How?

beckymason1988

So I need to start weaning my daughter off of bottles but I don't kno how to go about it.im really concerned especially now that her teeth r finally coming in

stephzrn

We started with the afternoon bottles first. Then slowly started the with the morning and evening bottles. He actually did better then I thought he would.

erinmc1

We stopped cold turkey.  We hid all the bottles so they were completely out of sight, and made sure everyone else who cares for him knew bottles were to be put away.  He was miserable and whiny for 2 days, and then he forgot all about the bottles and happily transitioned to a Wow! cup and a straw cup.  He had all but his 2 year molars at 12 months, and we got rid of bottles at 14.

Jbunny100

I did about 1 per week or so, but still have 1 more bottle to go.  I started with the morning bottle because I knew he would drink milk from a sippy since he would be so thirsty.  The only bottle I still give him is just before his nap.

Crequito

erinmc1 said:

We stopped cold turkey.  We hid all the bottles so they were completely out of sight, and made sure everyone else who cares for him knew bottles were to be put away.  He was miserable and whiny for 2 days, and then he forgot all about the bottles and happily transitioned to a Wow! cup and a straw cup.  He had all but his 2 year molars at 12 months, and we got rid of bottles at 14.

We did this at 13 months - hid all the bottles and used only sippys or straw cups.  DD refused to drink milk for a few days, but would still drink water from the sippy or straw and then she just got over it and started drinking milk again.  No issues since then.  She had tears for the bottle on the first 2 days and that was only for her nighttime bottle.  Now at 17 months she says cup and drinks easily from a sippy, straw or a regular cup.  You can do it!!

DawnJM25

Nicb13 said:

There are lots of articles on TB and even threads about this if you search a bit.

Most people do it slowly, over the course of a week or so and some people do cold turkey. We started putting milk in DS's bottles mixed with formula for a couple days then just ditched the bottles all together. He'd been using a sippy cup for water so he was used to that. He struggled a bit at first but it's not a huge deal if they don't drink a lot of milk at first while transitioning.

We still gave DS a sippy cup of milk before bed, like we used to do with his bottle but made sure to brush his teeth afterward. We use hard spout Sippy's for milk and straw cups for water. Just have to find what your LO likes.

We did almost this exactly.  We never put milk in a bottle, but we did mix formula and milk in a sippy so LOs could get used to the taste/temp of milk.  We gradually replaced each bottle with a sippy over the course of a week or so, and gradually decreased the amount of formula we put into each one.  After a week we were still down to the bedtime bottle which we kept for another week or so until we ran out of formula.  Then we offered a sippy at bedtime for a few more weeks.  Eventually LOs dropped that.  By about 14 mo with both kids we were off bottles entirely.  Every kid is different, but it seems like the older they get, the harder it is to break them of the bottle.  I'd get it over with early.

TexasGirl81

I'm sure there is a post about this but I'm interested here. What is the best sippy cup in your opinion to give LO some milk in so it doesn't spill everywhere?

SandFHasse

We took all the bottles and gave her sippy cups. She didn't ask for a bottle after we switched to cups and has been fine since.

@TexasGirl81 The only sippy cups we have tried that don't leak are The First Years lock lids

Pitterpatter44

Take n toss are my favorite sippy cups. They leak of LO shakes them really hard, but I think that's pretty typical. And they are cheap. $3 for a pack of 5.

Regarding weaning, we cut back the daytime bottles first (replaced with meals and milk in a sippy). 1 bottle per week or so. Then I cut out the am bottle and just fed a bigger breakfast sooner after getting up.

We saved the bedtime bottle for last, slowly transitioning from formula to milk, and decreasing the oz. Total opposite of cold turkey. I literally worked down to a 1.5 oz bottle before switching to a sippy cup of water at bed time.

Sounds like a long and drawn out process, and it was but we didn't have a single tear shed the whole time (other than mine the night she went to bed without a bottle at all!).