switch from bottles to sippy cups

[christygobar]

As others have said, just go cold turkey without the bottles. DD transitioned really well, but we still have 1 bedtime bottle every night. That one will definitely be a doozy to get rid of.

She still only sips, but has gotten better over the last few months. She may drink anywhere from 1-5oz at a meal. I only offer her milk 3-4 times a day now and water the rest of the day. I'd guess she drinks 12-16oz max of milk and is gaining and growing just fine She only asks for the bottle (bah-uhl!) at bed. If he'll drink water and you're concerned about dehydration, I'd offer it after the milk sippy instead of the bottle.

(DD is 15 months, so we've just been through it recently!)

 

[WantToGoNow]

If you want to get ride of the bottles, then get a cup and stick with it. But you have to not give in when he refuses the cup. Each time you cave, it will get harder because he knows if he throws a big enough fit, you'll give the bottle back. He won't be harmed if he goes a few hours without a drink. When he get's thirsty enough, he'll drink it.

 

[Katy Belle]

My pediatrician told me that my son would take the sippy cup if i quit doing bottles. She was right. I was shocked, it just took a day.

 

[disprincessatheart]

My ds couldn't get e hang of the sippy cup until I did the straw ones. He will be two next month and he can do either now, but still prefers the straws. I too just switched him cold turkey. I was more worried about formula to milk, but he didn't miss a beat.

 

[3princes+1princess]

Really, this is the last thing you should be worried about before a trip. I promise the bottle police will not come and get you

Let him have the bottle. There is no magic age where they should be off them. And a lot of the sippy cups are very similar to bottles, so why rush the switch. So he likes his bottle for milk, and it probably comforts him. So why do we as parents feel we should just force things like this cold turkey. Its not like he will go to high school with a bottle....or probably even preschool. It is not hurting him in any way. And just because he has passed his 12 month birthday does not mean that he shouldn't have a bottle. Every child is different.

Is there some real medical reason that they need to be off at this age? I assume you don't lay him to bed with a bottle...and still wouldn't with a sippy cup for that matter.

 

[kt_mom]

Really, this is the last thing you should be worried about before a trip. I promise the bottle police will not come and get you

Let him have the bottle. There is no magic age where they should be off them. And a lot of the sippy cups are very similar to bottles, so why rush the switch. So he likes his bottle for milk, and it probably comforts him. So why do we as parents feel we should just force things like this cold turkey. Its not like he will go to high school with a bottle....or probably even preschool. It is not hurting him in any way. And just because he has passed his 12 month birthday does not mean that he shouldn't have a bottle. Every child is different.

Is there some real medical reason that they need to be off at this age? I assume you don't lay him to bed with a bottle...and still wouldn't with a sippy cup for that matter.

Well, for one thing, I wouldn't want to fool with bottles in Disney if I didn't have to. We took just a couple of sippie cups with us for water. DS got milk through a straw at one meal per day. The rest of the rest of the time it was water in a sippie and it was much easier clean up and no worries about spoiled milk.

Our pediatrician has told me numerous times that the kids do not need a lot of milk. That's a misconception that many parents have. I think he said between 4-8 oz. per day. He got on me about it every time with DD too, because she LOVES milk and will drink it non stop if you let her. He said what she needed more was water. He told me to only offer milk at one meal per day.

Another reason to stop bottles is a child that is filling up on bottles, whether its formula or milk, may not be getting the nutrients it needs from food because he or she is already full. Now that's probably more of an issue with formula then milk, but I can see that it could apply to milk too if the child is drinking 8 or 12 oz of milk at a time from a bottle. So I think transitioning away from bottles is good idea and limiting milk to mealtimes is also a good idea.

 

[puffkin]

I would just ditch the bottles. Eventually he'll drink from the sippy - or just skip the sippy and go right to cup (at least at the table). We did this at 12 months for both kids. They won't drink as much milk - but honestly they're not supposed to be drinking as much at this point because more of their nutrients are supposed to come from food. And if he doesn't drink it for a day or two or a few it won't be long term harmful.

Exactly

My DS didn't like any cups he had to tip his head back for. He liked the Nuby cups that had a soft straw (where the top flipped over the straw when not in use). We went through about 3-4 brands until we found what he liked. Just ditch the bottles...he'll drink the milk in a few days from a cup.

 

[princessmom29]

Really, this is the last thing you should be worried about before a trip. I promise the bottle police will not come and get you

Let him have the bottle. There is no magic age where they should be off them. And a lot of the sippy cups are very similar to bottles, so why rush the switch. So he likes his bottle for milk, and it probably comforts him. So why do we as parents feel we should just force things like this cold turkey. Its not like he will go to high school with a bottle....or probably even preschool. It is not hurting him in any way. And just because he has passed his 12 month birthday does not mean that he shouldn't have a bottle. Every child is different.

Is there some real medical reason that they need to be off at this age? I assume you don't lay him to bed with a bottle...and still wouldn't with a sippy cup for that matter.

Sorry, but this attitude is how you end up with a 4 year old with a bottle and a binky. I honestly think it is better to take it away before they can really fight you on it. The longer you wait, the harder it is on a child. A child over a year old has no need for a bottle, so why continue to allow it when it will only become a bigger issue later?

 

[kt_mom]

Sorry, but this attitude is how you end up with a 4 year old with a bottle and a binky. I honestly think it is better to take it away before they can really fight you on it. The longer you wait, the harder it is on a child. A child over a year old has no need for a bottle, so why continue to allow it when it will only become a bigger issue later?

My sister in law just recently got her 3 1/2 year old DD off the bottle. For the most part anyway. Apparantly the MIL went out and bought bottles for her house because my SIL stopped sending them and my DN was fussing to have one.

The binky is still an issue. Thankfully neither of mine took a binky after the first few weeks. It drives me nuts to see a toddler running around with a binky and taking it out to talk and then put it back.

 

[AZMermaid]

My pedi told us that toddlers need 15oz of whole milk a day and that we should move from the bottle and paci by 15 months. The paci was easy, he flat out refused it one day at about 12.5 months. I think the bottle is more on me than him, but we will be going cold turkey this Friday- at 14.5 months. I have been postponing it because he was in the hospital right around 12 months and then has had a cold in addition to getting 2 molars and 2 canines in 3 weeks. But, that is all mostly excuses on my part so now that we seem to have a small break between teething, we are doing it this weekend!

We have also had issues finding the "right" sippy cup, but I finally found he will drink from the Take and Toss. I offered him a sippy every day from 6-11 months and it never took until 11 months.