Ditching the Bottle

The Nuby sippy cups that look like bottles are a great choice at first (no handles) and you can get them for $2 at Walmart. I let my daughter have her sippy all day as she was around the house and out and about so she got used to it. I also weaned from two bottles a day to only one at bedtime and just dropped the bedtime bottle gradually once she was really drinking from the sippy throughout the day.

Another thing I did was give her a special treat after dinner but closer to bedtime in place of the bottle for a few days so she would forget the bottle. Example, a few spoonfuls of sugarfree pudding or some dried fruit snacks.

Good luck!

M.,
I just wean my son from the bootle pver the weekend. it was a lot easier than I imagined.
In the morning when he wakes up I put him in the highchair with his sippy cup w/warmed milk the at nap time he is full from lunch and has milk in a sippy cup during lunch that he doesn't even miss it as well as dinner, I feed him dinner and he has a sippy cup full of milk then I give him a bath and then it's story time and bedtime. He's still full from dinner time that he doesn't even miss it.

I would just love on him and put him back down w/out anything to drink if he wakes up in the middle of the night but then if that doesn't work offer him a sippy cup w/some water.

I hope this helps and good luck!
M.

Hey M.,
I got such anxiety over this (we just did it about 3 weeks ago), and I expected the worst and got a miracle! I did the mix formula and water trick. But even before that he was down to naps/night time and then just night time. I too would give him one if he woke up, which was my biggest fear...how to get him back to sleep after waking and no bottle!

Well, by the third night the 1/4 formula and 3/4 water-he was like yuck and cried a little while, but then did go back to sleep. The next night he had a couple of wakings where I just went in and picked him up, loved him a minute and put him back down. In two days, he was sleeping all night, almost anyway. My son's 16.5 months now, and we did this at 15-16 mo.

I hope this gives you some encouragement. The other weird thing is that my son took up a blankie as a lovey after giving it up. If yours uses a paci, be prepared for more heavy usage. Mine walks around with it a lot. I am not about to broach that one though, not now anyway! : )

Good luck!
R.

Mine were weaned from it by their first birthday and it wasn't really a problem. We started with switching to a cup during the day, then dropped the morning bottle, then dropped the evening one a few days after that.
Sounds like daycare has done most of the job for you. Toss all the bottles and hand him a sippy cup instead. He's old enough that he might like to go with you to the store to pick out his new cups.
When you hand him the cup in the evening, don't say anything about the bottle. If he asks for one say "Bottle is all gone, but I have a cup for you!" Prepare yourself for a protest. You might want to wait til a weekend. He should be fine in a day or two. Maybe sooner.

I expected the worst when I weaned my son. I put the milk in the sippy cup and sat down with him like we always did with the bottle. He gave me this look like, "hey, that's not a bottle", got off my lap and took the cup to the table. He started playing, stopped for a few sips every now and then, and that was it! No more bottles.

My daughter took a bit longer. She would throw fits when presented with the cup. But it didn't take more than a couple of days. Don't give in, though. If he pitches a fit, DON'T give him a bottle. It's hard, but one missed feeding won't hurt him, and once he realizes that its cup or nothing, he'll accept the cup. Play up the fact that he is a big boy. He can pick out his own nighttime cup. He's old enough to understand, but if you don't cave in (that cuddly bottle time is nice for mom too!) he will make the switch. Good luck!