Okay I know I set myself up for a world of pain. When my son turned one I started to wean him from his bottle. I wasnt working and thought it would be great to get off the baba and onto sippies so I could start potty training asap. Well it was just bad timing and I felt it was too fast for him so I allowed him to go back on. This was after about two months with only one baba a day. The reasoning for this is becasue we moved to a different state and he was going through soo many changes that I thought he needed that sucking sensation for a little added security... Well 7 months latter Im thinking about doing away with the baba again but now he is more attached then the first time!!! SO any advise...I realize it probably wasnt the best strategy so what can I do now...
Don't wean him off, the mistake was in letting him have that one ba ba a day. Simply take them away, attached or not. He may cry and ask for it. At his age, bottles aren't meals and aren't for comfort, beverages are just that, a drink. It's more important to be done with the bottle than to rush to toilet training.
.... no biggie.
He won't go to Kindergarten with it.
The thing is, in our 'culture'... detachment is emphasized... and the earlier the better for whatever reasons justified or not.But if done too soon or too late... then 'maybe' it is a problem... by the majority society.
In other cultures... natural developmental weaning is accepted. And it is not uncommon for even a 3-4 year olds to have a bottle.
And contrary to what some may say... it DOES.not.create a child that is more independent or dependent or confident or insecure. THAT is per personality and how the child is raised... emotionally.
A bottle or breast... does not create or de-create those things.
It is all up to you.
You are the Mom. This is your child. There is no right or wrong in it.
And each child is different. And a bottle does NOT make a child better than another or not.... no matter what age the child was weaned at.
all the best,
Susan
just take it away.... he is older.. and yes he is more attached.. it will be harder.. but get a sippy cup or two or three.. or a water bottle... and go for it.. just take it away.. tell him the garbage men took them... and that's it.. don't go shopping with him down the aisle with the bottles.. otherwise you will be in trouble.. good luck
IMHO the only difference between a bottle and a sippy is a cultural one. They're the same durn things. So... obviously I'm biased... but we let our son keep his until he was 3ish. At that point he liked the colors of sippy cups and so switched to the playtex double walled ones. No stress, no fuss. Looking back, I remember about a 6mo period where he'd use his sippy in the day and his bottle at night. And then at some point he started using the sippy cups at night.
Of course, by the time he switched to the sippy cups he was more than able to use regular cups and straws... it was a "no spill" issue, plus the thermos factor. My son's hypoglycemic so we ALWAYS had to have milk around... and the sippy cups worked best. Around age 5 we switched again to the "lock straw" cups.
I think at this age they feel like a lot of things are out of their control. And you mentioned that a lot of changes have take place in his life so that's probably even more true for him. Anything he can have control over that won't drive you crazy is a good thing. Involve him in the transition as much as possible, and give him lots of choices. You're not a bad mom. :)
I'm with Riley and S.H. - why are we so intent on taking away things from our children? Why put yourself and your son through "pain"? My daughter drank from her bottle twice a day until she was 3 - no big deal. Your son does need to suck for security. What difference does it make if it is from a bottle or a "sippy cup"? I also don't get how bottle/sippy cup is related to potty training? Potty training can happen any time you feel your son is ready, no matter what he is drinking his milk from.
I hear you. My son is 10 months and I have been trying to slowly wean him off the bottle and onto the sippy so he'll be done with it at a year, but he is not having it! My daughter was a complete different story and did not care one bit, but he's attached! ;) I feel myself also sliding back into just giving up the fight and letting him finish his milk in a bottle, but I agree that you probably just need to go cold turkey. Maybe give him like a 3-4 day countdown as to when you'll be taking it and make it happen. It may take a few days for him to drink a significant amount from a sippy, but I think eventually it will. I hope it goes well for you...I see it in my future as well! :) Good luck!
If you decide to go cold turkey, consider putting some sippies around so he can play with them and get used to the idea of them. You can casually talk about the sippie if he shows interest in handling.playing with them. Kids learn so much through play, I think playing with sippies helped when I went cold turkey with my son. FYI It took about 3 days for him to adjust.
I am very laid back when it comes to making my kids fit the schedule other people make up for them. Keeping the bottle in their mouths all night with the milk dripping onto their teeth all night is what makes the teeth rot out.
It doesn't matter where the liquid comes from, it's still in their mouth while they are drinking. Saliva naturally rinses the mouth out and cleans the teeth. If he needs to suck for any reason he will find something to suck, a finger is MUCH harder to wean than a bottle.
Just do it cold turkey. By weaning him, you will be more apt to give in and let him have an extra one a day. Get them out of the house and be firm in your decision! It should only take a couple days for him to forget about them and adjust.
Cold turkey. That is what we did with my oldest son. After a few days he took the sippy cup with now problems.
Don't worry about potty training until you get his switched to a sippy cup.
If you really want to switch slowly only give him water in his bottle & put milk, juice & any other special drinks in the sippy cup. If he refuses to drink out of the sippy cup after a week I would go cold turkey.
God bless!
My daughter would never consume large amounts with a sippy cup. Due to weight gain issues, her pedi wanted her to keep the bottle until she was around 15-18 months. Since she would only sip beverages from a zippy cup, I introduced colored flexible straws. She liked to pick the color. I used regular sippy cups but took out the straws that came with them (besides, I hated trying to clean those straws). You can try straws or perhaps even introduce a sippy cup that has something special in it (like chocolate milk); keep giving him a sippy cup that has the special yummy in it that he can't get in a bottle... He should start to associate sippy cups with something that he likes. Slowly dilute the chocolate milk with regular milk... Until both bottles and chocolate milk are no longer given.
Have you seen the episode of Super Nanny where Jo has the child put her binky in an envelope for the binky fairy...has the binky fairy come and take it away and in exchange, the child got a reward? You could do something like that. But once the baba is gone, it's gone. There's no giving it back to him.
Rather than look at it as taking away the bottle- try cool things like new sippies or sippies that have the straws. It's a cool new reward, not punishment. If I am confused and you are talking about a pacifier... I would cut that off cold turkey... no way around it.
Do you know anyone who recently had a baby or is about to? You could try "baby joey is just a baby and needs bottles, you are a big boy now and don't need them but he does". Then let him help you pack them all up and give them to "baby joey"...the baby's parents can keep or get rid of but your son will know they are gone.
