Weaning off bottles?

tri_bride05

My first never took a bottle so this is all new to me, but is there a general consensus on the right time to get rid of the bottle? Our 13 month old still gets 4 bottles/day - before each nap, at bedtime, and at 4 am-ish. By this age my first was just having 3 meals and 2 snacks/day no milk (he has never liked it) only water in a sippy. Should I be working toward getting my youngest to have milk in sippies with meals and not bottles before naps/bed?

My.ABC.Life

My pedi was less concerned about how often DS got milk... and more concerned about bottle vs. sippy.  We weaned off the bottle around 15 months (I think), but still use sippies of milk three times a day (ETA: DS is 24+ months).

Structenggal

I'm curious to see the replies to this.  We have DS down to two bottles a day - one when he wakes up in the morning and one as part of his bedtime routine.  Otherwise it's just food and water in a sippy during the day.  I tried to just go with a sippy instead of the bottle at night and he got pissed off, so I backed off for now.

At his 12mo checkup the doctor didn't seem concerned that he still gets a bottle, but I was always under the impression that bottles should stop around 1yr.  maybe when he finishes teething his molars I'll go cold turkey with the bottles...we'll see.

I like knowing that he's getting his milk in the morning/at night because I can't guarantee that he drinks his milk at daycare so I don't know if we'll switch to milk only at meals just yet...

 

Mrs.BoomBoom

Q is still getting bottles at naps (and breast at wake and bedtime) because while he drinks water from a straw sippy with gusto he practically gags on milk from the same.  We'll keep with the bottles for another month, then go breast through the summer and next year when we're back at dc, he'll get what they give him.

tri-reader

I weaned Ethan off bottles at 14 months.  I had to do cold turkey because he loved his bottles of milk.  He still really likes milk.  He'd drink it all day if he could.  I used the soft spout munchkin sippys, they worked best for us.  

Even now at 21 months he has a sippy of milk at breakfast, another mid-day or after nap and another before bed.  

With both kids I offer(ed) a glass of milk before bed until well after 3 years old.  But they don't go to bed until 1.5-2 hours after dinner so it's like another "snack" before brush teeth time. 

pkw

We are down to one bottle a day and it is just his night time one that we let him had as he likes to climb around on the couch and snuggle us when he drinks it so the sippy was too much work.  The doctor doesn't really care since he doesnt NEED the bottle and some nights he gets a sippy and some a bottle, more sippy than bottle lately.

I think the way we got him to no longer depend on bottles was sleep training.  We sleep trained him at 9 months and then again relatively recently (moving was tough on him).

This is the progressive kind where he does down in his crib fully awake and the first couple nights you rub his back, talk to him, then the next couple nights you sit next to the crib no touch but can talk, and progressively your chair gets further and further until you are outside the door.  This helped us get rid of the bottles. 

pink.dutch.tulips

dd suddenly self weaned off the bottle at 16-18 months COLD TURKEY !  she's been on sippies ever since and i want to start her on straw cups now that she's inching closer to 24 months.

 

pink.dutch.tulips

My.ABC.Life:

My pedi was less concerned about how often DS got milk... and more concerned about bottle vs. sippy.  We weaned off the bottle around 15 months (I think), but still use sippies of milk three times a day (ETA: DS is 24+ months).

lol !!  we had the same convo w/ the same pedi ... more concerned about getting her OFF the bottle than how much milk she was getting.

m&m818

Our pedi recommended getting off the bottle to help reduce the amount of milk, hoping that would mean DD would eat more food and less milk.

We went cold turkey off the bottle around 13 months. But did sippy of milk 3 times a day.

 Just this week at 26 months we cut out the sippy. (again cold turkey) My kid would drink milk all day long if you let her and not eat food. We were tired of the battle (sippy vs food), so we knew we needed to make some drastic changes. She still gets milk at meals but its in a small munchkin cup. 

 

futrkingsley

My pedi has never batted an eye at how much milk DS drinks (which is a LOT) and how little food (which is not a lot).  DS is growing well and pedi never cared one way or the other as long as his growth was normal.  Do I have an uncaring pedi or are some not fans of milk?

m&m818

futrkingsley:

My pedi has never batted an eye at how much milk DS drinks (which is a LOT) and how little food (which is not a lot).  DS is growing well and pedi never cared one way or the other as long as his growth was normal.  Do I have an uncaring pedi or are some not fans of milk?

For us, we know that DD will eat the food if she doesn't fill up on milk. I think generally I've heard Pedi's recommend between 16-24 oz of milk a day. At one point in the last 6 months, we tracked it and DD was drinking 40+ oz a day.She was still eating her food, so I wasn't as concerned.

But something happened at two, and now she's picky as hell and refuses to eat her meal but then will gulf down her milk like there's no tomorrow. We talked to Pedi about it and she agreed that we should try reducing the amount of milk or eliminate the sippy cup (make her work for the milk and slow down how much she can take in at once). So far its working, she's back to eating her dinners which is where we were having the most problems.

I think it really depends on the kid and your family's eating/meal preferences. 

 

futrkingsley

m&m818:

futrkingsley:

My pedi has never batted an eye at how much milk DS drinks (which is a LOT) and how little food (which is not a lot).  DS is growing well and pedi never cared one way or the other as long as his growth was normal.  Do I have an uncaring pedi or are some not fans of milk?

For us, we know that DD will eat the food if she doesn't fill up on milk. I think generally I've heard Pedi's recommend between 16-24 oz of milk a day. At one point in the last 6 months, we tracked it and DD was drinking 40+ oz a day.She was still eating her food, so I wasn't as concerned.

But something happened at two, and now she's picky as hell and refuses to eat her meal but then will gulf down her milk like there's no tomorrow. We talked to Pedi about it and she agreed that we should try reducing the amount of milk or eliminate the sippy cup (make her work for the milk and slow down how much she can take in at once). So far its working, she's back to eating her dinners which is where we were having the most problems.

I think it really depends on the kid and your family's eating/meal preferences. 

 

AH, 40+ ounces would be a lot. 

m&m818

futrkingsley:

m&m818:

futrkingsley:

My pedi has never batted an eye at how much milk DS drinks (which is a LOT) and how little food (which is not a lot).  DS is growing well and pedi never cared one way or the other as long as his growth was normal.  Do I have an uncaring pedi or are some not fans of milk?

For us, we know that DD will eat the food if she doesn't fill up on milk. I think generally I've heard Pedi's recommend between 16-24 oz of milk a day. At one point in the last 6 months, we tracked it and DD was drinking 40+ oz a day.She was still eating her food, so I wasn't as concerned.

But something happened at two, and now she's picky as hell and refuses to eat her meal but then will gulf down her milk like there's no tomorrow. We talked to Pedi about it and she agreed that we should try reducing the amount of milk or eliminate the sippy cup (make her work for the milk and slow down how much she can take in at once). So far its working, she's back to eating her dinners which is where we were having the most problems.

I think it really depends on the kid and your family's eating/meal preferences. 

 

AH, 40+ ounces would be a lot. 

I know! And frankly I find her love of milk disgusting since I can't stand the smell of it. I mean it wasn't 40+ every day, but given the option I think she'd drink unlimited amounts. So gross.

I chalk it up to the fact that my kid is super tall and grows like a weed.