My 13 month old LOVES his bottle but we are beginning to try and get him to transfer to a sippy cup. He will drink water out of a sippy cup with no problem but on the occasions we have put milk in it - he looks at us like we are nuts.
He is drinking whole milk and we have even gotten him to have it at reg temp not warm. My concern is him laying down drinking from the bottle both is harmful to his teeth and ears from what I read. He had an ear infection just 2 weeks ago and has been tugging on his ear the past few days again (ugh...)
Any suggestions for smooth transition ideas, if even possible. We use the Nubi sippys that almost model a nipple top b/c he didn't really like the trainer cups (Avent).
THANKS TO ALL THAT CAN HELP!!!
Hi L.
I went through the same thing with my cousin. Try taking your son to the store and allow him to pick out his own cups. You can also try chocolate or strawberry syrups (just enough to cange the color of the milk) in his sippy cup and let him see before you put the top on.
Hi L..
I'm going through the same thing with my 17m DD. We are still working on getting her on to milk only. Then we'll focus on getting off of the bottles.
Here are some things that we tried for my son (now 7) that worked for us.
We replaced one bottle at a time with the cup over several weeks. He liked drinking out of a straw better than the sippy cups so during meal time that is what we'd use. It got to the point where his bedtime bottle was his only bottle. We would sit with him until he was done, and then lay him down. Once we were down to the last bottle, we would try and replace it with a cup. We set a deadline for ourselves. By his 18m checkup, we'll be off of the bottle, so that the dr. will be happy with us. If he didn't want to drink from the cup, then he went through the rest of his night routine without it.
Hope this helps.
M.
This might sound a little crazy, but here goes. We weaned our daughter pretty accidentally. She was still drinking milk from a bottle at age two (we had a newborn and just didn't worry about the bottle too much - but knew we had to work on it soon) One day she fell and cut her lip so bad that it swelled up. It was impossible for her to use the bottle and she refused the sippy. So, I took one of those disposable sippys, cut a tiny hole in the part they put in their mouths and inserted a straw from a juice box. My daughter loved it, and by the time her lip was healed she never looked back. This did not work for my younger one though. We let her keep her bottle until she was almost 3 because it was the only way to get her to drink milk. I finally just took it away cold turkey (because seriously, that's ridiculous) But, she has not had one drop of milk since, and she's 4 1/2! Anyway, good luck!
I have a drawer of sippies that my daughter would play with, but wouldn't really drink from.
I finally bought the overpriced Bornfree Trainer Cup. I still have to help her drink from it, but she is much better with it than the others.
As for the bottles, just don't use them. If he can drink from the sippy and is only given the sippy, he will manage.
Is your son used to still being fed his milk in a bottle? If so, then feed him the milk from the sippy.
I weaned my daughter from the bottle at 16 months. We went to the beach and before we left I showed her we threw all the bottles in the trash and they were bye bye. On the way home she was a little mad and didn't drink, but 6 hours without drinking and her being thirsty she went right for the sippy and that was the end of that. They will drink out of a sippy if they are thirsty. Good luck. The worst thing to see is a child walking around carrying a bottle!!
I agree with Kelley C. Don't make it as hard as it should be. I just decided that shortly after they turn one, the bottle is gone. Parents tend to use it as a crutch and keep them way too long. People want their kids to be happy and not hear them cry at night. They give in and give them the bottle. Just throw out all the bottles (same thing with pacifiers) When it's time for those things to go, then they need to be out of sight for good. Children have a short memory and it might take him a few days of crying for it, but he'll forget about it and just use the sippy cup. If he's thirsty, he'll drink. Before you know it, he won't even remember what a bottle is.
First off, milk from a bottle at night is harmful to teeth and ears. I know first hand. It is a good thing you are trying to get him off the bottle!
I agree with a response below, let him choose his cup from the store. Give him the money and let him hand it to the cashier (if he will release it!!!!) Maybe this cup he purchases will become as comforting as the bottle- which is all he knows thus far as a very comforting thing. Encourage him... telling him he is a big boy, coming up with big boy things to do. Then, what my mom said ONLY worked on me... she was down to one bottle and I knew it. I was holding onto that bottle w/my life! Then one day it fell in the toilet (gee, thanks mom!) and I did not want a yucky bottle. So I threw it away myself and was on cups from there on out!
Hope this helps!!!
S. L
We took the bottle away from our kids between 12-13 months. Just give him the sippy and put all the bottles away. He'll drink.
