Weaning - Charleston,SC

Both of my kids switched very easy although when I switched them they no longer would drink milk. They did not like the taste of it. They both switched to cups from bottles at 10-11 months and then from formula at a year. Wal-mart has cups with a silicon nipple nubies and they work well to make the switch easier.

With you expecting another baby, I'd pack up the bottles and put them away until the next one comes. What we did with our son, was we started doing weaning him off the formula, first with 3/4 formula, 1/4 milk, then 1/2 formula, 1/2 milk in his bottles, and finally 1/4 formula, 3/4 milk. I think we did each for a week. We didn't put any formula into his sippy cups, only milk. For a short while, we did a bottle of milk at bedtime but stopped doing that, too, when he started to nod off on his own. Now he gets water in a sippy cup at bedtime. My son is 18 months old and is still on the sippy cup because he hasn't gained the coordination to use a regular cup, even though he loves to try. We let him practice with the regular cup in the bathtub.

Good luck with your weaning.

We started out with mixing half formula and half milk in a bottle then to a cup with meals.... then slowly they all three took it full time . The meal time will be come messy but after a little over a week they will want the cup instead of the bottle. Hope it helps

If you have already started giving her a sippy cup it should be easy. However if your daughter is anything like how my son was the bottle was his comfort. This may sound mean, but this is what the doctor told me to do. During the day do not give a bottle except for nap time and then at bed time. For the first day or so she may not take the cup, but if you stick with that she will realize that if she is thirsty she is going to have to drink from the cup. It didn't take long for my son to let the bottle go using that. Good Luck

All good responses. You just have to make up your mind and do it!

My son turned one on the 14th of July. On the 13th we dropped his bedtime bottle and added a bit more food to his dinner. Each day I added a bit more food to his meal and transitioned him with a milk formula combo in his sippy cup. By the 17th he was totally off formula and I put all of the bottles away out of sight! No problem!

Start dropping a bottle a day, start with te bottle that you might think is the hardest.

I do milk in his sippy cups b/c the Doc. said he still needs 15-20 oz a day. Although you can find other calcium sources..

Also- I have 2 or 3 different sipppy cups (from Target- the take and toss are great) so we don;t have an attachment issue and I don't use any cups with "flow control".

Good luck with number 2 on the way!

This seemed to be the hardest thing for us to do with my third son. I nursed him for 9 months but started supplementing at around 6 months. He then got really attached to his bottle and formula. We started mixing his formula half and half with whole milk. Then I just gave him his bottle in the morning and night, whichever meant the most to him. Offering a cup with juice in it really helped because he liked the juice and soon figured he could only get that out of a cup. We now give him whole milk with strawberry syrup to flavor it ( that's the only way he would drink it alone). I hope my story helps you. Just remember it takes 3 days to break a habit with children. Out of sight out of mind for 3 whole days and Success. Good Luck, T.
Mother of 3 boys ages 11, 6 and 16 months.

I'm not sure you're talking about getting her of the bottle to start her over to cups or you're talking about getting her slowly away from formula.
Here some things you can try: Don't leave bottles around to where your daughter can see them. Many times, when they don't see them, they wont ask for them. Try to give her some 100% fruit juices during the day and water. My daughters never did trink water though. lolol
Trying to introduce her to whole milk I would start off with cereals using Vitamin D milk, yogurts..different things with milk in it. Only give her the bottle in the morning and at night and then you'll slowly can reduce it to just at night. Every child is different. I have two daughters and they both basicly stoped taking the bottle and formula at one. They just didn't like it anymore.
Good luck.
G.

Hi H.,

My Advice to you is this, let her take her time. It is important to teach her to let go, not to take it from her painfully. They told my cousin that the Mean Billy Goat got her bottle and they hid it from her. She is terrified of goats to this day.
Weaning can be a painful experience for a child. We used the playtex sippy cups with the valve to wean our children (5 of them). When they wanted their bottle we gave them the sippy cup and told them they had to sit up to drink it. (we always put something they really liked in the cup). They eventually changed from "drinking bottle, go to sleep" to "drinking cup because I am thirsty" It worked, it was not painful to them and we were able to keep the carpet clean!

You are in my prayers,
W. S. Flat Rock, NC

I'm curious to know why you feel the need to wean her from bottles or from formula if she is enjoying both and isn't showing signs of being ready. The one year old mark is not some magic number to base a parenting decision on. Every child is different. Bottles and formula will not suddenly start to damage her once she hits 13 months old, nor will weaning become harder.

If you really feel the need to wean her, I'd pick ONE thing do wean her from gently. Either bottles OR formula, not both. And some kids will refuse to take sippy cups or drink whole milk, even if you do the cold turkey method, so don't assume that she will eventually take something new just because her old isn't offered to her anymore.

If you are changing from formula to cow's milk, start by mixing a little cow's milk into her already mixed formula in her bottle. Increase the cow's milk and decrease the formula a little each day. She probably won't even notice the switch if you do it gradually.

If you are switching from bottle to sippy cup, try to limit bottle to her comfort times like first thing in the morning, before nap, before bed. Encourage formula (same temp as the bottle) in a sippy cup for snacks and lunch. Then, each week, cut ONE bottle feeding out until you aren't doing it anymore.

Each child is different, so you need to be in tune with her personality. For some kids, cold turkey really is the best option. They get mad for a minute, then get over it and move on. If your child is NOT like that, gradual is best :)

Good luck! And remember, I'd ask your pediatrician the concrete reasons behind the need for the switch in the first place.

I just had to wean my son off the bottle o july 7th and I did with him the same I did with my 4 yr old which was just taking the bottle away and replacing it with a sippy cup. I'm still allowing my baby to drink the formula in the morning and sometimes at night or whenever b/c I still have about 6 cans left and I had no one to give them to.If you just throw all the bottles away and buy a sippy cup the baby will transition with no problem.