Do you find 15 months a realistic age to give up bottles?

RobynandJason050706 · February 2009

We have a while before hes 15m but the pedi said today at his 12m checkup today that we should totally be off bottles by 15m. He said after that then you are really looking at it as a pacifer for him and also a possible future teeth issue. He said hes young enough now where hes attached but not as much as he will be the older he gets.

My DS gets a few bottles in the morning since hes STTN he doesnt take any since 7pm the night before. Then he gets water sippys for the rest of the day unless you can tell hes really wanting a bottle. He does get a bottle before bed. Hes also on whole milk with about one ounce of Similac Go and Grow in his bottles now. Thoughts??

rlthomas7 · February 2009

We're working on it, but so far he refuses to drink milk from a sippy. If he would take it from the sippy, we'd be totally done with bottles.

mrs.aaguilar · February 2009

We were not ready at 15 mos. Our pedi said at 18 mos. is fine to stop giving her the bottle. We have a couple weeks left before we do that. I'm scared. She refuses to drink milk out of a sippy, but is fine with water or juice. Our pedi also said its fine if she doesn't drink milk out of the sippy, there are other ways for her to get calcium. GL!!

GinandTonic · February 2009

My son was done by 13 months. ?I thought it was going to be harder than it was. ?

?

My DD, on the other hand, is 14 months and is still way into them. ?Until recently, she'd get mad at milk into a cup. ?I could probably forced the issue, but I'm not. ?I'll probably push it more next month.

tigerlilllies · February 2009

I was surprised by how easy the transition was b/c my cousin's twins still are on bottles at 18mo and refuse sippy cups. We did it gradually over a month by replacing one bottle feeding with a sippy cup of formula and then of milk when she was 12 mo. By her first birthday she was totally fine with cold milk instead of warm formula. I think it's b/c DD just really wants milk and the sippy cups we use (Born Free) have soft spouts that aren't that different from a bottle. I would try to make the transition to the cup now. GL!

itsmyturn2 · February 2009

For us - yes - by his first birthday he was totally off the bottle. I think it really varies from kid to kid, but Spencer did really well with the transition. Now if I could just ditch the pacifier as easily ...

Sarah Thompson · February 2009

Patrick and my DD were both off the bottles on their first birthday. We quit cold turkey and just threw them away.

SuperCuteBenz · February 2009

We are shooting for 15 months too. I swore DD would never have a bottle past 12 months, and I started giving her a sippy at 4 months. She just hates them. She has been doing better the last week or two though, so hopefully it will be an ok transition. She still gets next step formula mixed in her milk though.

TheBryansWeBe · February 2009

We're down to one bottle a day at 12.5 months, so I'd say 15 months is a realistic goal to be off of them. The one we're keeping is the 5 am one that knocks him back out til 7:30 or 8. Call me selfish but I'm not ready to give that one up just yet. Smile

mlb917 · February 2009

My Dr. said the same thing and since I really trust her (all of her other advice has been perfect), I had that as my goal. I think it was a little after 15 months that he was finally done with bottles. It wasn't easy. It took a long time for him to get used to milk from the sippy, but now he does great. I just had to be okay with a couple weeks of him not drinking a lot of milk and gradually he drank more and more. The last bottle to go was bedtime and I think I was more attached to it than him...I didn't want him to get hungry at night, but he never does.

Tess12 · February 2009

We're shooting for fifteen months, but we haven't gotten anyway yet. The doctor said she should be off by 18 months, but that it's very hard to get them off at that age, so 12-15 months is ideal.

JillAly · February 2009

Wow- ds is 16 months and won't drink from anything but a bottle. He's so stubborn! Starting tonight, I'm trying the sippy cup with milk instead of water and we'll see how it goes.

senecamom · February 2009

Pedi wasn't really concerned until she was 24 months (with both the bottle and the pacifer). She wasn't at all encouraging us to keep her on them, but she said 24 months was the limit. The pedi knew DD wasn't having a bottle all the time and we were working on the sippy. She also knew that DD was teething like crazy for over 3 months, so maybe that's why she didn't push it. DD stopped taking bottles at 18 months. She did it completely on her own and finally started to drink cold milk out of her sippy at the same time. There were no tears at all, no problems at all. The funny thing is is that we were actually going to try to take away the bottle at 18 months, but she beat us to it. I'd give your son more time since he's only 12 months.

ilovemygirls · February 2009

Both of my kids were off the boob/bottle by 1 year so yes, it's absolutely possible. I took a very systematic approach to dropping feedings & it worked very well for both of my girls. I actually introduced milk at 9mos (with the blessing of my pedi) and started dropping from there. Just before a year they were only nursing or bottle morning & night with milk during the day.

