When Is the Right Time to Give up the Bottles? Advice on Transitioning?

I think don't be in a rush to end the bottle. They are only babies for such a short time. My son is 17 months old and still takes a bottle at bedtime (and nap). He is completely off of formula though. Start watering down his formula or milk every couple of days. Until it's finally just water. Perhaps that will help and then just give him water in a sippy cup. Or, maybe get a "special" cup that's just for his milk/formula? Good Luck!

My son kinda had the same problem with Binki's. I saw this trick on believe it or not The Nanny and tried it and it worked wonders. I told him that there was a binki fairy that comes and takes the binkis to other kids who need them. We gather all the binkis together and put them in a bag and hung the bag outside for the binki fairy to come get them. The next morning when we woke up we went outside to see if the binkis were gone and they were and in place of where the binkis hung was a brand new stuff animal. His eyes lit up and after that he never thought of a binki again. My friend also just tried to explain to her kid in words that she could understand and gather the bottles together and threw them away in the trash one by one and said bye to each one.

I have 3 kids and I took them off the bottle when they could start to walk. I gave them a regular cup that sat at the table with water all day for whenever they wanted it. I gave them a sippie cup when they had milk or juice. My youngest just turned 4 when she was getting the cup I let her know we had to get rid of her bottles and that she was going to have to throw them away herself. I did it over a few days so she would know that her bottles would not be coming back. I worked great.

I used those nuby soft tip sippy sups. The texture is that of a bottle, but it is a little step up. From there I just introduced different kinds of cups then eventually a straw one and then a regular cup. I'd say about 1 1/2 is a good time to x out teh bottle. What I'd do is just reserve it for once a day... you can either let him choose when he wants to use his one bottle or you can reserve it for bed time only. It might help to only have 4 bottle... after a few days get rid of one and keep doing this until you only have one left. That wasy he can understand he only has that one...

I really agree with the ones that did it cold turkey... My son seemed ahead of his time so weaning was pretty easy for me he started drinking formula out of a sippy cup at 10mths old and by the time he was 1 we were down to just the bottle at night. I decided to let him keep that one for as long as he wanted but it wasent to long he would bring me his cup and want something in it so that changed fast. Its true once you quit get rid of all the bottles so he cant see them and you have to stick to it, its hard when they whine and cry but if he really wants that milk he will drink it out of a cup. Since he still has 3-4 a day you might want to start gradually and then once you take one away give it a week and do another. I would switch him though to whole milk all the way or maybe mix it up with any formula you have left, half milk half formula and once that formula is gone dont buy anymore. I wish you good luck and would like to know how things worked out! Thats the best part of the site is when people post how things worked out for them!
A.

Around the time my kids turned one I would introduce the sippy cup. They really didn't care too much for it until I took the top off and let them drink through a straw. They loved figuring out the straw and got them used to the cup. After a few tries whith this method they were okay with me putting the sipper part back on the cup, because they had practiced a new way of sucking. I hope this helps.

I have to say that every one is different, I had both my kids off the bottle at 12 months. Once they were on 3 meals a day it was sippy cups only, and I cut formula at 12 months too. My daughter quit her bottle at 9 months and I had to force her to use sippy cups cause she wanted real cups.

I would ask your pediatrition, most kids don't need formula past 12 months but that is dependent on thier eating habits too, so I would check with your ped, before giving it up formula.

But as far as the bottle goes, well I was mean and they got taken away at 1 cold turky, it only took a few days of adjusting and my son was fine.

Most parents wean their child from the bottle around 12 months when they can have whole milk. I weaned my son as soon as he finished the last can of formula after his 1st birthday. I just took his bottles away (completely away where he couldn't even see them) and gave him whole milk in a sippy cup. It was a week of hell while he whined and cried for his bottle and I was forced to hold his sippy cup up for him to drink from it, but then he figured that was all he was getting and started using the cup on his own. That was it. Like I said, it was a long, hard week, but in the end, I'm glad I did it that way.
My daughter was easier to wean because she'd been using a sippy cup since she was 9 months (for juice) and then I just started giving her milk. Maybe seeing her brother use one made it easier for her.

Just stop giving him the bottle, and only offer his drinks in sippy cups. He will drink from the cup if that is all the is given to him. It is easier for him to hold and drink from the bottles and with the cup his had more work to do, and that in its self is a wonderful reason to a 13 month to not want a cup. I was able to break my son of his bottle on his first birthday, by simlpy not giving him any more. YOu could have him help you pour his drinks into the cups, or at least hold on to the pither of the juice as you pour, giving him the sense that he helped you make the drink...
Good luck
M.

cold turkey
one long week end-start friday morning, by monday he won't remember the bottle. hide them-toss them-give them away-make sure they are no where to be found.

with the last 5 children we allowed them water in their bottles but no juice or milk. Eventually the thrill was gone. If they were still thrilled and older then we would limit the times they could have it, and if they were still addicts, then we cut them off with discussion later. They don't seem worse for wear.

