STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

DD is almost 18 months and still gets 2 bottles a day. One in the morning and one at dinner. During the day she will drink from her cup but only water. She hates milk in the cup. If I dont give her milk in the bottle she will scream and cry and wont drink any milk. The other day she cried for over an hour even though I kept showing her the milk was in the cup. I saw a 3 year old the other day drinking out of a bottle and I feel like this is going to be us.

Any tips, advice??

Message edited 11/13/2015 11:51:48 AM.

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

Hahah. Ok well I literally just took dds bottle away and she is 2 years 4 months. She is such a picky eater and milk was easy for her so I let her have it. Then at 2 I had a baby and couldn't do it then bc I didn't want her resenting her baby sister and make yet another change in her world. I did it this week. I just took her bottles and said no more. If you want milk it's going to be in a cup. I had her say bye to her bottles and she asked for it that night and the next morning and that was it. She's doing great although she doesn't drink an ounce of milk anymore. She gets it in yogurt and cheese tho.

Probably not what you were looking for. But this time dd did great and didn't freak out like she did when she was younger. I could reason with her more at this age.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

Have you tried a different type of cup for milk vs water? DS is 13 months and he still takes a bottle at bedtime. I started putting his other feedings in a soft spouted sippy that has a bottle-like nipple (thinkbaby) and then transitioned him to a straw cup over the last 2 weeks. No one knows your child better than you so I'm not sure if a gradual or more "cold turkey" approach would work best but gradual seemed to work well for us

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

I did it cold turkey at a year for both my kids neither one got milk out of a bottle ( I know its too late for that) But it did take tons of cups with DD to find the right one before she would take the milk out and DS I tried 2 the one DD used at the end of her sippy cup days and then the one she started with and that one worked for him.

DD was never a big milk fan and DS is a milk addict.

So if I was you I would try different cups till you find one she like and just cut the bottle out completely she will drink milk eventually but honestly if she doesn't I don't personally see it a big deal if she eats other dairy production.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

Neither of my DD's were particularly attached to bottles so I didn't have a huge issue transitioning them... but noticed that when it comes to certain things (specifically, homemade smoothies) my younger DD who is 18 months will only drink it from a straw cup.. So maybe try straw cups..both of my kids seemed to prefer those and from what I have heard are better for them anyway (i.e. skip the sippys and go straight to straw)

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

My youngest drank out of a bottle until a month before his 3rd bday!
My husband and I tried a few times but never fully committed and therefore the habit was never broken. I filled my mind with thoughts that it was going to be so hard because we waited so long. It was painful because every night I would give them showers and every morning he would wake up soaked and smelling like pee (he drank a bottle about 30 mins before bed every night). i became so frustrated with constantly washing clothes, sheets and blankets. I knew I was causing this because I was fearful of potential meltdowns over no bottle. One morning after once again stripping his bed of wet sheets and blankets I said "no more bottles!" He said "ok" and never asked for another one again. I braced myself every night and every morning (his two favorite times) for the cries and fuss but nothing. Every now and agin he says "I wish I could have a bottle" but he quickly adds "I'm too big". He took it better than I did.

I know this isn't exactly what you asked, but I guess my point is maybe when she's ready she will be ready. If you want to be done with it, then by all means take it away and after a week; hopefully she will have adjusted. otherwise, maybe try waiting until the holidays. I don't know if you celebrate Christmas but my sister in law always gave the bottles to Santa after or close to their second bday. She would prep them in the days/weeks before and they would leave their bottles next to the plate of cookies and milk.

Good Luck!

Message edited 11/13/2015 12:46:08 PM.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

Is there a reason you're intent on getting her off the bottle? 18 months is still young, I'd leave her with the bottle and try again in a month or two.

We tried taking the bottle away from DS a couple of times and then he wouldn't drink any milk. At 2 years old, he transitioned to milk in the cup really easily, though. It was just when he was ready.

