Trying to Wean 12 1/2 Month Old off of Bottle

Have you tried a straw? My youngest hated sippy cups but loved straws! They have the nice cups now with the straws built in.
Or just try no sippy cup and no straw and let her sip out of a small glass. I know this can be messy, certainly not something to go to lay down with, but neither is the sippy cup or the straw so maybe you have graduated past that need all ready.
Just a question, not a judgement, but why at 12 months are you trying to wean off of the bottle? Isn't that a little young?

Throw all bottles away and only offer her the sippy. She may take a few days before she stops denying it, but she WILL drink when she's thirsty. She won't let herself get dehydrated. It will be harder, since you already gave in once, but you have to stick with it. You're making it harder on HER by giving in to her. Stick to it!

Try useing a cup with a straw instead of a sippy. I did this with one of my older children and it worked.

Have you talked to your doctor about it? Maybe a day or two of less frequent wet diapers is ok?
Don't give her Koolade though, it's just artificial flavor, dyes, and sugar. Yuck! Stick to natural things like milk and 100% juiced watered down 2-to-1 or 3-to-1.

How many bottles is she getting a day? Have you tried to eliminate one bottle feeding, rather than eliminating them all at once? I didn't wean my daughter until she was 2 1/2 from the bottle. At that time, she was only getting one a day and we did "the bottle dance" where you dance around a garbage can and throw in all the bottles. If you're planning on having other kids and using them again, I recommend using a "clean garbage can/bag". After the dance tell your daughter they are gone, no longer in the house. It worked like a charm for us. She never looked back. Oh, make sure you explain what you are doing (the dance, etc) prior to doing it. Good luck to you....enjoy your precious daughter.

Hold the Horses there.

Now this is just my opinion. Exactly, how old is that l yr old? Is she 12 months or 18 months? I did not force my daughters off the bottle. I let them take the bottle as long as they wanted. At this time, I don't remember if there was intermitment sippy cups or not.

My youngest daughter hung it up earlier than my oldest daughter. I knew that my oldest daughter was ready to give it up when I put the bottle in her mouth and she did
not want to suck on it anymore. That was 18 months. The oldest daughter graduated from CSU and my youngest daughter is in college and affiliated with the army. A toddler on a bottle is not a sign of a mentally slow child!

I had this psychological hang up that if I took away their bottle at an earlier date that they might want to find oral gratification through overeating or boozing it up at a later date. I felt bottle deprivation or the deficit of it could lead to trying to meet this deficit later in life. I don't know if there have been any studies on this.

Watch the Kool Aid in the cup. Toddlers don't need the sugar and artificial colors nor dental cavities resulting from the sugar. To hell with what the other mothers and kids are doing. Let your daughter enjoy her bottle as long as she likes. Sure, its a pain to clean and prepare those things.

But hey, WHOSE bottle is it to enjoy in the first place?
Your daughter will let you know when it is time to hang up the 'bah-ba'. Good Luck.

I know you said you have several different types of sippy cups, but I thought I would suggest one in case you haven't found them!!!! The brand is Nuby, the nipple on them is very much like a bottle nipple my kids have all taken to them very well. Also if you use the avent bottles you can get sippy cup nipples that fit into the bottle system that might work?!

Also my peditrician suggested warming up the milk and even adding a tiny bit of flavoring to the milk when my daughter wasn't drinking very well out of a sippy cup.

You could also try just offering her the bottles with water and her sippy cups with milk she may give up the bottle because she would rather have the milk!!!

Not sure if any ofthis will help but hopefully it will do something for you!!!

A.

My son is 15 months old and never a fan of the bottle so since his birthday he has had 10-12 ounces of milk a day from a bottle. He will play with a sippy cup, but ususally ends up spitting it out. My doctor said not to worry about it until 18 months and since it is summer, cold turkey may not be a great idea (he dehydrates easily). She said you can go cold turkey, it is ok, but I would give her some more time.
There is no medical or dental reason to get her off the bottle, it is probably emotional for her as well. Just keep giving the sippy cup to her and let her be.

I had luck using the Nuby soft spouted sippy cup when I transitioned my older child over to a sippy cup. They have them at walmart and are less than $2 a piece. They don't have a valve so this makes them very easy to drink out of. Also the spout feels more like the nipple of a bottle. Another thing to remember... when your daughter is thirsty enough she will drink from the sippy cup...she is probably just testing you to see if you will give in.
Good luck!

