How Do I Get My 1 Year Old off the Bottle

By this age, habit and comfort play a big part. I gave mine water only. the bedtime bottle was the only time he wanted it. But, he did like drinking water from it. If he wanted milk, he had to drink it from the cup.

Okay, so I dont' know if it will work, but my pedi says to not give anything in a sippy but milk, no bottles! no water or juice in the sippy. She said they won't dehydrate themselves and just tell her that all you have is milk in a sippy.....I don't know if it works because it was really difficult. My DD is 16 months and I still give her a bottle in the morning and at night because it is really difficult for me and her if I don't.....good luck to you.

K.,
So, I'm no expert - just a Mom of a 3 year old - but here goes. Just give him some time - like my husband always says about our daughter, "you know she won't still be doing it when she's 18." It's a good reminder to stop putting so much pressure on myself - these days and years pass by very quickly.
My daughter never really took much to a bottle or pacifier - I think we tried sippy cups (she like the Avent ones best) around one year of age. In the end, we just had to be patient with her timeline. And now, she has no problems drinking from regular cups, and likes to have sippy cups (or "bottles" as she calls them) at bed time - as a little regressive moment.
All the best with your little one.
~C

On my sons 1st birthday we had a "big boy celebration". I got all of his bottles, nipples, pacifiers and put them on the floor. Then I got the trash can and the celebration began. I had him help me throw it all out. I did keep one bottle just in case. He didnt know it thought. I kept telling him it was time to be a big boy. After everything was in the trash he walked outside with me to throw it away and say good-bye. Worked like a charm. I did have to remind him we threw them out every once in a while for the next few days, but it wasnt anything horrible. It was great. I also had a table especially for him for dinner to help the big boy transition. We would take turns sitting out "the big table" and "his table". It was a little akward because of the size, but he loved it. Good luck!

My daughter was almost 14 months old when I finally threw all the bottles away and took her to the store and let her pick out her own special milk sippy cups. She did fine and never even cried for a bottle. I think I was the one who had the harder time with it all. I don't know if this makes a difference or not, but she only started to take a bottle at 10 months because I breastfeed her up until them so that might have been the reason is was so easy to take her off.

Dear K.,

Recently, I experienced the same thing with my 15 month old daughter. She use to spit out her milk when using the cup at first. Honestly, your child will know when is the best time. What helped me ween off the bottle was using different types of sippy cups. There are some available that have the bottle nipple design that is either made by Gerber or Nuby. All I know it is available at Target and Walmart in which I shop constantly.

My little girl has a lot of sippy cups but it took a lot of patience switching from bottle to cup. I had to get the daycare involved too since they spent a lot of time with my daughter. MY gameplan was to have a bottle for backup but made sure that in every opportunity my daughter was given the cup first. AFter a while, my daughter was using both the cup and the bottle. Eventually, I just gradually took the bottle away. She has been bottle free for about 3 weeks. So, my daughter stopped using the bottle around 14 months.

What you are going through is absolutely normal. Dont fret! Just try different types of sippy cups, and get everyone involved to make sure that your son gets the cup first. Eventually, your son will like the cup.

Cold Turkey seems to be the best way to break alot of habits and this is one of them. I have had both breast and bottle babies and bottle babies are easier. I broke my oldest at 1 from the bottle, my middle from the breast and my youngest from the bottle. At least you can hide bottles, but you can't hide your breast there attached. It took three or four lonnnnnggg days, but after much crying and such they were broke. You just have to keep offering the cup no matter what. It's a battle, so be prepared. If you are off on the weekends that is the best time, because you probably won't get much sleep and it can cause grumpiness. Good Luck with battle.

when my son turned a year i stopped the bottle cold turkey. i took all the bottles and threw them away. he cried for three days for the bottle and i just kept telling him that he was a big boy and that big boys drink out of sippy cups. in three days exactly he got over it and took the cup. i threw away the bottles because i was worried that after he cried for a long time that i would give in and give him a bottle but i am proud to say that i didn't!!!

I gave my daughter a little more time, and about at 13 months, I made sure she was only have the bottle at night and then completely off the bottle at 15 months. Now she is almost 2 years, and we don't use a bottle or have any concerns that we let her have it too long. You have to make the transition, but these ages are general and you should stick with your intuition. All kids even siblings are different, and there is enough to stress about!

