Should I just take away the bottle?

LouiseB2001 · July 2011

I was just watching a 3 year old with a bottle of milk here in the cafe where I am working today and it got me thinking that perhaps taking away the bottle earlier is better... DD is still getting 2 bottles of 3-4 oz of milk (almond/rice and sometimes cows milk) per day while I am gone and although she is fine with a glass she drinks better from a bottle. It was my plan to simply take it away when we move in the end of August to make it a logical move but on the other hand I know that babies aren't suppose to have bottles after 1 year. I still BF in the morning and at night and on weekends 1-2 times during the day. She doesn't fall asleep with the bottle. Any suggestions? Any encouragement for me feeling like a bad mom who still gives DD a bottle? ;-)

Harper'smom · July 2011

I would not worry about it too much at this age. Do you use straw sippies at all? DD would occasionally still take a bottle once a day or so at around 16mos and I know sometimes DH would sneak one even later than that if he really couldn't get her down from a nap during his SAHD days last summer. They phased out slowly, she wasn't that attached to the bottle, and I just never saw the need to go cold turkey.

anna7602 · July 2011

DD stopped wanting the bottle on her own when she was around 15 months old and I know lots of kids who stopped on their own in the same age range.

IDK, I don't really think using a bottle past the age of 1 on the dot is such a big deal. I know that for us, DD would not really drink more than a sip or two of EBM out of cup and I wasn't going to waste what I had left of my freezer stash trying to put EBM in a cup. So I kept using the bottle until the freezer stash was gone. Then she just decided she didn't want the bottle at all (could have been because she didn't like what was in it, too, she never really took to other milk besides BM).

Harper'smom · July 2011

BTW, I love your new siggy pic. Z's hair looks so red, gorgeous.

Dreamsicle23 · July 2011

I'm pro-cold turkey for most things, however, I don't think it matters that much yet. Just take it away before she's 3 like the kid in the cafe.

LouiseB2001 · July 2011

Thanks, I was actually wondering if she would phase it out herself since she had never been super attached to it. She does drink from a cup but not with at sippy thud and we just found out this weekend that she knows how to suck from a straw. So it is going the right way with that. I guess I have been brain washed by the internet and other forums where people were more militant about it.

LouiseB2001 · July 2011

Harper'smom:
BTW, I love your new siggy pic. Z's hair looks so red, gorgeous.

OMG don't tell her daddy, he is terrified she will be 'ginger', not the cool thing to be in the UK (he is Scottish). But thanks anyway :-)

Lotte134 · July 2011

DS was never super attached either so we stopped giving the bottle when we stopped giving expressed BM. He just got cow's milk and water in a sippy and BM from me. He had no issues. So anyway, I would say try it and see what happens. She may not miss it at all and if she does you can always reconsider and come up with a plan.

I also don't think stopping right on the dot of 1 is a big deal, but at the same it could be easier to drop now since older toddlers often tend to become MORE attached to things like that.

Harper'smom · July 2011

LouiseB2001:

Harper'smom:
BTW, I love your new siggy pic. Z's hair looks so red, gorgeous.

OMG don't tell her daddy, he is terrified she will be 'ginger', not the cool thing to be in the UK (he is Scottish). But thanks anyway :-)

Well it is not red-red but it definetly looks more red to me than her last pic. I think it is adorable.

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