Getting a 2 Yr. Old to Stop Using a Bottle

At her age, she should be limited to 24 oz of milk a day. It's better for her if she doesn't go to bed with a full stomach - the stomach doesn't really work when we're asleep.

She already won't take a bottle with water, so I wouldn't try to get her to take one just to train her out of it later. Have a good-bye bottle party where you get rid of all the bottles. Start a new bedtime routine that doesn't include a bottle. Brush teeth, read a story, rock and sing to her for a few minutes, tuck her in bed and give kisses. She's most likely going to be unhappy for a few days, and ask and cry for the bottle. Just calmly remind her the bottles went bye-bye and its time to go to bed. Stay firm and things should start calming down within a week or so.

I wouldn't worry about it. My daughter is 2 and still takes a bottle 3 times a day. My son was not like that and I know its my fault however after talking with other moms I worry that if I take the bottle away there is a chance she won't drink milk any more - at all. The dr told us just to offer milk all day long in a sippy cup -- and nothing else. My theory is, she will grow out of it and I'd rather she gets the nutrition. And I try not to open things up for discussions with other moms or people who might have an opinion I don't want to hear ;)

At 2 she doesn't need anything on her stomach before bed if she ate a good dinner. They are not needing a bottle at night at all.
You have created a dependency, the only way to eliminate this dependency is to just stop the bottle. Tell her she is a big girl and bottles are for babies. Throw away every bottle in the house so you aren't tempted and she cannot see them.

I took away the bottles from my kids at the year mark, they were gone. They asked maybe for one day then never mentioned them again, out of sight out of mind. It was the simpliest thing on the planet. One thing I learned is to not give them at bedtime after the year mark. Bottles are so bad on teeth unless it is water but still the sucking isn't needed at 2 any longer.
She doesn't need a sippy cup either. You are headed to potty training and eliminating all liquids now will save you later, promise. That will be one more habit to have to break. Cutting off liquids at night is a big must during potty training.

Just take them away, tell her you gave them to babies.
She may cry, scream, pitch a fit, just comfort her and reassure her she is so done with them because she is a big girl and leave it at that. I am betting within a week she will be over it.

Just like all toddler dependencies, bottles, cosleeping and pacifiers just have to be a cold turkey factor, as dragging it out will make it so much harder. Us parents use them for our own crutches to make life easier for us, but sometimes just doing it cold turkey is a lot easier for everyone.

She will not need therapy at 21 because of this, promise.

I had two kids I got past this stage with so much ease, they are not any more grown up because of it but I let them go to the next milestone instead of holding them back and letting them act like babies when they shouldn't any longer. They need to go into toddlerhood with confidence and be independent, that is giving them a GIFT!

Hi S., This is a hard one to break for some kids. I had one that had a bottle until he was three. I agree with the first post in only one thing that maybe the only way to break her of it is cold turkey. As far as them not needing to suck I disagree. Kids have sucking pads in their cheeks that don't just disappear at one year. They still need to suck for several years and there is nothing wrong with that in my opinion. And getting rid of liquids? Not sure if I am reading that right but I would have to disagree with that one also. We push our children to grow up way to fast these days and it makes me sad because we don't know what it does to them down the road. They are only this age and any other age once. Good luck and goe with what makes you comfortable and feel is best for your child not what others may think. :)

I had the same problem with my son. He was 2 1/2 when we finally got him off the bottle. He was like your daughter-he wanted a bottle at nap time and at bedtime. We bought a special new sippy cup and told him that he could no longer have a bottle. We actually threw all the bottles out. We battled for maybe a week and then we were done with it. And then a few months later we were done with having any milk when he was going to bed. I know whatever path you choose to take will be difficult for a few days but she'll forget all about shortly. Good luck!

You are just going to have to go cold turkey (or try any other fabulous advicse you get here.) A two year old shouldn't be drinking after 6 or so...two hours before bed. If you ever want to potty train, you are going to have to do it now. Serve milk in a cup (sippy or trainer fine) with meals. then the rest is water. My son can't have milk and the doctors said he is just fine after two without it as there is plenty of calcium in other foods we eat (assuming you have brocolli and such). And, he may not drink it for a bit as he is now old enough to be stubborn and manipulate you. but in the end, give it two weeks or so, she will probably start drinking it again with his meals. Just keep serving it. I weaned both of mine at 9 months from bottles so I don't know how it will work for an older child. I replaced the before bed bottle with water. Eventually, they dropped it all together on their own. I also moved that last bottle up by 15 minutes and out of the bedroom. Eventually, they would eat with water in a cup and then a milk just after dinner around 6. they also slept through the night by one so didn't have that issue. At this age, it is pacification. so make sure she has a"lovey" and start potty trainging her. Then you can tell her she can't drink before bed as part of her "big girl" training. they love being "big."

