My 5 yr old daughter never really got off of the bottle and I have tried everything to get her off of it but before I became pregnant with my son, she was somewhat stopping with the bottle but once she found out I was pregnant and also when I had him, she wanted the bottle more. I don't know if she is doing this because it is like a security blanket for her or because she was the baby of the family for 5 yrs. I would like some help in trying to get her off the bottle because I know she might end up with bottle rot on her teeth from still drinking the bottle. The only time she does drink from it is when she goes to bed. And the only thing she drinks from it is milk and I just don't know what to do. If anyone has any good ideas to help me please let me know.
First I would like to thank everyone for their advise on my problem with my daughter. I just wanted to let you all know that we are doing better with not having the bottle at night before we go to bed, instead my daughter now has a glass of milk or even chocolate milk, she then brushes her teeth and then goes to bed with no problem. I tried to tell her we had to throw the bottles out but she said "Mommy we can't throw out the bottles, what about my baby brother, what is he going to drink from then?" lol. So I told her we will just get ready of her bottles and she said ok. Just wanted again to say thank you for all your help.
My older daughter was very attached to her bottle. When she was about 3, her bottle leaked on her and I told her that it was broken and we had to put her bottles in the garbage. It worked. She asked for them for about a week and I told her that they were broken and that was it. My little one is 2 1/2 and I'm planning to do the same thing with her when she is 3. She's a little bit more stubborn, so hopefully it will work.
Good Luck.
Okay, so the Dentist told me that bottle rot can happen after the first year. So, I would make that you least concern. Next, I want to tell you a story- I was a thumb sucker, so I already had my "security blanket" that was not the issue. When I wa 5 my parents got a divorce, my mom (who is now a therapist) took me to see a social worker. The women asked me what I wanted most in the world, and my answer was a BOTTLE. She then turne to my mom and told her how to re-introduce the bottle. We went to the store and bought one. When we got home she sat me down and explained to me that I was to only have the bottle at home and at night. Obviously, you can reason with a 5 year old. I maybe had it for a couple of months and then I stopped it by myself. All I needed was something to comfort me. Now, my mom said this was the best thing she could have done for me. If this was my child, I would give her some limits (which sound like you do) and let her drink it, but not fall asleep with it(that is what causes bottle rot). Sometimes they need the regression to go foward. I am now 26 and do not drink a bottle, a glass of wine once in a while, but not from a bottle! LOL! Good Luck! You sound like you are doing great!
When my second son was born I accidentally gave my older son a bottle with formula in it... He must have thought I'd done it on purpose cause any time I offered him a bottle after that he'd run away. It worked, but now I can't get him off the sippy cups.... Oh Well
Good Luck,
T.
HI,
Make her feel like she's a big girl, and she doesn't need the bottle. Take her to the store, and make a really big deal about buying her a big girl cup. let her pick out the cup and keep enforcing the fact that she's a big girl. It worked with all three of my kids. I just did it with my 2 year old, and she is all excited about her new Dora "big Girl" cup. Just so she doesn't decide all of a sudden that she wants the bottles, throw them away, but not in front of her. Do it after she goes to bed, or when she's not around. She might keep asking, but tell her you can't find them, or they're lost. Let me know how it goes. Good luck.
Just don't give it to her... Yes she will scream but she will eventually stop... Its not easy but it will eventually stop when she knows you are standing your ground... You could also take her to a store and let her pick a "big girl" cup... Let me know how it goes...
C., I just had to put my son through some major dental surgery do to bottle rot, and antibiotics had rotted alot of his teeth. He was put under anestesia last week and had extensive work done. Two weeks before his surgery (He is 3 years old), I decided that it was D-day. If I was paying all this money to fix his teeth, I knew that taking his bottle away and teaching him to use a cup was the very first thing I had to do to help the situation get better.
What I did was to get a large shopping bag. Have a short talk with son/daughter on how they are soo big now and they have to drink from big boy/girl cups now. Once they agree to being a big boy/girl, have them put all their bottles in the shopping bag to "donate" to a new baby who really needs them. Believe me, they get into this!... Then have them walk the bag to the trunk of the car, and place the bag in the trunk themselves. They will ask for the bottle 4 or 5 times during the next few days but mommy will remind them constantly of their gracious donation and that they are Big boys and girls now!!!
Worked like a charm! and its quite freeing!
Good luck :) C.
i know this sounds kinda mean but it works. take all the bottles and give them to her and have her through them in the garbage or you can do it yourself and only use the spill proof sipping cups. So look almost like a bottle. Give her one of them and let her know if she is that thirsty that she can drink that. She is a big girl now and she needs to show her baby sibling how smart and grown up she is.
