When is a REASONABLE time to stop the bottle completly??
Name: eclectic66 | Date: Jul 7th, 2008 11:13 PM
I was just curious about what age is it REASONABLY expected to have your baby completely OFF the bottle and soley using a sippy cup?? And I emphasize reasonably because I don't want to hear from those that have their babies already potty trained, running marathons and already inventing the cure for cancer...lol My ds is NOT one of those kids that started holding his own bottle at 2 weeks old...lol In fact he is 11.5 months and still doesn't so I just want to make sure that the input I get is from those that might have babies that are similiar to this and when a good time is to attempt the transition. So far, he still thinks his sippy cup is a toy and just bangs it all over the place and I am not about trying to push him into anything he isn't ready to do. I just offer him the cup at each meal...will show him how to use it and then hand it back to him. What he does with it after that is all him :-) Thank you ladies :-) ↓
For those who are not yet a member, Register and become a part of our close-knit forum community.
Name: DDT | Date: Jul 7th, 2008 11:55 PM
I was told by my doc to start the transition to cow's milk at 12 months. I naturally just went with the transition to sippy cups to. Luckily I never had any issues with the sippy cup or cow's milk transition. The only hiccup we had was with his night time bottle. Combined with starting daycare and a nasty cold he got at that time I think it was a little too much change and upheaval for him. He started having a lot of tantrum fits. I decided to wait until he felt more comfortable in his little world. By 14 months I dropped the night time bottle. I think going cold turkey is the easiest thing to do, but if you want to hold onto the night time bottle for longer there is nothing wrong with that. That being said I started introducing sippy cups when my ds was 6.5 months so by 12 months he had become used to it and drank from them easily. I doesn't sound like you ds will drink a sufficient amount of liquid from his sippy cup even if you attempted to make that change now. If I were you I would just continue to offer it to him as much as possible, and maybe even try different types of sippy cups. Once he is able to drink from a sippy cup you can make the change. All I know is that by 2 years old your lo's jaw shape and teeth will be affected by his bottle sucking, so make that your goal....by the time he is 24 months. Good luck! ↑
Name: andy | Date: Jul 8th, 2008 12:53 AM
hello electric ... my dd is 15 months 1 week and y dont know when and how to do it ... I started giving her the cup at 10 months and she just couldnt even hold it and didnt know she had to suck to get any liwuid ... I had to buy a lot of brands until finding one that would not be so hard (the one with handles was the worst )She started grabbing her bottle at 12.5 months and the zippi cup ay 13 months ... I only give her the milk on the bottle ... water juice and any other liquid will only go on the cup , so she had to learn ...buy last month I tried to give her the milk on the cup and she gagged so much she almost threw up so bottle it is ... at least for 3 more months untill I change her to cow milk as she is still on formula (ped recomended formula untill 18 months )maybe it will be too much but as DDT sais I will go for it ... and also , she is on 3 bottles of 8 ounces a day and napping twice but she wants to drop baddly the afternoon nap ... but come on .. I dont want her to , but she takes more time to fall asleep than sleeping ... My dd is a slow transitioner but I think we are fine for now ...bye good luck !! ↑
Name: Crystal83 | Date: Jul 8th, 2008 12:37 PM
It's hard, I was able to get the paci away from my 2 oldest by the time they were 15 months but the bottle was another story, mostly because I was dependent on it to get them to go to sleep without fussing at night. My oldest was about 2.5 and my middle dd was almost 3 years old. I just kinda went with the flow and weaned them when I felt they were ready and could be comfortable without it at night. ↑
Name: gurinsa | Date: Jul 8th, 2008 5:53 PM
My daughter just turned 12 months and absolutely refuses the sippy with milk in it!!! The transition to whole milk was fine but the sippys are a whole nother story..I keep trying to replace the middle of the day bottle with a sippy (I heard morning and evening bottles are harder to give up than the mid-day) and it is not working. I guess the only thing we can do is keep on trying?! ↑
Name: eclectic66 | Date: Jul 8th, 2008 9:09 PM
Wow, quite a varied response. Sounds like some of you didn't have too much difficulty while others a bit more. I am glad to know that I am not the only one out there with a baby that just wants to do things a bit "beyond" the recommended guidelines....lol I have a feeling just judging by how ds is with his right now that I may have a while before he wants to use a sippy cup. If I could just get him to realize that it's not a toy...lol As far as his binky...I will try to start giving it to him less during the day and alternate with a teether and see how that goes. Andy- I would have to say that my ds is also a slower transitioner :-) he definetly takes his own sweet time with things...lol God, I hope he doesn't try to drop that afternoon nap either (he also naps twice a day)...I really look foward to that afternoon nap to get stuff done...lol In about 2 weeks I am about to start the transition to the cows milk. For those of you that have made the transition to the cows milk....is it less expensive than formula? Did you notice a difference in your grocery bill? I hope so :-) Thanks again ladies for your input :-) ↑
Name: gurinsa | Date: Jul 9th, 2008 9:28 AM
BIIIIG difference in the grocery bill!! But we were on alimentum (hypoallergenic formula). We added it up, spent almost $4000 on formula this past year!!!!!!!!!! ↑