What I didn't know when I first went to transition my daughter to sippy cups is that they come in stages. The first stage has a soft, rubbery sort of spout...similar to a bottle's nipple...then the next stage is harder. I tried to use the hard one first without realizing they had the soft one first. Once I found out they had a soft one, I started water and diluted fruit juice in the sippy cups...let her have formula/milk in the bottle for a little while. Then after a little while of milk in a bottle and water/juice in the sippy cup, I completey removed all bottles from my kitchen and went to sippy cups only. The softer spouts made it a much easier transition. I hope this helps.

You might try a bunch of different kinds of cups to see if she has a preference.

Also, you could try filling a sippy cup with milk - or whatever her favourite drink is - and then water or whatever she does not like quite as much in a bottle and set them together and let her choose. She may come back to the other later, if you leave them sit there a while.

And, please!! If there is some traumatic experience in your child's life, don't do like a previous poster and just take all bottles away. This is a transition that needs to be made at a calm, normal time. I cannot imagine what sort of un-trusting adult a child undergoing that would become.

Gosh, I feel your pain!! My daughter is the MOST stubborn kid I have ever met. She is 18 months old and STILL has her bottle. She absolutely REFUSES to drink from anything other than her bottle. (just to give you a hint of background, she is on meds due to some neurological issues since birth) So anyways, I tried EVERYTHING!!! Same situation, a sip here and there, but not enough to amount to anything for days and days and days. Finally, he doctor told me to give her the stupid bottle back because she was dehydrating!!! Still to this very moment she has a bottle. I am sure she wont take it off to kindergarten with her!! ha ha. I hope your luck is better than mine was... and to be honest, I am over it. It doesnt matter to me anymore. I know she is getting the right amount of fluids and she is living a happy, healthy life. I will continue to work with her a little further down the road, but all in all - it wasnt worth the damage it was causing!!! Hope this was helpful - even though I dont have an answer for you!! Good luck!!

I had the exact same problem with my son. Have you tried the "Nubby" brand sippy cup from Walmart? Believe it or not they are one of the cheapest on the markets and are usually found individually wrapped in a bin below all the other sets hung on the wall. The top of the cup is very soft, like a nipple on a bottle so my son did not fuss over it. Once he was using that for awhile I started giving him other cups every once in awhile and eventually he was fine with the regular hard top sippy cups.

J.

A. lol that is to funny she sould just like my lil girl i got her of the bottle two weeks before she turned one this is what i didnt put milk in the cup and water in the bottle she kepp drink water out the bottle all day long but my baby gilr love the milk it tok her six hrs to drink from the cup on her on for the next 3-4 days we could just give it to her only she would on her own time next thing u know she crys i had it to her she take it idk what the cup is caled that i use but i get it from walgreens 2 for 3 bulks no spil cup sof top with lots of fun colors and buy giving her a water bottle she will still get enough to drink and she will drink it just to not drink from the cup and they she drink more water any way in the summer i hope it helps stick to it and she well bend she knows that she becoming a big girl and she dont know if she wants to take that step. is she walking yet? nubbys r to cheap if u ask me mines was dripping every were, and if she has alot of teeth and bits her bottle the doctor told me that when a bottle is a problem, my lil one stop stuking for to days before i gave her the cup she jut plyed with the bottle

We had the same problem with our little one. he would not take a hard spout sippy. At 10 months he started on a soft spout sippy. Wal-mart has them for around $2. They are made by NUK and have a soft nipple like spout. He is now 13 months and he just started taking the hard spout sippy. I put his favorite, chocolate milk, (I make it weak and use the sugar free Nesquick)and offer that with dinner. He has been doing this for about 3 days now so hopefully we can transition to the hard spout full time.

I wouldn't take the bottle away just yet. I would use both. She is still to young. Give it a few more months. Once she gets use to the sippy cup then you can wean her easier. Good luck.

A., hang in there! You go to the doctor and they say at 12 months you have to wean! Well, it takes time. I purchased the Gerber Comfort Feeding System Spill-Proof Transition Cup and it is the only thing that I could use to get both of my kids to take the cup at all. It has a soft top so I think it reminds them of the bottle. It takes time and offer the cup at off times...my kids had to have the bottle in the morning and at bed for a little while until they were used to the sippy cup!

