Bottles for Toddlers

To each their own. I stop at one year. I never had a problem with them giving it up.

My friend, however, was in the camp of they will give it up when they are ready. She, in fact, still has a first grader that takes a bottle (not a sippy cup, but a true, with a sylicone nipple, bottle) before bed and a binkie. The little girl will LIE and say she doesn't have either because she does not want her friends at school to know because she knows she will be made fun of so it is a big 'at home' secret. Mom just doesn't want to deal with the tantrum that will insue (this little girl is now from a divorced home and a master manipulator!).

I realize this is an extreme case! And very rare! But, my friend never thought it would happen to her.......and in fact, USED to make fun of/judge other moms in the mall while we were out shopping together (and would justify it because it was 'only at home, not in public.'

My son was really attached to his bottle. We started giving him water in it and saying if he wanted milk, he needed to use a sippy cup. He fussed at first, then lost interest in a couple of weeks. He liked falling asleep with a bottle and we were worried about his teeth, so we decided if he feel asleep sucking water, it would be okay. I was worried that if we took the bottle away completely that he would start sucking his thumb, which is a harder habit to break.

I'm hopping on my "special education administrator" soap box for a minute, so forgive me...
** Bottles and sippy cups hinder articulation development. They do not strengthen the child's oral-motor skills b/c they do not require the complete use of the mouth and tongue.**
While you may be of the mindset that "they won't go to Kindergarten with one"... you would be surprised by what kids show-up to school with (including Binkies).

Around age 1, you should be transitioning your child to a straw cup (or a sippy depending on what your child will take) and away from the bottle entirely. Your little one isn't using the bottle for nourishment... she's using it as a binky. Time to find other ways to self-soothe that are more developmentally appropriate... cuddly animal, bedtime story, back rub, etc.

You'll know when they are ready. My daughter had a bottle before naptime and bedtime until she was three. Yes, it totally relaxed her and met her needs for sucking. She drank from a regular cup (not sippy cup) at mealtimes starting at 14 months. She never liked or needed to use a sippy cup and they are no "better" than bottles.

She has perfect teeth, perfect speech, and is perfectly adjusted in all ways. There is no absolute rule about taking away bottles from babies. Unless there is a specific issue you need to address, use your best Mom judgment and knowledge of your child to decide when is right. Doctors only "go by the book", you are the best decision maker for your child.

Ditto to Krista P's answer. We stopped at 12 months, because we have people in our family that work in speech therapy and motor development. After 12 months, it is not developmentally correct to still use a bottle. Not only that, it becomes a bad habit and crutch.

A LOT of kids that have coping problems, communication problems, soothing problems, and speech problems, with no discernible reason...use bottles and pacifiers too late.

(This is just my honest opinion; we all have one...) Personally, I would never allow a child to maintain such a habit for so long. I'm always baffled when I see a child who's clearly 3, 4, or 5 years old with a pacifier or a bottle. It's hindering so much development- physically as well as emotionally/psychologically (yes, I'm educated in this field). I also feel that often, it's something, emotionally, that the parent is holding on to- not the child.

Anyway, as far as my child is concerned, he was off of bottles before he turned a year old. He was transitioned to sippy cups by about 10 months. He's now 18 months, and we've just this week been successful in transitioning from the sippy cup to a cup with a straw. It's not for our lack of trying though. My poor baby just didn't get the concept of sucking out of a straw, and he'd just bite it instead, lol. Once I realized how to actually "teach" him, he "got it" within less than 2 minutes. He's also able drink out of a regular cup, with an adult assisting with holding it of course. We started introducing that more at about a year old.

Our oldest gave his up on his own a little after 2. There was no fuss at all, he was just ready. Our second is 14 months and he still takes the bottle too. We will let him have it as long as he wants also, but I don't think it will be that much longer because he loves food, (our first was a super picky eater).

I am not in the take the bottle away at one year camp. If the kid needs it for comfort, then so what? Besides, it's much easier on us moms if we don't have to deal with a screaming kid who wants his bottle but only is given a sippy cup!! :-) I also don't understand why so many think a sippy cup is so much better than a bottle. Aren't they sucking on that too?

