was a tad bit restless being in a new bed. But the 2nd night she was so exhausted she fell asleep without it!

 

[poohandwendy]

This may seem like a silly question, but what did you do to get her off the bottle in the first place? It is possible, after she is feeling better, that the same thing will work.

And also, why on earth would they give her bottles in the hospital to hydrate her if she isn't bottle fed anymore? That would kind of irk me.

 

[Minnie824]

My DD just turned 2 in Oct, and she was VERY attached to the bottle. She had like 7 a day of milk. Nothing else in them, but wouldn't drink milk from anything else. We had a weekend where the Baba Fairy came and brought her 'big girl' bottles and got rid of the old. She cried once that weekend for them. It actually went pretty smoothly and she hasn't had any since. The plus side, no bottles now, she's eating soooo much better. The down side? She still won't drink milk! She's so stubborn. But, she has yogurt and cheese and orange juice and is getting calcium, and I know she was having too much milk anyway. Hopefully she'll drink some again, but for now, I think she's doing good. The doctor had told me once she turned too, you really have to just get rid of them cuz they're too aware otherwise. Good luck!

 

[moinab]

You've gotten a lot of great advice already, but I thought I'd share a kooky suggestion I read somewhere. To get her child off of pacifiers, a mom cut the tips of the nipples off of all her child's pacifiers. The child took one look at it, declared it broken, and threw it away. I would think you could do this with bottles, also. I know it wouldn't work with my kids (they've never had bottles, but both loved their pacifiers,) but it might work on other children. The only thing is, you'd have to be careful that they don't chew on the cut nipple, which could be a choking hazard.

Good luck, and I hope your DD is feeling 100% better soon!

 

[sap1227]

Originally posted by poohandwendy
This may seem like a silly question, but what did you do to get her off the bottle in the first place? It is possible, after she is feeling better, that the same thing will work.

And also, why on earth would they give her bottles in the hospital to hydrate her if she isn't bottle fed anymore? That would kind of irk me.

I am not the original poster, but when DS was 14 months old he was in the hospital. He was unable to hold his head up or sit up because of all the medication they had given him. So, he had to drink while he was laying down. The hospital did not have any sippy cups, so they had to give him a bottle. I had just stopped nursing him and he was not used to a bottle at all. I was so happy that he would drink out of it. Even after we got home we let him have the bottle for a while, but he never got attached.

Christy

 

[browneyes]

The ER put her back on the bottle? I don't know how to take a bottle away from a child after they've already been weaned away from it. You'll have a struggle on your hands. I bet she'll tell you she doesn't want the bottle anymore.

Does she have an older sibling or cousin that she might want to emulate?

 

[Lewski709]

Can you send her to your mom's or someone elses who is caring enough to have the tolerance and patience without a bottle? Maybe they can do the dirty work for you/with you. Oops, mommy forgot the bottle....but Grandma (whoever) has this nice brand new (favorite color) sippy that big girls drink out of, how about that? If her answer is no, she will have a long day with not much to drink. She'll manage though. Just a thought!