My suggestion is to give milk in sippys at all meals. From there, start dropping bottles once a week or so. Always on a day when they're in a good mood w/no sickness or teething. Remember that as they move to more table food, they have much less need for so much liquid. I agree w/your pedi that the older they get, the much harder it is to take things away like that. Same with any sleep issues. Deal with it younger before they have too many opinions about it!

ANJ410 · February 2009

It's definitely realistic. My DS was off the bottle at 11.5 months. I introduced a sippy cup to him at 4.5 months old and kept putting it into his hand and lifting it to his mouth. By 6 months old he was drinking a substancial amount of water or juice out of it at every meal. Little by little as he became more mobile he would squirm around on my lap during bottle feedings, so I began offering him his cup with formula in it. I just kept putting the cup in his hand. When we started milk, I only offered it in a cup.

almost momma of two · February 2009

DS was off the bottle on his first birthday. DD is down to one a day and it will be gone in the next couple of weeks.

ebb7 · February 2009

DD was done 2 weeks after her first birthday. Those 2 weeks were rough and I thought for sure she'd never give up her bottles, but once I found the right sippy, it was easy!

kryssy · February 2009

Yes, it is realistic and possible. To be honest, until reading this post, I didn't realize it was so common (or accepted by peds) for kids that old to still be using a bottle (no flame intended - my DD and DS gave up the bottle easy, so I just don't know anything else). Both mine were off the bottle by their 1st birthdays, but I also introduced the sippy at 4mo and kept with it until they started using it. I started replacing bottles with the cup around 6mo.

Mrs Manners · February 2009

We're shooting for 15 months too. We're going on a week long trip without him at 14 months and when we come back we're going to start bottle boot-camp. He's already down to three per day (morning, mid-day and night) and drinks milk from a sippy the rest of the day.

susansev · February 2009

our pedi insisted we give up the bottle at 12 months--and it was the best thing! I don't at all think it is unrealistic to give it up by 15 months...

Temp174496125006552 · February 2009

I think it's realistic.

Ben will be one next Saturday and is still totally on bottles. He's tried the sippy and knows what to do with it, but is more interested in playing with it. I'm not in a huge rush to get him off formula right at a year...so we'll stick with the bottles for a while longer. He's usually pretty easy going wtih things, so I don't anticipate to much of a problem...but who knows.

RobynandJason050706 · February 2009

thank you all for your replies and insight. Hes been on a sippy since 4m like most of your babies as well. I think its gonna be harder for me to see him eventually off a bottle then him really giving it up. So i will shoot for the 15 month goal and see what happens.

Erika6504 · February 2009

I think it's realistic but I also think that it depends on your kid. I would shoot for it as a goal but if you don't make it, don't stress out about it.

We didn't have a problem getting rid of DD's daytime bottles. The last one that is going is her middle of the night bottle if she wakes up. Actually, I think it's laziness on my part that she's still getting it. I'm weaning her off of it and I really think it should be gone by the end of the month. It's just been SO easy to rock her and give her a bottle if she wakes up in the middle of the night. That combination means that she goes back to sleep almost immediately.

LoriFalce · February 2009

Yes. Joseph gave his up on his own at 10m.

jillybean222 · February 2009

I have not read the other responses but I'm sure there are a variety of answers. My pedi told me 15 months is a good target but I didn't feel that she was ready - partly b/c I was already PG with #2 and still wanted to snuggle with #1 while she was still and only child (in other words, it had more to do with me than her). I finally stopped the bottles jsut before she turned 17 months and did so cold turkey. It was easier than I thought and best for both of us (b/c once #2 came, I didn't have time to hold her while she drank her milk - as much as I still wanted to).

jen5-03 · February 2009

I got rid of all the bottles at 11mo.

Zoe0520 · February 2009

Yes, I think it's realistic. Both my boys were bottle free by their 1st birthday. Mason my youngest gave up his bottles earlier this month (11m). It totally depend on your DC though. With Kaleb it took about a week of heavily pushing the sippy...a few tears...and he finally took the sippy happily..and that was that. With Mason he never was really attached to his bottle. He always stole his brother's sippy. He only drank his formula in the bottle. So it just came naturally when we made the switch. I just started giving him milk in a sippy. He LOVED the milk and I don't even think he realized he wasn't getting a bottle anymore.

Want a personalized experience?

Do you find 15 months a realistic age to give up bottles?

Re: Do you find 15 months a realistic age to give up bottles?

Choose Another Board

Search Boards