How to ditch the bottles?

tnkrbl21 · July 2011

So I'll guiltily admit that the boys still drink their milk from bottles. It was something that I never intended on letting happen past 1 yr but DH was very reluctant to stray for our routine and now the boys get into hysterics if I even ask them if they'd like to try their milk from a sippy cup. Theyve had milk in sippy cups before - and choc milk too - but when they wake up and before they go to bed they look for their bottles - I guess it gives them some kind of comfort and helps them relax. So I'm torn - I want to get rid of the freakin bottles but on the other hand if it's giving them comfort, I don't want to take that away from them.

Any tips / input / suggestions?

Mrs.Babbsy · July 2011

I love this post! We still let the girls have their nighttime bottle! They look for it and want it.

CandT · July 2011

We went to only night time bottles at one year. This week we stopped completely. DD cried for a few min and pushed away the sippy, and said "ba ba". We told her no more ba ba and her milk is in the sippy and she drank it. She has done this each night this week, but doesn't really seem to mind. I think she'll forget about it by next week. I also put all bottles away so she doesn't ever see them. I think it might be easier at this age.

You could do the whole bottle fairy thing. You have to give your bottles away to babies that need them and have the boys put them away in a bag or trash can or something and say good bye and explain that they are big now and will only use sippy cups.

naflmj · July 2011

Two days ago I just packed them up and that was that (though he had formula in a bottle and milk in sippy's). DS was mad, I offered him a sippy at wake up and he threw it across the room. He was fine the rest of the day and night but asked for one last night and cried before bed. He was asking for a baba all the way to daycare today. I am hoping it stops soon because he is breaking my heart.

Maybe you could get rid of one at a time? Maybe replace the morning bottle w/something fun (like a smoothy).

Sara Scissors · July 2011

I'm in the same situation. I know DS should be done with his bottles, but like your DH, I fear changing a perfectly executed routine. It took me until DS was nearly 18 months to not only get him STTN but to get rid of the bottle overnight when he woke up. I've listened to him CIO for months now, I'm just not sure I'm ready to do it over a bottle now!

He only took a paci until like 3 weeks old and never picked up sucking his thumb, fingers or a lovely. He's a very active child and his bottle before naps and bedtime (not in the morning though) is the only real way to calm him down and indicate to him it's time to go to sleep.

I'll be checking back for everyone's suggestions on this one...but know you're not alone in the least!

muppet.fan · July 2011

What if you had them pick out their own special cups just for those two bottle times? We did that when Elizabeth seemed ready to stop nursing as part of the nighttime routine and I wanted a gentle way to ease the transition.

We went to Target and she picked out her own cup. We only use it for nighttime, not at any meals or snacks. She fussed a little the first two nights, but I reminded her that she had her new blue cup and then we made a big deal about brushing teeth. It really seemed to help. Now she asks for "my blue cup" when we go up to her room for storytime.

Of course, now I need to wean her from milk (she only gets 1-2 ounces) before bed now that we're PTing, but one step at a time!

ejgballerina · July 2011

Once Jude turned one, we just quit the bottle cold turkey and it worked just fine. I BF'ed for 13 months though so I think that weaning might've helped a bit too. He got most of his comfort from nursing and then was okay with a sippy of water before bedtime.

epphd · July 2011

Ugh, good question. Sam has milk and water from sippies all day, but gets a nighttime bottle or a bottle before at home on the weekends. I think we could probably drop those pretty easily - it would take some tears for a few days, but it would be OK.

BUT, the ONE bottle that I'M not ready to drop is the a.m. weekend bottle. That is, when Sam wakes up at 6:30-7 (his normal wake up time ) on the weekend, I go in and give him a bottle and change his diaper. He then goes back to sleep until 9, sometimes 10 a.m.

So, while ideally I'd love to drop the bottle, being able to sleep in a few hours on Sat/Sun is PARADISE. And I seriously doubt a sippy would be a stand in - it's the warm, sucking action of the bottle that I think soothes him.

laura1 · July 2011

muppet.fan:
What if you had them pick out their own special cups just for those two bottle times? We did that when Elizabeth seemed ready to stop nursing as part of the nighttime routine and I wanted a gentle way to ease the transition.
We went to Target and she picked out her own cup. We only use it for nighttime, not at any meals or snacks. She fussed a little the first two nights, but I reminded her that she had her new blue cup and then we made a big deal about brushing teeth. It really seemed to help. Now she asks for "my blue cup" when we go up to her room for storytime.
Of course, now I need to wean her from milk (she only gets 1-2 ounces) before bed now that we're PTing, but one step at a time!

We just took the bottles away for both of them at a year. My DS would only drink milk out of the born free sippy, but they have so many parts and have a soft spout so we wanted to transition him to a hard spout. We went to BRU, and they have a whole bunch of sippys with kids names on them. Well they also had some firetruck ones - DS LOVES fire trucks, so I brought home and made a huge deal about him being a big boy and he was so special so he could have his milk in the fire truck cup. It worked - although he still will only drink it in that cup.

Good luck! these two year olds can be pretty stubborn

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