My Almost 2 Year Old Won't Give up Her Bottle

Hi there B.. I've noticed my 16 month old son has trouble eating too. I asked his doctor how to get around the bottle problem and he told me to cut back. Reduce the amount of milk or juice or whatever in the bottle. Example: an 8 ounce bottle gets 7 ounces. then 6 and 5 and so on. And while you are cutting back on the bottle liquids, increase the amount of food you offer. When I cook dinner, my son gets about a teaspoon of everything we eat. Like teaspoon of chicken, stuffing, veggie, etc. Usually he wants the bottle less because he's full on food. Wow! I hope I'm explaining this right. Good luck to you.

Hello B.,

I agree with Carie B. Take away the bottle. When my twins were 9 months old, I introduced a sippy cup to them. At that age, they did not like it. The sippy cup had a hard tip and did not feel good in their hands I guess.

So, when they were 11 months old, I found these Nuby sippy cups with a nice grip and sof straw ( http://www.babybungalow.com/nu12ozmesiwi.html ).

My twins love them so much, I now have 6 of them.

What I also did was let my twins watch me sip on the cup to see it was alrigt.

I found these sippy cups at WalMart FYI.

If she lost 6 lbs. last time I think it's possible there is a medical reason she won't eat solid foods. I'd check with the doctor. If there is no medical reason for her not eating solids I would only give her milk in the bottle and let her decide when she's going to eat. Just provide a meal and snacks consistently everyday at the same time.

It is true kids will eat when they get hungry. Provide tempting foods and be casual about the whole eating thing. When we make it seem like a big deal to the kid, eating can turn into a power struggle.

My daughter gradually took her son off the bottle by giving him a bottle at bedtime and perhaps one other time during the day. Only milk or water went in the bottle. Juice was only in a sippy cup. Then it was just bedtime and then the bottles just went away. She used, "you're a big boy now" and praise. That combined with him wanting to do everything his big sister did seemed to be enough.

I saw a technique on SuperNanny in which they put all the bottles in a sack and the child put the sack in a trash container at the beach. They lived in Hawaii. They discussed this for a week or two. They said the bottles were going to the bottle fairy. And just before or right after (I don't remember when)he put the bottles in the can his father brought him his very own very special cup from the sea by putting it in a small boat which he pulled in by a string. You could use a variation of this to provide her with her very own special cup; perhaps a princess cup or whatever theme she likes. The boys was 2 or so and the Nanny thought it best to quit cold turkey.

I have never experienced this problem myself but I have a 3 year old niece who eats like a bird and 3 younger siblings.

When my niece comes to stay with us we offer her food at scheduled meal times and snacks at scheduled times between meals. I offer some food I know she likes and some new or that she may not. She may eat one or two of the 5 times I offer her food. But man does she poop a lot, so I know she is getting something out of it.

As for the bottle thing….. When my brother was about 2 my mom took every bottle in the house and set them on top of the refrigerator. She told him that every time he drank a bottle he had to throw it away. After the first day he realized he was going to have to take it slow and spaced the last of them out for over a week drinking less every day. Eventually he had just one left and went days without asking for it. After he drank it and tossed it he never asked for one again. Putting him in control of the situation really helped her. She said it never work for any of her other kids though. Hope this helps and good luck!

when i got rid of the bottle, my daughter was barely one. I just refused to give it to her. I offered her stuff from a cup and other food. She fought it for about 2 days, and then she realized I wasn't going to give in. Kids won't starve themselves. They will eat eventually. Give it a try. You'll feel bad while it's happening, but it's worht it in the end. It sounds like a bit of a power struggle. Don't give in. Good luck.

Hi B.,

I have a similar problem with my son. He's 2 1/2. For me its not the bottle problem, but the eating problem. I don't know why he won't eat, but he'll go days, even weeks without eating more than 1 bite at each meal. I keep offering foods, but nothing seems to help. I've continued giving him whole milk so he gets more fat, protein, and calories.(He's very skinny and uses LOTS of energy everyday.) He's just above the cutoff for underweight at 10%, I think. He will drink a few cups of milk everyday, but the eating part is a hit and miss. I've tried foods he likes, but that doesn't seem to change anything. I tried lots of different ways to make meals "fun", giving him goals (5 bites, then he could get down), rewards, meal replacement shakes--he wouldn't drink any of them, etc--to no avail. Our meals would usually last about 1 hour and then he started making himself throw up after taking a couple bites. I was mortified and completely frustrated! I realized that if this kept up he would be in a world of trouble and all eating activities would be a negative thing for him, which is the opposite of what I wanted. I talked to my pediatrician about it and he said, let him be. He said, when he's hungry, he'll eat. I was worried, thinking that all the effort I had been putting into getting him to eat was the only thing keeping him at the 10% and now he might lose more weight! (But I also figured if he did lose weight, maybe the Dr would then be more concerned.)