Name: jendean00 | Date: Jul 9th, 2008 9:52 AM
Electric, my DD is 13 months old and just started holding her sippy cup. She never held her bottle. She has been on a sippy cup for about a month now. Like your son she just wanted to play with it and take a sip every now and then....but then one day she just started taking it fine...and after a couple days I packed her bottles. My DD is a preemie and does everything at her own pace. She will have absolutley no interest in something and the next day she does it and does not turn back. I would just keep trying and then one day he will take it and never look back. ↑
Name: CWeber | Date: Jul 13th, 2008 2:58 PM
My son learned the sippy cup pretty easy and was drinking from it well at 9/10 months. At 13 months I took the bottle away but had the problem of him drinking enough milk from the sippy cup. He would drink water, juice etc but did not care for milk in it. So I wound up after a week giving him back his bottle and he has 1 bottle a day and the rest of his milk in a sippy cup (usually another 8 ounces but it takes him a long time to drink it). I am currently bumping his night bottle down to his naptime one instead so he is not so wet at night. I do hope to wean off the bottle soon (he wasn't a problem the first time) but until he drinks more milk consistantly I am going to continue with the one bottle for now. He is currently 15 months old. ↑
Name: Justine1 | Date: Jul 13th, 2008 4:21 PM
I'm pretty relaxed about when mine stop. The important thing is to make sure they can drink enough from a sippy cup etc before you do the transition - mine are 18 months and 2.5 and still use bottles sometimes esp. at night. I read before that someone said their ped had said not to do the transition before 18 months but I think it'll vary a lot with the child (and the ped!) - if they can drink the whole of a sippy cup several times a day before then then its fine. ↑
Name: hope-31 | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 12:43 AM
a baby DOES NOT need to suck from a nipple past 12 months. i am not being rude i am just trying to offer advice. my nephew by marriage is 9 years old and still drinks whole milk from a bottle. not saying you are anything like my sis-in-law but dont use the excuse that the bottle is the only way they will sleep. if they refuse it for a while trust me they will not starve or be deprived. its her way to keep her child a baby and it repulses me. a sippy cup will take most toddlers no time at all to get the hang of.you can still bond and cuddle your child as they drink from their sippy cup and comfort them before bed. they shouldnt be put to bed with anything to drink as it can rot their teeth. also the longer a child suck from a nipple the worse their teeth and speech will be. i am not saying it will be easy but please dont do what she is doing. ↑
Name: Justine1 | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 7:02 AM
Hope 31 - I have no intention of letting my child have a bottle at 9 and I certainly don't do it to baby her, I much prefer older children to babies. We probably should stop her bottle its true but that's up to us. I drink at night and I have no intention of stopping my children drinking at night, my teeth are just fine. I think both mine wouldn't have had enough to drink if I'ld stopped the bottle at 12 months - they weren't ready. Maybe yours were - well good for yours but don't be rude to me please. My children both speak excellent English, and my DD speaks French as well. Both the 18 month old and thhe 2.5 year old can speak in sentences. ↑
Name: hope-31 | Date: Jul 14th, 2008 9:12 PM
this is and was addressed to everyone and anyone! um i was not being RUDE! if you read my post correctly the first few words from my fingertips,lol,was i am not intending to be rude but just offer advice. wow i was not putting anyone down all i was saying was that a child/baby does not need a bottle past the age of 1. its not a matter of what a pediatrician or parent says but it is common sense that if it is allowed to go on too far past the age of 1 it can,not always,but can cause problems.geez dont jump down my throat when someone calmly trys to offer logical advice. no i cant tell anyone what to do and that is not my intention however your intitled to raise your children as you wish .i dont deny that. ↑
Name: countrymom401 | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 12:35 AM
Ummm I didn't bottle feed my lo. But He didn't take very well to a sippy cup when he self weaned at 11.5 months. I didn't want to start a bottle to wean that as well. But I found that the sippy cups that have straws and not the little sippy thing worked way better. He would drink milk like crazy out of them and water and juice out of a regular sippy cup. Now all he drinks milk out is a straw cup. It seems much easier to get the liquid out. Also when buying a sippy cup go for the higher level after they are 1. The liquid is easier to get in the higher stages. My lo still won't drink out of one if he has to suck really hard. Sorry I know that I didn't bottle feed but I thought any suggestion is better then none. And I believe that you should wean a baby when you are both ready. Hopely before they are 9 though LOL :) ↑
Name: Erin1979 | Date: Jul 15th, 2008 5:19 PM
A good time to stop the bottle is around their first birthday. They should be encouraged to hold a cup, and get used to not having a bottle. We did it in stages, so that the week of my dd's first birthday, there was no more bottle. Surprizingly, it was really easy. She didn't want to hold a bottle either, but she got thirsty enough that she started with the cup. Bottles and sippy cups promote cavities, so the goal I give my patients is by 18 months they should be drinking from an actual cup (no sippys) or with a straw. Good luck!! ↑