I am a first time mom to a boy the same age as your daughter. he will be 13 months June 9th! BUT it was hard for us to get him off the bottle but one thing we did that made us feel better was give him tons of fruit all day long. all the doctors say it's not good to let them graze all day because of their teeth, but we figured a few days wouldn't matter. and that way we knew he wasn't getting dehidrated. his wet diapers did go down but we knew he was fine because he ate like a billion grapes and strawberries those few days. I hope this helps (and we did cut the grapes in half of course!)

My son loves the sippy with the straw. Have you tried using a regular cup and letting her use a straw? My son will drink anything if he can drink it from my cup, especially with a straw. Good luck, Shannon G.

We weaned our daughter around 12 months by using the sippy cups that have the softer nipples - Avent makes them and I'm sure some other major brands. We would leave it out with water during the day and still gave her milk in her bottles. Since it was out with her toys she would just crawl over and drink from it. We did have to work a little at first so she knew what is was, etc. We then started by replacing one bottle feeding with a sippy, and she wouldn't drink all of her milk from it, but even a few ounces is a start. It took about 2 weeks and she is now only drinking from sippy cups. Hope this helps.

Hi A.,
My first reaction was "Noo! Dont give your baby kool-aid!!" She is much too young for all that sugar. Toddlers' bellies fill up quickly, so you should make sure that everything your little one eats and drinks is good for her; otherwise, she will fill up on junk and not get the nutrients she needs.

With that being said, all babies are different. I know that gets old, especially as a first time mom, but it's true. Give her the cup two or three times a day, show her how you drink out of it, and make a big deal out of it when she drinks out of it. Smile & clap, sing and dance, the whole nine yards...I agree with not starving her because she isn't interested in the cup. Don't stress yourself out over it & don't let her see you get discouraged, because that will only discourage her. When she sees that you're happy when she drinks out of the cup, that will help. She will probably only drink a couple ounces at a time at first..once she is better, you can still give her a bottle before bed for awhile if she needs it.

Good luck!

I also was going to suggest the Nuby. The top is comparable to a bottle, and they are cheap to try. You can find them at Wal-mart or Target. It is the easiest transition from bottle to cup, I think. Good luck!

A.,
I usually took my kids off of the bottle as soon as they turned 1, well, I weaned them off of it a little at a time that is! If she is not interested in it wait a few days and try again, or try a different sippy cup. Just take away 1 bottle a day for 2 or 3 days and gradually take away more, it may take a few weeks but it will happen. The Nuby cups are real neat and probably work for lots of toddlers but when I bought one for my daughter she pushed the nipple through and made a big mess!! I tried it a couple more times and then gave up on that brand.

The cups with the valves are harder to drink out of (I liked the Playtex ones) but they usually catch on pretty quickly. I don't really think it is too early to start weaning her, like with most things the longer they have it the harder it is to get it away from them!!

Just my opinion! Good Luck!! :)

D. R.

Try one of the cups with a straw in it - my kids liked that better.

The only person who knows when your daughter is ready is her. My daughter went down to a night time only bottle at 16 months and then gave them up completely a few weeks after. She never liked the sippy cups while we were trying to transition, but one day it just worked. I would just try it every couple of weeks or so, and eventually it will work. Some kids need more time and some need less time. My daughter went to Nuby Sippies, because I let her do it when she was ready, and I honestly think that she thought it was her idea. She is rotton!

Like every other mile stone out there, it will be accomplished in due time. Getting off of the bottle isn't as important as risking dehydration which could have some very serious complications.

Good Luck!

My youngest did the same thing. He was hospitalized for two weeks and I would not let them give him a bottle even though he was asking for one. This was a couple of years ago. I made them bring me sipper cups or regular cups with a lid and straw. So while we were there for 2 weeks I had my husband throw out his bottles. When we got home that was the first thing he asked for and we said no and gave him sipper cups. He would drink only a little bit here and there but he got used to it and started drinking regularly out of a cup. I would suggest maybe doing a bottle in the morning and at night before bed and a sipper during the day. She may not drink a lot at first but over time as she gets more used to it she will drink more.
D.

I am 31 and have been married for almost 12 yrs. My husband and I have 3 boys ages 10,7 and 4.