How to Wean 14 Month Old from Bottle?

My son never took milk (mine or cow's) from a bottle OR sippy cup. He was breastfed and wouldn't drink from anything but the boob! We tried every kind of milk until his pediatrician told me to let it go, that humans are the only mammals that drink milk that's not their own. Now, I love milk, but it makes total sense. Well, I didn't push it, and he finally started drinking milk on his cereal, but he still isn't a big milk drinker, and he's 3 1/2. He drinks plenty of water, though!

With my daughter, I gave her milk in a sippy one morning. She wanted nothing to do with it. And she cried. I just kept calm and told her if she wanted her milk she'd have to drink it from her cup. She cried. So I walked back into the kitchen with the cup. She followed me, crying. I put it on the counter and said when she wanted her milk it was right there for her. She cried....and then she decided she wanted it. She drank from her sippy and that was the end of that. Seriously.... This may seem a bit harsh. But it was only like a minute this whole thing took place. And then it was all over. Never an issue again. I just stood my ground and remained calm and that was it.

Our little one didn't like the regular sippy cups. We gave our youngest one with the built in bendable straw. Sat her down upon waking with her new cup and a bowl of oatmeal; she drank out of it like a little pro.

I also, make sure that we have different cups for separate liquids.
we have 4 different sippie straw cups: clear juices (apple, pear); milk, water, and colorful juices.

Overall, try a different kind of cup she could be like our little one and not like milk in a regular sippie cup.

One way is to slowly dilute the milk in the bottle with water over several days or weeks until there is only water.

Also, milk is not strictly necessary. Yogurt, cheese, and green leafy vegetables will help your little one get everything she needs. You can also try rotating other milks--soy, goat, almond--or warming it a bit (assuming you still warm her bottle).

You can do the opposite to get her to drink the milk in a sippy...slowly add it to her water.

I found that a sippy cup that was more like a cup and less like a bottle was actually more successful. I enlarged the holes in a "take and toss" type of cup and my daughter took to it well before a year old.

My son is 14 months and I just got him totally off the bottle last week. I did it cold turkey Labor Day was the last day he had a bottle. He drinks his water from sippy cup but I could not get him to drink milk from it. So I gave him a plastic cup and put a straw in it and he went right to drinking it and hasen't had a bottle in a week. He's doing great and before I did the plastic cup and straw thing I tried a million different things and none of them worked. Good Luck!

She'll adjust to the sippy when she has to. Right now, she doesn't have to. I always picked a trash day, had Baby throw all the bottles in the trash, took it to the curb, and watched for the trashman. When he picked up the trash, we waved bye-bye to the bottles, and that was that. When they asked for a bottle later, I put on my sad face and said, "I'm sorry. They're all gone, remember?" (If you want to save them for the next baby, you'll have to sneak them out when she's not looking.) I used the same technique for the binky. No trauma, no drama.

Agreed...just pull the plug. At 12-13 months I just threw away the bottles one day and that was that. It's just like taking the binky. The EARLIER you do it, the easier it will be for all.

Within a week, she's acclimate.

Remember...it's harder on you than her. She will look to you on how to react, so keep a smile and act like life in the cup world is awesome.

Good luck!

I agree with most others...just do it! She'll get through it within a week. My son was similar...drank juice/water from cup but no milk. At 1 year, I just did away with the bottles and continued to offer milk in a cup. Didn't take long and he got over it.
While you are getting through the transition, offer lots of other dairy products. Cheese, yogurt...even some pudding as a special treat since it has lots of milk in it!
Good luck...sooner the better!

I am not a fan of cow's milk - I am allergic so I did my own research on it's health benefits for my child. I found that we should not be drinking it, it's against everything mother nature developed for us. It sounds crazy to most Americans, but it's what I found and my two pediatricians tried to get mad at me until I showed them all my research and the sat there dumbfounded and agreed with me. For the time being, if you want your child to drink milk - it's not going to hurt her if she goes without if for a while. Simply don't let her see a bottle ever again. Keep offereing it to her in sippy cup, some might even say get a different kind of sippy that is only for Milk (the straw sippy is my favorite for milks and most other kids I work with). Fruits (not juice) and veggies, cheese and yogurt will supply all the nutritional value a body needs (with water of course). I am a HUGE fan of Almond Milk (sold everywhere). It has more calcium than cow's Milk and is so healthy for all of us. My daughter loves it!!! Also, there is rice and soy milk - get the "vanilla" flavored kind of all of these. And if you still are worried you can give her vitamins and calcium pills (for kids of course) they come in gummy and chewables. Good luck, stand firm - you are the parent!

Hmm stop giving her the bottle, get ride of them then what choice does she have, either drink the milk or don't. Luckily my kids wanted the big girl cup. Good luck. :)

I was successful in making this transition by taking the bottle full of milk and an empty sippy cup, sitting in front of my girls when they were expecting their morning milk (and hungry for it!), and pouring the milk from the bottle into the sippy cup in front of them so they could see. Once they saw their milk go from bottle to cup, they took the cup with no issues.

Also, I bought dedicated cups for the milk that we only used for milk ... the Bornfree soft trainers I think. Use straw cups or sippies or whatever ... the goal is to get them off the bottle bc it gets a lot harder the longer you wait.

And yes, if you can get her to take the milk in a sippy then don't give her the bottle again ... just transition 100% to some kind of cup.

Good luck!

Don't worry about the milk issue. Keep giving it to her in the bottle until she no longer needs formula. Then just take it away. Humans are the only animals that keep drinking milk after babyhood. Cows get their nutrients solely from plants. So should we. We are herbivores. All animals were created herbivores.

We just threw ours out and that was it! Out of sight, out of mind worked for our kids.

Try using something different than the sippy cup. You could use the type of cup that has the built in straw. Or (my personal preference) use the milk to start training her to use a regular cup or glass. At 13 months of age, she isn't too young to begin training to drink from a regular cup as long as you sit near and help her not to spill. Make it a "big girl" thing and she'll likely enjoy the challenge.
Another idea to avoid losing the nutritional advantages of milk is to offer her yogurt to replace some of the milk in her diet. We use a vanilla flavored yogurt that the children love. If we want fruit flavor in the yogurt, we simply add some fresh fruit or berries and let them mix it in for themselves.