When Should I Take My 2 Year Old off of the Bottle??

My son is 11 1/2 months old and drinking from a sippy cup. What I did was I introduced him to the sippy cup slowly. I would give it to him when he was thirsty for only 5 minutes at a time. He still likes his bottle, but he now drinks from a straw as well! Just take it slow, and let him watch you as you drink and say something like "see, this is what big boys and big girls do when they want a drink." He might get the idea.

C.~

Hi. My name is C. and I have a 23-month old daughter. I took my daughter off the bottle when she was about 15-months old. It WASN'T easy!! But I found something that really helped. Walmart sells sippy cups with very soft flexible spouts, that are almost like the nipples on bottles. I think they're like $3 or close to it. If you start with those, then move on up to the harder spouts, Michael might adjust to it better than just taking the bottle away.

Just keep him on that until he's adjusted to it, then move him up to the harder spout. My daughter is being stubborn and won't drink out of an open cup, so we're still on the hard spout; but she's getting there. I hope this helps, good luck. Let me know how it goes.

I switched my daughter to an Avent sippy cup after she refused the other kinds I tried. I used Avent bottles, and the sippy cup top will fit the Avent bottle bottoms. Plus the part they sip is flexible, not hard, more like a bottle nipple. After that, she'd drink from any sippy. She wanted to drink from a cup, so I really can't advise you there other than to offer something yummy he's only offered from a cup. Once he drinks that, he should be more open to other fluids. But honestly, I'd try to switch directly to a cup and skip the sippy since he's already 2.

I would try to take hime off the bottle, if he's thirsty he'll drink out of a sippy cup. When we were trying to take our daughter off the bottle I cut the tip of the nipples off of the bottles and said they were all broken so she had to use the cup. She took it with no problem. I recomend going to Wal-Mart or Walgreens and buying the Nuby sippy cup with the soft silicon sippy part, it's just like a nipple but it's a sippy cup. Thats what we used with our daughter and it worked wonders and our 11 month old son loves them also.

I know that my pediatrician told me that to get rid of the bottle around 1 year. I would start introducing a sippy cup right away, so your son doesn't get any more attached to the bottle. The longer you wait, the harder it will be to take it away from him. You could try a sippy cup with a soft spout like NUBY. I used those with my son and he loved them. I wouldn't be worried about your son not drinking anything at all if you take his bottle away. If he gets thirsty enough he will probably drink from the sippy as long as you get rid of all the bottles.

Hi -- well every child is different -the impt question is -is he taking it to bed this should stop immediatly if he is becasue it will risk rotting his baby teeth and his developing adult teeth.

As for a cup it is usually reccommend that a child start getting use to a cup between 6-9 months and weened from the bottle once he can hold it himself (basically if he is walking around with it -it is not for nurishment but a comfortor)

Howevermy two daughters were on a bottle past one because they had some health issues and had to drink a speacil formula -my 12 year old was off bottle at about the month before she turned two when she was taken off the formula --then we switched to a sippy cup which is really a glorified bottle my littlest was on til about 15 months then to a sippy cup she is three now and at 2 and a half we moved to the sippy cups with straws inside of them that pop out -- now at three we had the sippy cup talk and she bites the rubber straw so once they were all bitten we boughtno more and she moved to those diposble cups (which we never throw away -they are great and dont spill) with a normal straw --she gets about 1 inch in her cup at bed time and has to sit with it then goes to sleep -she also only gets cups with snack or meal time now --Ill admit up until she was three I gave her one in teh car because she would cry adn it was very distracting -- the goal is to move forward and do it slowly make it a big deal like at christmas time tell him about a month earlier and every day until christmas how he is a big boy and it is time to give his bottle to santa for new babies to get as christmas gifts and definelty stop buying any new ones and let him pick out a brand new sippy cup right now and if he stops drinking it is okay --eventually he will get thirsty and he will drink --trust me at this age it is more instinive than it is control issues --even if 2 feels like they are the ones in control (smile) take care

You should now both of my kids were off the bottle at 1 years old that is what there doctor suggested I have a 9 year old and a 2 1/2 year old. They usually cry for 3 days and then it is over it's easier to go cold turkey and give a sippy then to try and do it slow because they will always want the bottle. I know it's hard but is is better for there teeth and so they don't get ear infections best of luck to you.

