Giving up the bottle? Why or why not?

kmdendy

My daughter is 12 months old.  I'm not in a hurry to have her give up her bottle but should I? When do people normally do that?   Why?

Do they just drink their milk out of a sippy after that? Even the milk she gets right before bed?

Thanks! 

Meagain31

DS is 12 months I was in no hurry either but he takes a sippy cup. Three days ago I just put up the bottles and he gets all his milk in a cup. It's been a super easy transition.

Flowersbluepink

You are supposed to begin the transition around now but it doesn't always happen right away. My 19 month old is off the bottle but uses a rubber tipped sippy (Nuk brand). They are designed for 12+ months so I assume they are appropriate for his current age. But they are similar enough to bottles that I'd like to try something new. He drinks water from a straw but won't drink much milk from a straw. I like the Nuk cup because he gets 16 oz of milk a day....versus probably not much from other cups.

does she still drink breast milk/formula or is she taking whole milk?

rspalding001

We transitioned to whole milk at 12 months but are still working on transitioning away from the bottle at 17 months. Currently our DD gets an 8 oz bottle of milk in the morning and again in the evening but drinks water from sippy or straw cups during the day. She wont really drink milk from anything other than a bottle at this time.

The reasons to transition are as follows in my opinion:

1) The kiddos get more attached to their bottles as time goes by and it gets harder and harder to take them away (as I am discovering).

2) when drinking from a bottle milk pools in their mouths and can lead to increased risk of tooth decay. Make sure to brush your LOs teeth before bed if still giving bottles and try to avoid giving a bottle after that point if you can.

3) Some people say the sucking motion can cause some alignment issues with the developing teeth... I'm not sure about this, I've heard mixed responses personally.

Designermomma

Well this post makes me feel better. DS is 15 months and demands his bottles in the morning and at night. He's in daycare and they require only sippy cups in the toddler class which he switched to at 13 months. He keeps getting sick and the only way to get him to take medicine in in the bottle. So it's been a slow transition but he seems to do fine at school drinking from sippys but they say he doesn't drink very much and is really thirsty when I pick him up. I have had more success with the Nuk cup since it us more like a bottle. When DS can be well long enough I will pull the plug on the bottles.

mhwood

My 16 month old was not attached in anyway to her bottle, so when we switched to homo milk we gave it to her in a cup.  Within 24 hours, she was off the bottle.

Right now we are working on transitioning her to an open cup.

Boobopgirl

My 13 month old has taken sippies from about 4 months on, so I'm no help.  She was never super attached to bottles and has always kind of liked sippies better.  She also takes a straw cup for juice and milk and only water from sippies at this point.  I'm hoping to teach her open cups soon now that its warmer and I don't have to worry about her being wet.

SharonB222

With DD at 12m, I started using a straw cup for milk during the day (sippy was reserved for water); her last bedtime bottle was on her 2nd birthday. With DS at 12m, the DCP used a sippy cup for milk. DH used the last overnight bottle at 15m, and at 17m he is nursing at bedtime. On the other side of the spectrum, my DCP's son is attached to his "baba" (bottle) and uses it multiple times a day - it's his lovey; he's almost 4 years old and she dreads taking it away. My DD was attached to her "boo" (pacifier) and we "donated" it to the local thrift store on her 3rd birthday - it was hard.

michelle7482

Both of my girls transitioned from the bottle to the sippy cup at the 12 month mark. It was hard to get them to drink milk consistently, but within a couple of weeks they were drinking anywhere from 10 to 16 ounce of milk from their sippy cup each day, if not more. In the meantime, they drank water to keep them hydrated. They loooove water