Are you giving him a cup with no lid? With both my boys I quit the bottle cold turkey and gave them a Nuby sippy cup. I like Nuby because the spout is soft. My 1 year old has 3 types of Nuby sippy cups. Long one he can hold like a bottle, short one with handles and a straw for day trips out of the house, and a short one with handles for the highchair to practice lifting like a cup at snack time...then I let him have the long one to finish snack time. When he gets more coordinated offer him litte dixie type cups at meal time and snack time for practice and finish up with the sippy. By 2 you'll have him drinking out of a cup at home! Let me know if you have an questions!

Hello! When my son was 1 we took the bottle away competely and only would give him a sippy cup for his milk. We just put them up far away that way it was not easy for us to give in. I was surprised how in just a day he was okay and over the bottle. Giving rid of the bottle was much easier than potty training for sure. HA!! Good luck!

I took until around 14 months for me to wean mine from the bottle. Keep working on it but don't stress your self out. Sounds like bottle is still a comfort thing. You might try putting the milk in a completely different style of sippy cup from what you typically offer juice etc from. It might worth also seeing if he might take the milk from the style of sippies cups that have straws. Maybe the sucking on the straw might provide similar comfort to him. Drinking from the straw is also good for helping with speech development. Best wishes.

You have probably rec'd lots of advice by now, but I had the same problem. I just insisted that his day time milk had to go thru a cup and he was allowed one bottle before bed for comfort. I did this for about 2 weeks and then just cut out that bottle, too. He will resist but he'll be okay. It is for their own good; just like getting them to sleep in their own bed or on their own, period. It's harder on us than on them. Hope this gives you a little encouragement to stick to your guns!

We started giving our son a sippy cup at 7 months with water. We then closer to a year started putting formula in it, he hated that. We switched to Whole Milk at 11 months and went cold turkey, he has no problems. I would keep trying, he knows you will give in so stand your ground.

With both of mine I started cutting out 1 bottle at a time (usually starting with those at mealtime first)and giving them regular milk in the sippy cup. Then somewhere around 14-15 months I cut out the bed time and first thing in the morning bottle. If he is really giving you a hard time I would push for a couple of days and then if you don't see any improvement give him a month or two. In the meantime play up how great the sippy cup is (maybe buy him a new "Special One") and what a big boy he is. I think even at this age they like hearing how big they are and love to see when Mommy or Daddy get excited about something they are doing.

He really may not be ready to wean from the bottle yet and I would not rush him. Sucking a nipple can help oral motor development (speech) and emotional development. I would wait and try a couple of months from now and see if he is more open to the idea...Each child is ready to wean at different stages and he may not be ready yet. I have had my boys (3) wean at different ages and my 13 month old is still on the bottle and i dont plan on weaning him for a while. What I do is give them the gerber sippy tops on the regular shaped bottles so he still has the bottle he recognizes but it has a sippy spout instead of a nipple. Good luck, AJ

I had to get mine off early due to having another baby when he was turning a year old. I could not get him to drink out of a sippy cup. I tried every one on the market. He did however like the straw. He is now 13 months, and will only drink out of a straw cup.

I did what Nicole did. I just pit all the bottles away the night before she turned one. The next morning she acted like I was crazy. She would never drink out of a cup before. She would always hold out for a bottle. When that was no longer an option, she drank from a cup like a a pro!
One thing about the Nuby cups everyone seems so fond of - I hated them. The ones I had leaked everywhere.

No it's not harder without a pacifier. My daughter was really attached to her pacifier, but I had trouble getting her to drink milk out of a sippy cup. With her, I pretty much had to give her nothing but milk in a sippy cup until she got thirsty enough to drink it. She took milk the best out of those little disposable plastic cups with the snap on lids. My son takes milkthe best out of a soft spout Nuby cup that they sell at Walmart. They are great because the spout is made out of silcone (I think) and it makes it like a sippy shaped nipple. Once he got the hang of those, he was more accepting of milk out of a regular sippy. Just keep trying and you might have to try different styles of cups to find what works best for your son.

Good Luck!!

We just took away the bottle with our kids. He might not get any milk for a couple of days, but that won't cause any damage. If he knows that he can throw a fit and get the bottle he has no motivation to switch to the cup. Just give him a cup every time he is thirsty and eventually he will start drinking from it. It usually took our kids (4 of them, although one never took a bottle) about two days to make the switch. You have to be consistent! Good luck!