IMO, it was more important for me to get the milk into him regardless of bottle vs cup than to get him off a bottle. He actually drank milk from a cup at day care during the week, but refused it at home for about 6 months. It seems like a bigger deal than it actually is. I wouldn't worry about it at 18 months.

Message edited 11/13/2015 12:53:16 PM.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

We tried getting DD to quit the bottle at various times but it was her comfort thing and she would only have one when upset or at bed time (we'd brush her teeth right after). It became such a routine for her that she was still drinking from one until she just about turned 4 (it was just once a day, she would drink milk and water out of straw cups or even straight from a cup the rest of the day). Horrible I know but she was fine in every other way and she needed to give it up because if we took it away it wasn't going to go well.

DS on the other hand has hardly any interest in bottles. He drinks LOTS of yogurts and water and was basically off bottles at like 15 months.

I wouldn't stress the bottles.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

My son had a bottle every night until two months after his 2nd birthday. He wouldn't drink milk otherwise. My ped was insistent that we stop the bottle and he didn't mind if he didn't drink milk anymore because he ate yogurt and cheese. We went against that advice and gave him his bottle every night, then one night he just stopped drinking it and that was that. He doesn't drink milk anymore, which used to bug me, but I'm over it now. Every once in a while I'll warm up milk and put it in a sippy and call it a milkshake. lol He'll take a few sips, but that's all. Sorry, I'm no help, but I say just give it to her. She'll stop when she's ready. Being 3 years old is a little much IMO and I'm sure it will not come to that. Good luck!

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

DD1 is 20 months and still has a milk bottle in the morning and at night. Sometimes she'll skip the morning one but she always has the night one. She will drink milk out of a cup but she drinks it so slowly, a bottle is just faster lol. She does drink water out of her cup just fine.

I will say that it's been harder to get her off the bottle completely since DD2 has been born. She gets jealous if she sees the baby drinking out of a bottle when it's not time for her milk. I wish we had completely weaned off the bottle way before DD2 was born.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

My son is 21 months and he just gave up his bottle this week. I showed hi. The bottle and a silly and asked him which he wanted and he chose the cup. So I said ok and put the bottles away.

Maybe take her to the store and let her pick out a special milk sippy cup?

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

I went cold turkey with my DD. I took them all away and gave her only sippy cups. She protested for days about milk in the sippy and drank basically no milk in that time but then eventually just gave up. She never looked back after that. I would just take them all away and let her have a fit for however long it takes, she'll eventually get over it.

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

This was DS exactly. We tried so many times. At hi 18 month ped visit she told us, no more, cold turkey, the bottle must go. He had his last bottle that night. threw the sippy cup with milk in the garbage the cause he was mad the next morning. but by 10:30 that morning, he wanted his milk so bad he drank from a sippy cup. For a week he would fight it, but eventually give in each time and drank it. But we NEVER went back to bottles, and never gave in just as dr told us.

We found the only cup that he would take it from was the cheap take and toss cups with the spout.

Good luck!

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

I would just not give her any milk for a few days and see of you can break the habit...

Re: STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

We took our older daughters bottle away cold turkey at 18 mo old -- she never drank milk again.

My younger daughter is 21 mo and still takes a bottle at night -- Shes very attached to it, and shes insane lol Giving her a bottle is the only way she really relaxes and Im not ready to give it up

Both refuse to drink milk out of any sippy cup.

STILL trying to get rid of the bottle..

For DS 1 - he had a bottle until a couple of days before his 3rd b-day. He was a horrible sleeper and it relaxed him at night and there was no reasoning with him on it. I finally convinced him at 3 to give it up saying 3 year olds don't drink bottles and it was easy peasy looking back at it but, it caused me a lot of stress and aggravation between 2 and 3 when he wouldn't give it up.

For DS 2 - he dropped the bottle at 15 mos. I started earlier because I knew it gets more difficult as they get older. He gave it up on the first day. He didn't drink milk for a few days but, eased back into it gradually.