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Weaning off bottle = HELL. Any suggestions?

AsOctoberFallsAsOctoberFalls member
in Toddlers: 12 - 24 Months

DS is almost 17 months.  All his liquids are thickened to the consistency of honey because of some swallowing issues we had when he was younger, which makes finding a cup he can use difficult.  He can't use any with valves because it's too difficult for him to get the liquid out.

His speech therapist wants to start thinning out his liquids, but she won't do it until he's drinking out of an open cup or a straw cup.  DS uses a soft spout sippy at daycare but refuses to use anything but a bottle at home. 

Since his latest appointment with the speech therapist on Wednesday, we've not given him any bottles at home, and he hasn't had anything to drink at home (only at daycare).  I think it's turned into a power struggle.  This morning I decided to give him a sippy cup because I know he can drink out of them.  (I'm not convinced he understands the straw cup or the open cup yet).  He wouldn't drink his sippy and screamed all the way to daycare.  At daycare, they poured the milk out of his sippy into theirs, and he drank it and then asked for more.

I am tempted to just refuse to give him a bottle any more.  My mom, whose advice I really trust, said I should ease into it... give him his morning and night time bottle, and try to teach him during the day that drinking from cups and such is fun.  She thinks it will take some of the pressure off.  I'm not sure.  I don't want him to think that if he cries long enough, we'll just give in to his demands.  

This is a lot more difficult than I thought it would be.  I wish I could just wait until he was older and got over it on his own, but that isn't really an option because we want to get him off the thickened liquids.

Any thoughts or suggestions?

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Re: Weaning off bottle = HELL. Any suggestions?

  • covertxxamourcovertxxamour member
    I agree with your Mom, and I would cut all bottles except for one or two. When I started, I took away all bottles except for her bedtime bottle. Then I just stopped that cold turkey after about a week. A few nights were rough for her to fall asleep, but that's it. I do a sippy of milk and a little snack before bathtime now just to make sure shes "full." As for a straw cup, I recommend Playtex brand. They have an amazing starter cup that kiddos normally catch on to fairly quickly. If he can't use a Sippy with a valve... I did buy a cup from Walmart that didnt have one. It has Minnie Mouse on it, so it was a little pricier than most. I believe it was "The First Years" brand.

    I wish I could be of more help. Good luck!
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  • kimmyberly26kimmyberly26 member

    imagecovertxxamour:
    I agree with your Mom, and I would cut all bottles except for one or two. When I started, I took away all bottles except for her bedtime bottle. Then I just stopped that cold turkey after about a week. A few nights were rough for her to fall asleep, but that's it. I do a sippy of milk and a little snack before bathtime now just to make sure shes "full." As for a straw cup, I recommend Playtex brand. They have an amazing starter cup that kiddos normally catch on to fairly quickly. If he can't use a Sippy with a valve... I did buy a cup from Walmart that didnt have one. It has Minnie Mouse on it, so it was a little pricier than most. I believe it was "The First Years" brand. I wish I could be of more help. Good luck!

     This is exactly what we did.  Just stick to your guns.  It stinks at first but it will get better. 

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  • MrsIMrsI member
    what kind of cup is DC using?  We had a child that would drink fine at DC but refused for his mom, we sent a cup home with him and had him "show mommy what a great job he could do" before they left so when at home mom would be able to say "I saw you drink at DC I know you can do it! you're not getting a different cup"
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  • drpaynedrpayne member
    We just did it cold turkey.  That's my best advice :)
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  • AsOctoberFallsAsOctoberFalls member

    I have tried the straw cups that you squeeze... the problem is, he won't let it near his mouth.  He throws a huge tantrum, clamps his lips shut, etc.

    However, we have had a breakthrough!  I have some soft spout sippy cups similar to what he uses at daycare, but he's refused to use them at home.  I took our cup from home to daycare, and he refused to use it there.  So they took his cup from home and put one of the daycare lids on it, and voila - he drank it.

    They noticed that their cups had slightly larger openings on the "nipple", so they cut the openings on his cup larger.  He will now use that sippy cup at home!  So we're not using bottles at home any more.  Speech therapy does not want us using sippy cups either, but i figure it's easy to get rid of the bottles and go to a sippy, THEN we can work on getting him to accept different types of cups and things.

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  • CclinnardCclinnard member
    imagedrpayne:
    We just did it cold turkey.nbsp; That's my best advice :
    exactly what we did too at 12 months..
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  • BlueJewelMBlueJewelM member

    imageCclinnard:
    imagedrpayne:
    We just did it cold turkey.nbsp; That's my best advice :
    exactly what we did too at 12 months..

    us too.  Packed them up after 12 mo appt.

     DS1 8/2011. DS2 8/2013.

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