P.

Well if u r worried he will stop drinking then do it gradually. Since he is older and knows, talk to him and tell him what u r doin and explain big boys drink cups..etc...try a cup nd see what happens also offer him milk in cup nd water in bottle nd see what he does....as soon as i saw that the boys were drinking from a cup bye bye bottle but i did it real young so it was easy

Hello C.,

I have a three year old daughter who I took off the bottle at 11 months. Try giving your son a sippy cup that has the two handles and a soft spout, it will seem more like a bottle. Once he gets good with that one swich it. Also I have a nine year old son who was difficult to get off the bottle, he was 18 months when he finally stopped using it. Whih him I would only give him water in his bottle, he finally realized if he wanted milk or juice he had to use his sippy cup. Good luck! R.

Try to do it gradually. I heard that only milk and water were suggested for bottle drinking and juices are a great way to start them on a sippee cup. If he drinks everything out of a bottle, then try transitioning his favorite drink to the sippee cup 1st and then gradually follow with the rest as he takes to it.
I am currently breastfeeding and never had to use bottles, but I did introduce water by sippee cup when my son started with solids. He's not a juice boy, but does enjoy his water (he didn't get that from me!). It seems to be going well and he can also use a straw when we go to restaurants...of course I hold the straw so that he doesn't choke on it or have it stab him in the roof of the mouth :)
It is still funny to see him react to getting the liquid in his mouth via straw.

Hi C.,
Well, theres no one answer but once you choose, you best be consistent. Cold turkey may work. I and some of my freinds weaned the babies...so you cut it to certain times of the day. If morning is really important, stick to that time only or some stick to the before bed. He is big enough to understand that "there is no milk in the bottle" and show him. Liquid is important and there are some pretty cool sippies out there that " the big boys use"..."but only the big boys." You may also use the replacement method where during the difficult time, he has something else that is very comforting... you, teddy, blanket. It will happen, just make sure his teeth are getting care if he is drinking before sleep times.

You should take him off now...but do it slowly. I have four kids and I started the as soon as they turned 1. I got rid of all the bottles and just kept one. Because I learned the the night time bottle is the hardest to give up. So through out the day I would give a sippy cup and at night the bottle. Soon you will notice that he will not need the bottle at night because he would be use to the sippy cup. But you might need to try different cups. My fisrt child went straight to the ones ONLY where you sip out of a straw, my second kid used anything, and my TWINS prefer that soft cilicone spout sippers! So don't give up on the first try!

Sister get him off the bottle. He is going to have rotten teeth and will never give it up. It will be a struggle and if he gets thirsty enough he will drink out of a cup. I know this sounds harsh, but believe me it will bother you more than him. Throw out all the bottles so you won't be tempted to try to give it back to him when he has been crying for it all day. It will take as little as 3 days and up to two weeks to get him to the point of not always asking for it. My daughter gave up nursing and bottles at 12 mos. on her own, but it took until she was 4 to get rid of the pacifier. 1 week of struggle was worth getting rid of the nasty paci. Anyway good luck and be strong, it isn't going to be easy.

We went cold turkey at 12 months for both of my girls (now 11 and 4). They both did well. Night time was the hardest. Offer your son a cup as often as possible. The only way he'll learn is if it's there all the time. Be careful with the sippy cups too, because they are just as h*** o* teeth as bottles (according to my pediatrician - who has five children of her own and who has never owned a sippy cup.)

Ooooh Girl, Get that kid off that bottle!!!!:0) My little man and his bottle were attached at the hip. Come his first birthday I simply threw them out. He didn't have the choice to use it anymore. If you give a 2 year the choice...hmm...bottle or sippy? What do think he's gonna choose? Cold turkey the bottle. He'll quickly learn how to drink out of a sippy. He'll whine and want his bottle, but don't give in! You're the mom. Be tough! Cold turkey is the best way!