Somehow, after I stopped trying to make him he, he has started eating more on his own. Some days, no, but most days he does ok. I realized that my son did not have the stability of a routine that I think he desperately needs at this age. I'm a single mom and his dad doesn't share any of my concerns about his weight, routine, etc. In fact, it seems like he purposely messes up his routine to get back at me but it only ends up hurting my son. (That's a whole other problem) Anyway, I realized that I needed to make some drastic changes in my life in order to do the best for my son. I recently changed jobs to a more regular schedule and enrolled him into daycare. I never thought I'd want daycare, but it is really great for him.(He's only been going to daycare for the past week, but they give you daily updates on how much they eat, play, nap, etc.) He has a daily routine & schedule, meal times, play times, etc. He know what to expect, gets lots of positive reinforcement, and is eating a lot more. I don't know if you are facing any of the issues that I am, but for us the routine seemed to make the biggest difference. If you are able to structure you child's day, it might be easier to get her to eat. I basically got rid of the bottles cold turkey. Since she does drink from tippy cups, if that's all she has available to her--she will drink when she gets thirsty.

It sounds like she's got a seriously stubborn side to her and will hold out until you give in. I think its so hard not to give in when you see your child might be losing weight by not getting the bottle, but if you think about it in the long run, she will gain more weight by eating more food(instead of milk in the bottle).

I hope this helps! Let me know if you figure out something that works great. I'm always open to trying whatever I can to get more meat on my kid's bones :)

Hi B.,
We also had a somewhat difficult time getting rid of the bottle. I began talking to him about becoming a big boy & not needing the bottle anymore at about 25 months, we had a new baby on the way. I told him when he was not drinking from a bottle anymore we would take him to Chuck E Cheese. After 2 months of talking to him about how proud we would be when he was off it, he finally at 27months said he was ready. We packed them all up into a bag and put them into the trash. I never heard another word about them until I had our 2nd child that now takes a bottle. Guess I should have tried to start getting him off the bottle sooner. He still gets that dreamy look in his eyes when he sees my other son drinking it. Poor guy. He handles it really well though since it was his decision to become a big boy & we praise him for that.

My kids have always had their bottles and then went to sleep so I never worried about when they were off the bottle. My daughter finally at 2 3/4 would rather have a princess cup with a straw, she doesn't even care for the bottle anymore. However my son who will be 2 on valentines day loves his
"ba ba and drink it". i don't mind and I know he fills up on liquids, so I try to give him his bottle 3 times a day, wakeup, nap, bedtime. this way he looks forward to them and knows exactly when he gets them. he can't drink milk, he drinks tea, however if I thought he didn't eat a good meal that day I just make his bottle with a meal replacement shake.

My thoughts on bottles that they are just a sippy cup with a different top! seriously... they're all bottles.

you could try the avent sippy lids they are soft and my kids like them. that's our transition away from bottles when I think I am going to try to stop with the bottle. Nuby also makes a really soft sippy cup.

I'm not sure if I offered any advice.

My friend's mom put all of her bottles in a paper bag and gave them to the pizza man. My friend just realized the other day why she always hated answering the door when the pizza delivery guy came. My cousin had her girls put their bottles in the garbage on garbage day and they watched the truck take them away.

I would think the best thing to do is to just take away the bottle completely, Do not have them in plain sight because they will try anything to get them back. I had the same problem with my oldest son, but after him I learned and took all my other children off before 1 years old. It is hard to give that kind of tough love, but it does work.

I'm responding because you wrote that you like to hang out and meet new people....But, my son (3 yrs old) has backpedaled also- he got very sick and wouldn't eat, but would take a bottle, so he got nutrition in that sense- now I'm having a hard time stoping that (agsain!). I am a single (engaged for quite a while, but don't think there will be a marraige),stay at home mom; I also like to watch movies, play cards (used to play videos, but haven't been able to in a while.) and just sit and talk- in between interruptions from my son- we love the beach and the lake (all summer long). We really don't know many people, and we don't know most of our neighbors. Nicqo (my son Nicqolis) loves play with other children but mostly only sees or plays with kids at preschool. I also have a 22 year old daughter, Chloe' (I was young) who lives in Oregon with her husband; she is here visiting until Sunday. She's 3 months pregnant. My name is T. and my phone number is ###-###-####, maybe we could get together. ? Maybe together we could figure how to get your daughter and my son OFF THE BOTTLE!!!!

Not that this will help you now, it might. But I hope it helps others who don't want to have this same problem. The best advice our pediatrician gave us at our twins 1 year apt., was to take the bottle away that day. Give them sippy cups. I said "but they won't like that". She said "you are the parent, it doesnt matter, you just have to do it, they will get over it". And I will tell you, that day when we got home, we took the bottle away and gave them sippy cups. They are now 2 and 1/2 and don't even get tempted at their 10 month old sisters bottle. I would just be the parent and stand firm. Offer the sippy cup (the one with the straws are awesome and very easy, since they know how to suck). I would just get rid of them all together. Then she will know that you aren't going to give in if she stops eating. YOU ARE THE PARENT. If you don't do this now, she will be one of those kids who is like 3 with a bottle. I can't stand that, and it will be even harder then. Hope it helped a little. Also our twins didn't eat baby food for very long, they moved straight to adult food. Just had to cut it up really small. They were really curious about what we were eating. I also offer them lots of variety and lots of fruits and veggies. I don't make them finish their plate, but at least try some of everything. In the end you need to be the one in control. Good luck!