I have/had this problem, and I emailed for help and I had only two really nice responses. So, I guess let me start by saying that my son will be 3 in April and we are trying very hard to get him off the bottle. He only has it at night and we water down the milk that we put in his bottle and he calls for me when he is done to take it and then he goes to sleep. So yes, I think it is a comfort thing and I think he is almost ready, I keep telling him on his birthday no more bottles and he will say this to me when I give him one. So in due time I think they all eventually ween themselves off the bottle and to just be patient. He does not have it in daycare/school. Only at night. Good luck
5 years old is WAY to old for a child to be having a bottle. You need to put your foot down now before it does end up ruining your daughter steeth - plus she will be made fun of by other kids. Bag the bottles up and give them to a family with a baby that could use them. Tell your daughter it is time for her to move on to a big girl cup. Bring her to the store and let her pick out a new sippy cup. They have all different kinds now - some with the spouts, some with straws - you get the picture. They also have many different themed ones - dora, flowers, butterflies, ect. And then stick to it. It may take her a few days, but eventually she will see you are serious and start drinking from it.Or you could even try to let her pick out a package of juice boxes to drink. There are so many things out there to chose from. Trust me - if she gets thristy enough she will use it!!! You don't have to be mean about it, but just tell her firmly this is the way it is! You are the mom and sometimes we have to do things even though our kids aren't going to like it. You (and she) will be better off in the long run.Good luck!
My approach with my daughter, who is only 2, is to talk to her. Sit your daughter down and explain to her again (because it worked before) that she is a big girl now and big girls do not drink out of bottles. It's obviously a security thing that occurs at night so what about substituting the bottle for something? Maybe get her a doll or a cuddling pillow. Something she can have with her that will make her feel just as good as the bottle. Give her some choices and let her choose one. I personally don't think substituting the bottle for a sippy cup is the right way to go because then you will have to wean her off that too. At least a doll or a pillow she can use for years to come and she will wean herself off as she grows older.
hello C...... after having my twins my 3 yr going on 4 did not wanna give it up.... she pouted and shouted but what I did was just throw away her bottles.... I felt very bad the first time and then I brought new bottles but then I was thinking what damage this could do to her teeth, A dentist can tell you she is 5 yrs old , she is big enough to use a cup and have less visits to the dentist if you take her off it.... sincerely I dont want to be a pisser but just throw those bottles away and introduce her to a cup for every drink.... Most times tuff love will help you both...Just let her know she is big sister now and that she is doing the big sis decision by going with a cup....... I hope this helps and you understand that this is what worked for me....
Dee
My feeling is that if a child needs a security object, for any reason or no reason, they should be allowed to have it and they should let it go in their own time. Taking it away is only going to make it more of an issue and she'll just look for some other security object to replace it. If you're concerned about her teeth begin a really slow process of diluting the milk with a little more water each night until over the course of months, you switch to all water. There will be no bottle rot issue and she'll grow out of it when she's ready, instead of some arbitrarily imposed schedule. Anyway, milk does have some small amount of milk sugars, but it's juice that's the real problem for teeth. As long as you stay on top of taking the bottle once she is asleep so that the milk isn't pooling in her mouth all night, it should be fine.
I agree with Kathy. Take it away. She is old enough for kindergarden. If you absolutely feel you can't do this, tell her it is water only in it. She shouldn't have anything other than water in a bottle after like 18 months because of their teeth. Maybe that will make it less "liked" and maybe a few days of water, she won't be so upset to see it go.
Good luck with that one.
I'm such a horrible person to give advice about this sort of thing because I'm very blunt with my son.
My husband and I had him throw out his bottle in the trash. Then we made a fun date out of going shopping for those cool sippy cups with the cool characters.
Try to be super duper excited about her growing up and moving on. Give her a new privelege now that she's grown up. People see this as bribes but I see it as real life. We, as adults, can't go on vacation whenever we want. We have to earn the money and earn the time to be away from work - unless you're your own boss but, you catch my drift. I see it as, the soon my son learns that hard work pays off handsomely the better off he'll be when he goes into the real world. I see 30-year-old guys who still throw tantrums and it looks kind of weird.
You're the parent. What you say goes. You're not stripping the bottle away from her because you're mean. It's because you're concerned for her health and overall well being.
If she feels being a baby is much better, try showing her all the cool priveleges she gets being a big girl. She can't help you take care of the baby if she's a baby herself.
This may sound mean, but I would just take it away and tell her she isn't getting it back. She's old enough to understand that she isn't getting it anymore. If she still needs something to drink while she goes to sleep then give her a sippy cup of water. It took me a few extra years to get my older kids off of sippy cups of milk at night, but I just told them no more. For a while they would try and sneak them, but not anymore.