I am for old school. I have 3 kids, a 4yo and 2yo twins. My 4 yo was on the bottle until he was 3 and the twins were off at 1 1/2. I just let them decide when they were done. The twins would probably still be on them, but with all the chaos we lost the bottles and just moved them over to sippy cups. If you don't want her to be on the bottle, then give her a sippy cup with a soft nipple available to her in her bed at night and she will eventually start drinking out of it, or just take the bottle away completely. Either way it won't hurt your daughter. Our parents didn't worry about when we were on the bottle and how long and it didn't ruin us. :)

S.,

I feel your pain. I know how hard it is to break a bad habit with a little one. This, however, is really a matter of health. Falling asleep with a bottle of milk will rot her teeth and have lifelong consequences for her gums. Please, get rid of the bottle. Lots of ladies gave you great suggestions. Any way you go about it will be hard and you will have tears. You must be strong and do it. Get rid of the bottles today! Parenting can be so hard sometimes, especially when we have to be the "bad guy," but remember, you are doing what is best for her! Sometimes, cold turkey works best. Good luck,
Theresa

A website to look at about baby tooth decay: http://www.drgreene.com/21_1034.html

I know what that battle is like. My kids both had a bottle until they were two and older. I finally switched them to a no spill sippy cup filled with a little bit of juice, less than two ounces of juice, the rest was water. Even if she doesn't like it, I would still give her that than the bottle. Slowly over time put less and less juice and make it all water. Milk at bedtime and in the middle of the night can wreck havoc on their teeth. My youngest had to have all his baby teeth covered in silver caps, due to bottle rot. She doesn't need the milk at this age, at least not at night.

Both of my boys hated the sippy cups and soon they just held them until they fell asleep and I was able to take them off the cup at night. Good luck!!!

my oldest drank milk from a bottle until he was 2 also. it was just a really important comfort for him. i switched to nuby cups with the soft mouthpiece. eventually i was able to get him to use a sippy cup with a straw. he's 5 now and still insists on a cup of milk before bed. i don't mind because he doesn't wet the bed and he sleeps better on a full stomach.

I was in the same situation with my 2 year old. He would drink everything but milk out of a sippy cup, so we knew he was capable of doing it and that he just chose not to. I actually hid the bottles and pretended to not know where they were and we searched for them for awhile before just getting a sippy cup of milk. He really thought they were lost and that I couldn't do anything about it so that seemed to work for him. Every child's different though so good luck with your daughter!!

I wonder if you could give her a cup of milk before you put her down. I mean a cup without a lid. Let her sit in her booster seat and drink "like a big girl." That way she'd get her milk and her full tummy.
But before you do that, pack up the bottles in a box and take them out to the garage. You'll have to decide if you want her to help you do that for "closure" or if you want them to disappear during a nap.

I had to get my son off the bottle cold turkey. Slowly changing to water didn't work, and everything else you mentioned. With my son, I just one day put all the bottles in the garbage and had him watch the garbage man take them away. He had about two hard nights of sleep. Whenever he asked for a bottle, I simply told him that the garbage man took them away, he was a big boy and didn't need the bottles anymore. I let him choose his new 'milk cups' at the store and explained that he was a big boy and got to drink out of cups like Mom and Dad instead of a bottle like a baby. Letting him choose the cups really helped. I would ask him "Which milk cup do you want to use?" and he'd get really excited to be the one choosing the cup.

Whatever you do I hope it works out fast for you!

Hi S.,

First of all, don't be embarrassed that your 2 yr old still has a bottle! My daughter was 3 before I got her to give it up! My solution? One afternoon I had her ''help'' me in the kitchen, told her we were cleaning out the cupboards and getting rid of things we didn't need. She was always eager to help which was nice! We started with the cupboard that housed all her bottles!! I held the trash bag while SHE tossed ALL the bottles into it, we then did the drawer with the nipples, caps etc... again SHE put them ALL in the trash, then we tied the bag up and she helped me to carry it to the end of the drive for the trashmen to collect. After saying bye bye to all the bottles, that was it NO tears and no whining for a bottle, it was done, they were gone! (However, it wasn't really our trash day, and I really didn't want to throw them all away as I had a friend in need of them so I waited until my daughter was napping and went out, picked them up and popped them in the trunk of my car to take to my friend...my daughter was none the wiser!! LOL)

Whatever you decide, good luck!

I tried nubbies they have a soft nipple on the sippy cup lid and my son transitioned with not problems.

She does not need that anymore. The best way to go in my advice and experience is cold turkey. If you want to give her a little bit of milk before bed, that's probably fine. She can drink it while you read to her or something. But put it in a cup. Just get rid of all the bottles. It will be hard, she will throw fits and cry, but it's just gotta be done. That's how I did it with my daughter. She takes a sippy with water in it at bedtime and most of the time she doesn't drink any. But it was tough to break her of the milk and bottle, but the sooner the better. And just tell her we are all done with bottles. And then throw them away.

It really depends on how badly you want to get rid of the bottle. Our oldest had a hard time switching. My husband finally decided that we were "enablers" and just threw all the bottles out so we couldn't give her one. She had a hard time for 2 or 3 nights, and then she took to the sippy cup just fine. If you don't want to go through the hard few nights, it may not be worth it to bother right now and just let her keep the bottle at night. People have their opinions on how bad it is for children to be on the bottle, go to bed with milk, blah blah blah. I am with you. I eventually switched my daughter to regular old water at night after a while and she was fine. Our daughter has had no problems with teeth or anything. You just have to do what works for you!