I had the same experience with my son who will be 3 in June. We finally got him weaned off the bottle completely a few months after he turned 2. We gradually tried to phase out the bottle but that didn't work very well. We eventually made the decision to just get rid of it. It was hard for the first week or two, a lot of crying from our son who kept asking and asking for his bottle. But eventually he became used to the idea and accepted it. At first I was worried about the not eating part. That's why I always caved in when he wanted a bottle. However, it's true when they say that kids will eat when they are hungry. I found that by being persistant and offering meals and snacks on a regular basis, my son eventually became more interested in food and now eats well.

Dear B.,

Of course, you know about sippy cups - why don't you try just giving her a bottle one time a day - I don't know when it would be best, but it would be after she eats real food. I am glad to hear that you like to hang out that means that you enjoy being with people - and maybe you could just be with your 22 month old when she eats. I used to sit near my babies when they ate and could kinda of push things here and there and ask them questions (don't demand an answer) just asking the question means you are interested in them - Just say, yes your bottle is waiting for dinner to be over, or some such.

You probably know much more than I do. Just wanted to say hello and give a hint. Good Luck, C. N.

Hi B., my name is Kim and I have a 3 year old son. The bottle thing is one of the hardest to break from a child. I broke that bottle from my son at the age of 1 1/2. It was hard, but a friend advised me what to do and it worked. What I did was one night I didn't give my son his bottle and he cried and fussed for awhile until he feel asleep. I did this procedure for three days and that's all it took. Instead of the bottle I gave him a sippy cup, he didn't want it at first, but adventually he gave in and took it. He never asked for the bottle again. You just have to stop it completely in order to break the habit. It worked for me. I wish you luck. Please keep in touch with me and let me know what happens if you decide to try my advice.

Hi B.,
I did not have this problem but maybe you could try giving her only water in the bottle and juice and milk in a sippy/cup. Good luck. M.

Just to ease your fears, kids will refuse food, but will eventually succumb to their hunger and eat. Trust me. My sister has an EXTREMELY picky 3 year old who takes a couple bites and is done. She hardly seems to eat anything, but her pediatrician constantly tells my sister that she'll eat when she is hungry. Also, it's good to judge how much a kid should eat by their age, ie: 2 years old - 2 oz.

As for the bottle issue, my daughter was about 25 months old when I finally got her off of the bottle. It was difficult, but her doctor suggested having her say "bye-bye" to her bottles and have her throw them in the garbage herself. She asked for it a couple times, but surprisingly, this worked. You might try that!

My suggestion is to give her the "bottle" as a Zippy cup feeder, looks like a bottle with a sippy top (I found them at K mart) My littlest didn't even notice the change. Used the same words and timing. It soon became a cup with a lid during the day... She now goes to sleep because she is tired not stuffed by a bottle...
Also, don't ridgely follow your pediatitions advice, do what makes sence in your family and your heart...

Hi B.,

What we did was introduce sippy cups, then cut back bottles by using Organic Cows Milk. That helped a bunch. As for foods, some kids are more food picky than others. I have found pasta and things that are easy to digest work well. What I can say is I have a niece who until she was 4 still needed her bottle, or wanted it at nite. It is a security thing for children. As the childs fears are quieted, they will not feel the need or desire for a bottle. Hope this helps... Oh, and congrats on your engagement! Marriage and family are the best. :)

Blessings,

K

To get my first daughter of of bottles I tried sippy cups with silocone nipples. they look like sippies but there soft like a bottle after a while I graduted her to a harder sipp and by the time she was one she did.t use a bottle at all. another bit of advice I had a friend who was having trouble getting her son to take a sippy and found out that he had a different knid of sucking style and only likes a specific kind of cup. you might just try going straight to a cup Sassy brand makes a kind of sippy that has a lip on it so it drinks like a cup but it has a lid on it that turns so the juice or milk comes at a slow medium or fast pace.

Hi B.,

There could be a couple of things that are counseling her to do this. The bottle, blankets and pacifiers are sometimes used for comfort. Look at your household and make sure there are not a lot of changes going on. Take her in little steps. She can have in the am right now but not in the evening or afternoon. Pick a time that works for you. If she likes her sippy cups then you make a meal replacement shake so that you can make sure she is getting the nutrition without a lot of milk and junk. (Call me and I will tell you what ones are good) Whatever you start don't stop doing. If you take it away then that is it. If she thinks that she can get it back she will test you with everything she has.

My son was a big one for testing my will. I put him in preschool and told him that big kids that go to school not use bottles are pacifiers.
Hope this helps. Good luck

L.
Nutritionist
www.herbalmom.com