Here are my weaning stories... hope they help!
I nursed till my daughter was about 20 months. She also had the bottle and sippy cup. I was going crazy trying to wean her and my mom said to put bandaides on them since she was old enough to understand. I felt so bad like I was lying to my baby. I knew she was my last (she is 23 today! I mean actually, today is her birthday!) baby and I was ambivalent about not wanting her to grow up too fast but at almost two I knew it was time for both of us... to me longer would have been weird! Her comment was "Mommy have booboos?" Ahhh I felt like I was such a liar! But it worked and all I had to say was yeah yuckie making her consider having a bandaide in her mouth she thought about it and made a yucky sound too and walked away with her sippy cup.

Shortly after I found a bottle that had soured milk in it and knowingly handed it to her and she took one whiff and said "yucky"... and I made it seem like that was the only bottle (I had gathered them all up & hidden them ahead of time.) I handed her the sippy cup and she never looked back. Well, a few times she whined about wanting one and I said "Remember? yucky!" And she thought about it and seemed to really consider it and then said "Yucky." and took a sip from her sippy cup! For me two-ish is time... give or take a few months. When kids are three I feel it is important to only be using a sippy cup... but that is just my humble opinion and not gospel!
The one good thing when you wean when they are old enough... you have their ability to reason on your side!
Good luck~!

As long as it is not creating a huge tooth decay issue it is horrible to have an older child use a bottle? No. My thing is that it is really hard to wean an older child from something because they developmentally understand more and they have formed an attachment to it for longer. If you don't mind dealing with more fuss later--it doesn't really matter. I know I'm in for the long haul when it comes to my child's lovie and the two finger suck she developed and have no real intention of trying to stop her unless it will completely mess up her teeth.

My son switched to sippy cups at 9 mos old. We just put the bottles away and gave him only sippy cups.

My son started getting teeth at 8 mos so we would brush his gums/teeth after his last bottle before putting him in his crib. Then we moved that bottle to before bath (just gave it to him in his high chair after dinner). Then we switched him to just sippy cups.

My son is almost 3 now and he gets regular cups. The only time he gets a sippy now is if he's sick and takes a water cup to bed.

I don't remember the last day that DD had a bottle. She was primarily nursed, except for daycare, so we gave up bottles as a daily thing after she left daycare when she was about 16 months old. She was already using a sippy cup by then. Then we replaced daytime nursings with sippy cups. I was told that 18 mo. is a good goal. I suspect that like nursing, those first and last ones are probably hardest to get rid of. I would start with the morning one, and replace that with a cheery wake-up, some breakfast, a sippy cup, etc. If she really likes her bottle, try a sippy with a flexible spout.

I stopped the bottle at around 13 months. She started getting the sippy at the sitter's for lunch time. Then I phased it in with dinner, then added it at breakfast. The bedtime bottle was the last to go and she made it easy because she started to drink less and less of it so I just stopped it. She still has her binky though, so that may have helped with stopping the bedtime one. She is totally on a sippy cup now. My pediatrician told me by the time they are 18months they should be off the bottle.

Our pediatrician told us that you should start weaning your child from the bottle by 1 years old. I'm not sure what effects it could have, so consult with your doctor about it. I had no problem taking the bottle from my 2 year old at 1 years old, but it's a little harder with my 1 year old now. He won't drink his milk out of a cup even if he's really thirsty, but he'll drink his juice from a cup.

My daughter was done with the bottle completely by 11 months. We switched to soft tipped sippy cups.

Bad teeth run in my family, and I didn't want to help her get them. Her/my dentist said she should be weaned off the bottle by a year old and from the sucky (pacifer) by 2. My friend has a son a little older then my daughter, and he has speech problems because he still has the bottle. She won't take it away from him, she won't even try sippy cups. It's sad.

