Getting off Bottle

Hi J. my name is A. I have a 10 yr. old girl who was off the bottle at 12 months and I have a 2 1/2 yr. old that is still on the bottle I have tried everything possibble
but he wont't let it go although he just uses for milk everything else he will drink in a regular cup. He will not take sippy cups. but with my daughter i got her a sippy cup that was almost like her bottle and it worked. The avent sippy cups are good but my son is just dicussted of them good luck.

Luckily I never had any problems taking bottles away from my kids (I did have a pacifier problem however), but I heard once that if you use sippy cups for milk, juice, etc, and bottles for only water, the cup with milk in it will be more appealing than a bottle of water. Good luck!

My daughter was 3!! She was so attached to her bottle, she only had one a day before bed. I didn't think it was that big of a problem untill I went to her pedi for her 3 yr check up. He said she needs to come off now. I was very consistent with brushing her teeth so thank god when I took her to the dentist she had no problems, but I was lucky. I just told her that bottles were for babies and it was against the rules to have one and I had to throw them away. I had her help me throw them away and she loved that. But when it came to bedtime and she wanted it she asked and asked, I was surprised that she really got over it fast, and I thought, I should of taken it away sooner. You have to just throw them out, and let her help. Tell her that she is a big girl now and try to sooth her. Good Luck!!

J.
Lots of posts advise trying sippy cups- I would say not. You daughter is truly too old for a sippy cup- she can drink straight from a cup. Introducing a sippy now would really be the same as giving her a bottle developmentally. Having the bottle fairy come is a great idea, and letting your child help you get rid of them is another great one. When she's involved in the process, she will take it better. And I love the idea of just putting water in the bottle- she may just wean herself. You could even go as far as getting her a "cool" water bottle like so many big kids have. But beware of making it another "bottle". Your goal is getting your daughter to grow and develop and learn.
Good luck!!

I would recommend the Bottle Fairy, like the Tooth Fairy. Explain that are little babies out there that need bottles, put them in a bag and hang it in a tree (or other place)before she goes to bed. Replace it while she's sleeping with a pretty gift bag with a couple new sippy cups. This can also be done with pacifiers. I saw it on the Super Nanny and it worked wonderfully. Good Luck!

I just told my little one that she didnt want to be a baby and didnt she want to be a big girl and that there was so many cool sippie cups ..and then I took her to the store and let her pick one out ,.... they have princess , dora , cars, etc... and she thought they were more fun than her bottle and then I said help me pack them up and give them to the babies who have no bottles and that was it ... Good Luck :)

Have you tried taking a little trip away from home with her? Maybe staying at a parent's or friend's house for a day or two? That is the only thing that worked with my oldest son. He refused to drink ANYTHING unless he drank from his bottle...so we decided to go away from home to my mom's house for a weekend...and "forgot" to bring the bottles. Anytime he wanted a drink, we just offered him a cup and said, "sorry! There aren't any bottles here at Grandma's." After a few hours, he started accepting the cup and, by the time we got back home, he just stayed that way. Just to add, we made sure that ALL his bottles were gone before we got home so that he wouldn't see one and get upset again. I don't know if this will work for you, but thought I'd offer it up as a suggestion. good luck! :)

for my children i told them they were getting too big and bottles were getting nasty then i put juice or milk in a cup and straight lemon juice in the bottle. then just left the bottle on the table next to the cup. they threw the nasty in the trash and took the cup.