When did you give up bottles for LO?

Baby_Bunny_Hopeful · February 2012

DS is almost 2 and we give him an 8oz bottle before his nap and before bedtime.

He associates the bottle with sleeping (and is a phenomonal sleeper!!) so we don't want to "mess with a good thing" ya know?!

When did you stop giving your LO a bottle before nap and bedtime? How did they adjust if they were really used to the routine of it all?

TIA!

rnfromtn · February 2012

DS's babysitter didn't offer him a nap time bottle one day, so that was that. It was some time around 17 or 18 months. We dropped the nighttime bottle shortly thereafter. Wasn't a big deal. Now we just have his sippy with a limited amount of water in it that he can have a couple sips off.

JulesFo · February 2012

We dropped DD's bottle around 18 months and it really wasn't traumatic for anyone. I totally get the "not messing with a good thing", but I do think the association does get harder to break the older they get.

Anyway, to get rid of the bottle, I first cut the amount in half, then after about a week, I switched to a sippy cup. While doing this, I made sure to establish/firm up other bedtime associations, such as singing and rocking, or reading some books. I probably did this all more for me than her!

soxfan74Wed76248 · February 2012

My dd dropped the bottle at 1. She just did it pretty much cold turkey.

PandaMom06 · February 2012

We never gave DD a "bedtime" bottle I guess you would say. We got rid of the bottle at 10 months old. Got a sippy cup and tossed the bottles, that was the end of that.

dawneo · February 2012

DD refused the bottle at 4 months - we stopped nursing around 15 months.

Shell24 · February 2012

Both my kids were done with bottles at a year. They were already getting sippy cups with water and we just went cold turkey. Same with pacifiers.

WhitePicketFence · February 2012

As per our pedi, we stopped offering DD1 the bottle right around a year old. Once she started drinking drinking whole milk, we only offered it in her sippy. We went through a rough adjustment period which lasted for about a week, but once she realized that the bottle was gone for good, she was fine.

mrsjami · February 2012

At 1 year and switched to a sippy.

gobigblue · February 2012

1 yr. Adjusted great. I rec changing LOs naptime and bedtime routine a bit - throw in a book or 2, rock him instead of giving him a bottle or give sippys while reading a book.

sleepingbeauty825 · February 2012

One year here too. We just went cold turkey and it went way better than I had anticipated.

mbgreenwalt · February 2012

At 13 months. We stopped cold turkey and went to sippy cups. She did great.

WifeofaMarine · February 2012

Though I may get some flames for this, DS was obsessed with the bottle and had it until 2.5. Bedtime/nap bottle was always water, never juice or milk. His transition was good, but I think a good part of it was that we didn't force him to go cold turkey when he wasn't ready. We had tried several times before and it was a complete fail. The only bedtime change is that he doesn't fall asleep as fast. He plays in his bed for quite awhile most nights before he actually falls asleep.

Mrs.MLR04 · February 2012

DS was done with his bottle at 1. We switched cold turkey with no problem.

saturdaynightdoubletree · February 2012

We phased bottles out DD at 11 months and DS by 14 months. It's an adjustment, but they were both great eaters and didn't really need a bottle before bed. They became more attached to their loveys for comfort and got over the bottle without much effort (lucky for us). Do what works and what you're comfortable with. GL!

AmandaP678 · February 2012

Around 18-20 months not sure exactly when. I think we just went cold turkey too. Now we just leave a sippy cup with water in his bed with him. ( We never left the bottle in his crib)

kimberleigh30 · February 2012

I dropped his bottle right at 1 year. He did really well with the change. Not one issue.

memali26 · February 2012

We started by dropping her morning bottle at 12 months, then her after nap bottle at 13 months, then her bedtime bottle at 14 months. We went cold turkey, just offered a sippy of milk instead, and it didn't faze her at all. She never took the bottle to bed, just drank it while snuggling with us at the beginning of her bedtime routine.

Torani · February 2012

We switched DS to sippy cups at one year. He has a straw sippy of milk during story time before bed. He actually never had a bottle at that time, but nursed. He took the change like it was no big deal, since he was still getting milk. I'm thinking of switching him to water, but not until he starts eating better since he's so picky.

bobbs420 · February 2012

DS had his last bottle the day after he turned 1. It was full-time sippies from there on out. He was more than ready though, as I had had him practicing with a sippy since he was 6 months. He didn't even blink when I replaced his bottle with a sippy of milk.

SuperCuteBenz · February 2012

DD- 15 months

DS- 8 1/2 months

lynsef · February 2012

DD was weaned from bf at 11 months and weaned from bottle at just over 12 months so I'm not much help there. She adjusted fairly well though. We had one rough day where she kept asking for milk and screamed when I gave it to her in a sippy cup, but after a few minutes of me continuing to hand her the sippy cup and snuggled up with me and drank it and all was well. It didn't affect her sleep routine at all though. She doesn't get milk before her nap, but she does still drink a cup of milk after dinner while DS is having his last bottle and we are reading.