Well, you are actually "supposed" to get children off the bottle before they turn one (baby advice books, our pediatrician and magazines I've read have said so). Apparently it is much better for the children the earlier they learn to use a sippy cup and then eventually drinking from an open cup. I gave my kids normal open cups pretty early on... a couple of them were drinking from open cups at 1.

I'm not sure exactly WHY it is recommended that toddlers shouldn't be drinking from a bottle (perhaps a question best answered by a pediatrician?), but I think it has something to do with the fact that a bottle was made to mimic a nipple of a mother, because babies are born (most) knowing ONLY how to suckle, and that is the way that they consume things. I find it entirely unnecessary for a toddler to be drinking from a bottle because clearly they are able to drink other ways physically. It just seems to me a infant item, they aren't an infant anymore, so the need for a bottle is over. Just my opinion.

I think from that point, it becomes a "comfort" issue and the child gets attached, and the older the child is, the harder to "break" the habit. Same thing with pacifiers, I think... That's why I never gave my children them in the first place.

My son was weened at the daycare by 12 months and then my son was weened by 13 months. I then gave my son a sippy cup to drink water out of when he went to bed. But during the day he has a cup with a lid and straw. It works out great for us!

Bottles should be given up by 14 months also sippy cups are only meant to be used for a short time to help transition to a regular cup. I see so many parents use sippy cups for years because it's easier but it I just as bad for their teeth to be drinking from a sippy all day as it is to have a bottle all day.

When you say toddler I'm not exactly sure what age you are referring to. To me, a toddler is any kid who is now toddling around (so that can be anywhere from 8 months - 18 months and beyond!). For me, I breastfed about 60% of the time (when at home and pumped and kids got a bottle while I was at work). With both I introduced a sippie cup around 7-8 months. My daughter caught on fast and at 10 months, my SIL (who watched her) started giving her a sippie cup per my suggestion and in a week's time, she was just done with them. My son transitioned a bit later - 11-12 months but it was an easy transition for him too. He was done breastfeeding at 9 months (daughter did until 12 months) but once he was on the sippie cup, I weaned him off bottles.

Both my kids (3.5 and 1.5) use a sippie cup (with valves) when not at the table. When sitting down to a meal, my daughters gets a regular cup and my son still gets a sippie cup with valve. When we brush is teeth or give him water, I will sometimes put a tiny bit into a regular cup so he can practice drinking without any lid, valve or straw.

Good luck!!

We stopped at 13 mos and 12 mos with our two little ones. First was ear infection prone so doc said off the bottle before the next cold season hit after her 1st birthday. With second, we just stayed with what worked for the first. They were ready because they were capable of drinking out of cups/sippy cups and their attachment issues lasted less than 2 days while we made the transition.

We went cold turkey with the bottle switch over and I hid them.

PS- oh my goodness -- hope you treated the poor grandparents like gold that "accidentally" broke your toddler of the binky-- wow :)

In my home daycare I do all I can to get kids off a pacifier and a bottle at about that first birthday. I also work to get off the sippy cup about 18-22 mos (they are all different)..and I don't use sippys with valves (just my preference).

I also NEVER allow kids to roam with pacifiers or bottles or cups. Pacifiers for teeny babies to soothe, if they are stationary..but once they can pull it out themselves, its only for naps (until I take them away usually cold turkey, soon after the 1st birthday). Bottles are held by me (or them when big enough) and immediately removed when empty. Cups are only for at the table. What parents do at home is up to them, but this is what has always worked at my daycare. While I honestly love the kids in my care, its easier for me to be the "bad guy"......

Of all of mine in care now...the one who never talks and honestly needs to be evaled (in my opinion)...I know Mom still gives him a nuk ...he asks for it ever so quietly in his barely understandable speech every day he is here (PT kid), and she sort of on the sly says its in the car. He was 3 in Dec. All the rest of mine are extremely verbal and well spoken. Do they go together? I feel for certain they do.

A year old for all three. I do give my third baby one at night before bed...otherwise he is used to the sippy cups and not reliant on the bottle :)