My doctor was kind of a butthead in this response. At my daughters 12 month check up he was adamantly telling me no more bottles and so forth. It's not as easy as they like to say y'know. MY daughter is almost 14 mo now..but as soon as we got home I started tryng. I have a lot of different types of sippy's from when we started giving her juice in them..y'know how they will like one and not another. Well, we started putting her milk and formula into them to see if there wer3 any particular ones she liked nad went from there. I found the Nubby brand sippy with the silicone tip went over well. I think cause she still thought it was a type of bottle? I even tually switched from bottle to sippy from one meal to the next nad her last bottle was for breakfast only nad just a couple days ago I tried a sippy for the heck of it and she used it. So she has been bottle free for a week now. So it takes time and patience..but he will transition..just give him time to adjust. But go for it..Good luck.

when my son was about 13 or 14 months, i broke him cold turkey. it sounds rough, but its actually the fastest and most effective way to break a habit like that. It only took a matter of days before he gave up, he didn't even seem to notice anymore that they were gone. i also did it with the pacifiers and a couple friends of mine did the same thing with their kids, and it worked every time. also, it is very important that you throw the bottles away, so when you are tempted to give it to him (and you will be) you won't be able to.

Our doctor told us 12months was the time. My first daughter did it just fine. My second daughter was 2. I had a hard time w/ her. The doctor told me i had to JUST DO IT. I took 1 bottle w/ her and showed her that it was time to throw it away. We did that. And I opened up the cubbord and showed her they were "all gone". I had gotten rid of them prior. (I had to have them gone) Or I might have caved! It truely took about 2 days. She had many fits. But in the end everyone needs to drink and she did.She had sippy cups. She is now 3.5 and only drinks from a "big girl cup".
Hope this helps and good luck w/ it.
~K.

I waited a little longer to take the bottle away. My daughter was 15 months old and I did the only thing I could, took it away cold turkey. Really I doubt there is an easier way. A friend of mine tried giving it to her child only once a day and it just drug it on. My daughter is now 2 and still won't drink milk out of a sippy, but we are working on it with cerel and that seems to be working. The hardest part of taking the bottle away for me was bedtime. A few days and it will get easier for you. Good luck.

I seriously had to force my son to give up bottles. Right up until he was about 11 months our nightly ritual would be bottle and rock to sleep, which I miss. At about 11 1/2 months or so I started to introduce the sippy cup, he took to it pretty well although I had to leave the rubber stopper out from underneath the lid. His pediatrician suggested that because she said that he will not know that he has to suck really hard to get the beverage out. It was difficult but the only way to get him off of the bottle is to just take it away and out of his sight. It is either that or some spendy dentist bills down the line from the damage to his teeth. Also try and introduce more water, or you may have a problem with cavities. You want to do this while he is still young.

I'm just now starting to work whole milk into his forumla. We're at 4 oz whole milk 2 oz formula and this week is it for the formula. He's been using sippy cups for quite awhile and loves to drink juice and water out of it but forget milk. I've recently changed to a different sippy cup that has a soft spout. We'll see how he does with that. its a comfort thing for him but i'm hoping to just do the nighttime bottles within the next couple weeks. I dont like doing anything cold turkey except as last resort but everyone has to find they're own way. Everytime i give him a sippy cup with milk he take a drink then tosses it once he knows it milk. Like some others said, when they get thirsty enough they'll drink it.

When my son was almost 10 months old we started taking both a sippy cup of formula and a bottle of formula to him for his last "feeding" before bed. We started giving him the sippy cup and he would drink just a bit and when he got really frustrated we handed him the bottle. It took just 4 nights of this and he was off the bottle completely (by 10 months.)

I think you just need to try different things to find out what your little guy will accept. I'm not sure the reasoning but 12 months is considered the "normal" age for taking away the bottle. The only reason we started so early was that we assumed it would take a long time. We got lucky!

with my son, I wanted him off of the bottle and off of formula at 1yr. I gave him a sippy cup and he took to it pretty well, I never gave him a choice of a bottle. It was his sippy or nothing else.I put all the bottles away.I started with he silicone sippy, they are more like a bottle. (nuby brand at walmart, they're not shaped like a bottle, but for kids they get the liquid out the same way.).. My cousin had a bottle until the 2nd day of kindergarten, some kids just don't break until they're ready.