When Do I Wean from a Bottle?

I agree with the Nuby cup idea. That seemed to work well for my sisters and I am already starting to use it for my 8-month old. If you can wean from a bottle soon, that would prbably also help eliminate needing/wanting one at bedtime/...a big step!

The earlier you start the sippy cup, the easier it will be!!! I have an almost 16 month old and I do give her the occasional bottle, just because I have so many! If you start with a soft sippy cup, it's more like a bottle for them, I liked the nuby ones, or the playtex ones with the little handles on the sides. the valves in them make them spill proof, and the kiddos can tote the cups around with them, instead of only being able to drink at meal/snack time with a Cup. Sippy cups have age suggestions on them also, so just go by that, they're pretty accurate. Hope this helps!
E.

I was told by my son's doctor to wean at 1 year so we did. I think I was lucky that he gave up the bottle so easily and took to the sippy cup so quickly. He was off the bottle whithin 2 weeks of his first birthday. He learned how to drink from a sippy cup using the Nuby cups. We let him have a cup of milk anytime he wanted to until he was 15 months. By then the doctor had told us that would be a bad idea because he would be too full of milk to eat his meals...boy was he right. From 15 months to now he only gets water between meals and all the milk he wants at meal times (including snack times, we don't do juice. Who needs all that sugar?).

It's 100x easier to wean from the bottle at age 1. The longer you let them have their bottle the more and more and more attached they get. I took my daughter's bottle away after 2years old almost 3years old. It was horrible to look at that little face and say no when they're that big. If I'd done it at 1 it would have been no big deal.

If he can already drink from a sippy cup than it shouldn't be very hard to get rid of the bottle. We just replaced the bottle for a sippy cup one night and he never thought twice about it. For our son, it was about the milk, not the bottle, he loves his milk sp he could have cared less. It will be much easier to do it now, versus even 6 months down the road, start getting him used to a sippy cup. How I got my son to use a sippy cup was we went out for the day and I broungt one sippy cup with milk in it, when we had lunch I set it in front of him, he didnt exactly take to the idea, but eventually he got thristy enough that he finally did try it, when he drank from it, I praised him and told him "good job", etc. Don't make a big deal out of it, just do it. If you have any guilt, negative feelings or make a big deal about it, your son will sense that and he'll make a big deal out of it too.

My boys are/were breastfed, but they started a sip cup early, like 4 months. We also practice extended nursing so the boys didn't really get cows milk unti lwell past thier first b-days.

I guess since we breastfed we aren't really 'ounce-obsessed' and just give the boys what they want to drink for milk. I consider milk a meal, not a drink, so they get milk with dinner, and water the rest of the day. They don't drink alot of milk and thats ok with me, I'm not going to force it on them just to meet some 'requirement'.

Remember taht cheese, yogurt, cottage cheese, etc also count as thier dairy intake.

As far as bottles go, it would be in his best interest to get rid of them as soon as possible. Sucking on bottles is bad for teeth, and also bad for the jaw. It forces the jaw out to suck the liquid out, and the milk also pools around the teeth. Replace one bottle every couple days with a sip cup of whole milk. He won't drink as much milk from a cup, so don't expect him to. offer it with meals and give him water the rest of the day.