hi C., my daughter who is now 6 when she was 2 she still drank the bottle. same thing didn't want anything except that bottle. our peditrision advised us to get rid of that bottle because it can cause kids delay in speech,bottle rot meaning everything sits on the teeth except water even if you brush. so he adviced us to put water in the bottle and milk or juice in a sippy cup only during the day.then brush before bed. she threw a fit .cryed,refused to drink the water or the cup but a few hours later after crying and us being strong she took the sippy cup.its tough but you got to do this. now when she was 4 1/2 we had to have her sedated in the hospital to have caps put on her teeth, she had teeth that were starting to rot. they had to fix those then put sealants on all her teeth because we let her drink that bottle. so she payed the price not us. so put up with the crying for your child. then when our 2nd one came she was off the bottle at a year and went to bed at night with a sippy cup with water. good luck

im not sure how to go about it, my daughter is only 3 months so im not there yet. but my doctor said that she should be off the bottle by age one and to never put anything but formula in a bottle. once your child starts drinking cows milk and juice and what not it should be in a sippy cup. i would suggest doing it sooner than later, wish i knew a good way. good luck!

MY SON IS 20 MONTHS AFTER HE TURNED 1 WE WENT TO A BOTTLE AT NIGHT AND IN THE MORNING...WE FIRST GOT HIM USED TO SIPPY CUPS. WAL MART HAS ONE CALLED THE NUBY IT IS GREAT, IT DOES NOT LEAK AND IT IS EASY FOR THEM TO USE AND IT ONLY COSTS $1.29! NOW WE ARE ONLY AT NIGHT AND THAT IS ONLY UNTIL WE USE UP THE REST OF HIS BOTTLE BAGS! GOOD LUCK!

Start taking him off now. Show him a sippy cup, show him other kids using a cup. Show him it's ok. He'll understand. Also start limiting his bottle use to naps and bed time and "shove" the cup in his direction ever chance you get. He might not like it, he might now drink out of it, and you might waste a lot of milk, but repetition, repetition, repetition always works. Once he gets that sippys are for during the day, maybe he'll take the initiative to start changing over. If not, limit the bottle to only bedtime at night. (It's hard for a few days, but you will both get over it!) Then no bottle at all at night and just give him a sippy cup with water in it. It's hard, but I think the more you offer it to him, and the more he sees others doing it, he will eventually switch, but I would definately start doing something now!

He should have been off the bottle a long time ago.

Its really up to you, but the longer they are on it the harder it is to get them off. Not to mention its not good for their teeth. We took our son off the bottle at 10 months and he didn't have any problems with it. I would do it now, it will be hard but the longer you wait the harder it will get.

Hi C.,
I would recommend the Nuby brand sippy cups that you can ____@____.com are great to transition your son with since they have a soft spout. They are pretty in-expensive too - I think $1.29 each. I have my daughter on these and she loves them. We are still working on getting rid of the bottles, she usually has 1 in the morning and 1 at night. Good luck!
T. :)

I say take it away cold turkey. It will be hard for him and for you, but I think it's best to just do away with it for good. Put the bottles away (or throw them away) so he can't see them. If he knows they are around he'll whine and whine. It took my son a week of whining for his bottle until he finally got thirsty enough to take a sippy. (I, too, was worried he'd get dehydrated, but he didn't.) In the long run, I was glad I did it that way. I was a little more lienient with my daughter and let her continue have a bottle and it took a couple of months to get her to use a sippy. Big mistake on my part!

You should take the bottle away as soon as possible. The longer he uses it the harder it will be.

you shoulda already broke him from his bottle before he even turned 1 least before 2. I got my daughter off her bottle before she turned one. sooner the better go get him some sippy cups and Spend more time on the sippy cups then u do bottles so maybe it will kinda slide on to the sippy cups when u slowly get him off his bottle ... maybe it will work for ya

,me She got off her bottle quick I was surprised trust me.
she loved her sippy cup for good and still on her sippy cup she also like to drink out of her reg cups it give them time to learn now to spill but they do spill quite often so.

good luck hope these work for ya

I would say as soon as possible, which is easier said than done! Give your son a sippy cup. Let him get used to it and comfortable drinking out of it. When my sons were comfortable with the sippy cup, I washed and dried the baby bottles. In front of my son, I put the bottles in a clean garbage bag. I told him, "You are a big boy now, and you don't need bottles." I threw the bottles in the garbage. When my son was asleep, I took the bag out of the garbage and hid the bottles. (I did this because I was planning on having more children.) This worked for both of my boys. It may or may not work for your son, but it's worth a try. Just be sure he never sees another bottle in your house again!