Getting rid of bottles? No idea what to do

dimi2015

hi ladies,
 
my son will be 1 in about 3.5 weeks and he's formula fed. He currently has 4 x 7oz bottles a day. Is it ok if I drop it to 3? He has one when he wakes at 7am. Then another at 11am. Then one about 3.30pm then his bedtime bottle about 6.30. I know he won't even notice if I just completely drop a bottle, but one should it be? I did try cutting his 11am bottle to half the amount of milk and the 3pm bottle to half the amount but he just got angry when he would finish it and crack it. So it's definitely an easier option to just drop the whole bottle. So what one? 11am or 3? What did you do? 

Also should I be completely getting rid of his bottles and feeding him in his sippy cup? I don't plan on giving him cows milk as he is lactose intolerant and I would rather just continue using a lactose free toddler formula. The sippy cup he uses has an inbuilt straw so he drinks from that throughout the day if I make him a fresh fruit juice or he has water after lunch. Should his formula go into that? Or should I be using a standard sippy cup.. 

ems028

What is his feeding schedule like?
Here's mine:
6am breakfast and then 5oz bottle
9am snack and 5oz bottle
12 pm lunch and 5oz bottle
3pm snack and 5oz bottle
5:30 snack (sometimes)
6:15 8oz bottle

I'm trying to introduce sippy cups..but she's not having them at the moment. I'm hoping she'll get the idea soon though. At 12 months I'm planning on switching to cows milk. If she still.wont take sippy cups then I want to change to a bottle which can later progress into a sippy cup (like a stages bottle) hopefully it will work itself out.

AmandaNacora

We completely got rid of formula at 10 months (DRs ok and LO wasted formula like crazy) so she drinks soymilk instead. I can't get her to give up her nap or bedtime bottles, so that's when she gets her two servings of milk. She drinks water throughout the day in a straw cup(just now got the hang of regular sippy cups though) and eats regular foods. I think at your 1 year Dr visit I would ask them if you should continue formula or not. If you can get LO to stop taking a bottle and use sippy cups instead I would definitely do that, bottles can become a comfort (like my LO) and can lead to other issues with teeth. I don't think it matters what kind of cup you use, if your LO prefers a straw then let them have that.

AmandaNacora

@ems028 Have you tried a straw cup? I feel it's easier for some babies to use since they don't have to tip it back. If she doesn't quite know how to use a straw, teaching them is pretty easy, just take a straw and cover the top to hold in liquid and place it in her mouth and let some out. Eventually she'll try to suck on the straw because she now knows it has a liquid in it.

amp61470

I have tried every sippy I can find. Straws no straw, 360, he wants no part of it. Won't take water or juice in it. Even tried formula, no go. 

ForeverEverAfter

I liked the Nuk learner soft spout when LO first started, but now she uses a baby wow cup (360 rim with handles). I BF, so I just give water in the cup at mealtimes and when she's thirsty. She's down to just nursing at (on average) 7am, 9am nap, 2pm nap, 7pm bed and 1-2 times overnight. If I work, the sitter gives pumped BM in the wow cup (cold) before she sleeps and she does fine. 

missliz53

We are finally starting to have success with taking milk from a soft spout sippy, but it's taken about 3 weeks of offering one ounce at every meal of room temp milk. She takes water just fine from a rimless sippy and a straw sippy, but absolutely refuses to drink milk from those.  Her ped wants her on the rimless one, but after trying milk in it, she wouldn't drink out of it for a week, so we're just going with it. 

chelseajeanene

Were not ready to get rid of bottles, he can drink from sippys with no problem but not when it comes to when he goes to sleep, he needs a bottle because he lays down while drinking and can't with the sippy cup. I don't see why everyone is doing it now, my pediatrician said he's fine until 18 months on the bottle 

missliz53

My ped wants us to transition her off because as they get older, it's harder to do. I also have heard it's because it's better for their teeth and mouth/speech development. But she's ok with using pacifiers just for sleeping, so I think every Dr has a slightly different recommendation based on their own experiences. 

We always hold DD for her bottle since she needs to be fed upright because of her acid reflux and because laying down drinking a bottle can cause teeth decay and ear infections (she's already more prone to those because of her reflux). 

rachellegiacco

I was just about to ask how to do this. My lo NEEDS it to sleep. She doesn't take a binki or thumb or blanket ever so I have no idea how to put her to sleep without it. I see crying in my future 

Yiggle09

Thankfully daycare kinda did this for us. My son really doesnt have a schedule anymore. The only requirement is that he gets at lease 16 oz of milk/ milk alternative a day and then the rest can be water. It was suggested we get rid of milk at meal times and so I give him a milk before daycare then they do water at meal times and milk with snacks then he has milk with his dinner just to make sure hes getting enough and thats around 630