Help with Weening off Bottle

One thing I tried when I weeened both of my kids off the bottle was to gradually water down their bottle of milk they get at bedtime. This was helpful because it not only made them make the association with the taste and what comes out of the bottle (watered-down milk??), but it helped reduce the chance for tooth decay when having their last bottle for the night. Hope this helps!

When my first son was about 13 months I just took it away from him and he was fine with it. Now I have a 14 month old who crys for it and wakes up every single night and I am so sleep deprived I just give in and give him one in the middle of the night to get him to go back to sleep. I do not give him a bottle at all during the day or before bedtime it's just in the middle of the night. I have moved the bottles where i normally kept them so he never sees them. I am going to try cutting the nipple on the bottle I did that with the pacifier for my older son when he was 2 1/2 and it worked good. Let me know what works for you.

Hi J., I just did this with my 18 month old and boy she was attached but I was sick of waking up 3 times a night to give her a new bottle of milk when I was getting up with my newborn and wasnt getting any sleep. SHe had never slept through the night and needed milk to help her get to sleep and to get back to sleep when she woke up in the middle of the night. My ped told us to have her off of it at 1 year but she didnt understand the sippy cup until she was 13 months. Anyway we gave her all her bottles and told her that they were old and we needed to throw them away, that she was a big girl and no longer needed them, she tossed them in the garbage and said bye bye and this was about 20 min before bedtime so that she didnt forget they went in the garbage and we gave her a sippy cup of chocolate milk and said big girls drink chocolate milk out of their cups before bed, (she wont drink cold white milk so the dr. suggested this) Then we did our normal routine and put a sippy cup in bed with her. She looked around her bed under every doll etc for her bottle and sat in the middle of her bed and said all gone....it was cute, then she cried for like 5 min and went to bed. She did the 5 min cry for about 3 days and then everything has been fine ever since and she hasnt awoke in the middle of the night so I have a little sanity now. Let me know if you have any more questions and good luck. J.

My daughter really loved her bottle so I transitioned her to a Nuby cup at night because she to was used to falling asleep with a bottle of milk. At first she would cry at the sight of it but eventually she got used to the idea. Those cups are good because the spout is silicone so it resembles a bottle.

I say, cold turkey. Let her cry herself to sleep. Honestly, the kid will get over it, as I've learned. My daughter, who is now seven, was the same way. As much as it hurt me to hear her cry, my husband assured me, and sure enough on the fouth night, she said, "Night," cried for a few minutes and went to sleep.. Ahh, now I have peace and quiet. I have four other children, and they've all been weaned the same way.

My son was 2 1/2 when he switched from a bottle to a sippy cup. After a few low-pressure discussions, he and I decided to give his bottles to the baby who lived upstairs from us. He picked out some sippy cups at the store and we came home, packed up his bottles, and delivered them to our upstairs neighbor. He never looked back.

I didn't heed the advice of many (including his pediatrician whom I greatly respect) to wean him from the bottle by age 1. I decided to wean him when he seemed ready to do so. The bottle was a comfort to him and nobody was able to give me a compelling reason to take it from him. Of course every child and every situation is different, but this worked well for us. Good luck!

Hi J.!
My daughter is 2 1/2 and just loves her bottle so much...but my husband and I feel it is time to let it go! We are hoping to do a ceremonial "bye bye" thing like someone else mentioned...or maybe trade them in at the toy store for something small...but right now we are just talking to her a lot about it that pretty soon we will be saying "bye bye" to them. Sometimes she takes this well, other times she gets upset...any way we do it will be hard, I think. I do regret not taking them away earlier...

Hi J. - I am about to tackle the same thing. I haven't done it yet but here is what my pediatrician recommended. She said to have a ceremony where we say goodbye to the bottles. Have your child help put all the bottles in a bag and say bye bye to the bottles. She feels it is important to include him and make it ceremonial - "bottles are for babies, you are big boy now." Look forward to getting an update on how it goes.

My son was very attached to his bottle as well! I took him to the local store and he picked a non spill cup to replace his bottle. We talked about using this special cup for his milk. He is currently very into Elmo and we found a great bright cup! I made sure it was a different kind of cup than we regularly use and now we only put milk into this cup. He doesn't drink his milk as fast but it after one night we have made the transition. Sometimes he calls his new cup his bottle, but it is much better for him to be using this cup! I also made sure the old bottle was no longer visable and he quickly replaced it with the new cups. good luck

Tracy Hogg has good advice in her book "The Baby Whisperer Solves All Your Problems" She recommends taking the bottle and cutting one slit in the nipple. Then the next day cutting another slit so it's like an x in the nipple and then the 3rd day cutting off the nipple end. This is an approach too that I know my friend's pediatrician suggested. The goal is to take the fun and comfort of sucking out of the bottle.

Obviously it's gonna be harder now that she's older but with my boys I took them off at 1 year. I just took it away and only offered a sippy cup. Out of sight, out of mind!

I thought the same thing with my son, who just turned 15 months. He seemed very attached to his bottle at night, and preferred that over his sippy cup before bedtime. So first I introduced his sippy cup instead of his bottle before naptime, and let him get comfortable with that, then I did the same thing at bedtime. He wasn't terribly thrilled with it the first night, but eventually did drink it. Now he enjoys his sippy cup of milk in his crib and his bedtime routine has stayed perfect!

Hi J.!

I am almost embarrassed to type this, but we went through this same thing with my oldest DD (who is now almost 6) - when she was THREE. going on FOUR. It was ridiculous!
My advice to you is this:
a.) realize that she WILL wean off the bottle eventually! It seems like forever now, but in a year or two or 18, you'll look back and realize how short of a time it really was that you "battled" over the bottle. Plus, you'll WISH it was as simple a fight as just a bottle at bedtime!
b.) We started doing a VERY watered down bottle for her, not cold turkey, but slowly putting less "milk" in it, and more water. Till eventually it was just water. Then less water. Then less water. And finally she was just getting one or two quick drinks from it and realized it wasn't worth the effort.
If you are really more worried about keeping your great bedtime routine intact, then don't worry so much about the DATE that she gives up the bottle. Emphasize that she will be a BIG GIRL who doesn't need the bottle, and stop mentioning the night time bottle, but don't make it a huge ordeal. One day she just won't need it!

Ok i am typing a novel here, sorry.
Best of luck to you with the weaning!

T.