Thought ditching the bottle was going to be easy peasy...

[Pinky]

So my DD just turned one and I thought that ditching the bottle was going to be no big deal... I hadn't really even given it a second thought. She never seems all that excited about her bottles, not overly attached... doesn't take one right before bed, likes whole milk and drinks water from a sippy with no problems so I thought we were all good.

Turns out I was VERY wrong. We tried our normal routine this morning but with milk in a sippy cup instead of formula in a bottle and she just wasn't having it. She looked surprised at first when we sat down with the sippy instead of the bottle and she did drink from it for about 30 seconds but then quit and started crying. (she doesn't normally cry very much so this was a big deal) Then I tried switching the milk to a different sippy with a soft nipple-like top thinking that would help, but nope still screaming. I thought maybe she just wanted formula but I put the milk in a bottle and she drank it right down without a care in the world.

So, what am I supposed to do? Our pediatrician told us 16-24oz of milk each day and to give it separately from her meals so that she doesn't fill up on milk and then not want all of her food (give water with meals instead). Is it possible that this morning bottle wasn't the one I should have started with? Should I try to transition out the mid-day bottle instead and then gradually the others? She typically has one in the AM, one at noon and then another in the evening.

Any advice or BTDT stories are greatly appreciated!
:)

[scrooks]

Both my DC really liked their bottles. We ended up going cold turkey with both. It took a couple of days for them to really start drinking their milk well in the sippies and honestly their milk in take did decline a bit. All that being said neither of my DC transitioned before 18 months. I was completely ok with that.

[lhafer]

We are in the same boat. But I don't just cut my kids off the bottle. My DD1 took a bottle til she was 18 months old or so. One in the am and pm. We dropped the mid day one. I can't remember how we trasitioned off.

I would try drpping the nighttime bottle is she's more attached to the am one. I personally don't see the big deal with having a bottle or 2 for a while longer. Especially if she's eating table foods well, and can easily drink from a zippy cup.

My DD2 just turned 13 months and she still has 2-3 bottles a day. I will wean out the midday bottle soon. And then drop probably the am bottle. Dropping the nighttime bottle will probably be hardest for us. I will have to transition it to a sippy cup. But it will probably be closer to 18 months before I do.

[Pinky]

Thanks ladies...

Did you both switch to milk at 12 months? And just let them have milk in the bottle until 18 months?

[carolinamama]

Well, she's still so young imo. If she likes her bottle, what harm will it do? DS1 had one in the morning and evening until he was 2 yo. I switched him to whole milk at 12 months. I just never mentioned it to the pedi in case he would have had an issue with it, because I felt like it was a parenting decision and I was fine with it. DS2 never took a bottle well so it wasn't an issue. People bf past a year (I did with DS2) so why not a bottle past a year?

[Cam&Clay]

That's what I did with DS2. He loved his bottles, so I put milk in them. By 18 months, he was only have the bedtime one. We went cold turkey around 20 months. At a year, I wasn't concerned about him giving it up at all.

Having said that, with my first, DS1, I had read/heard that 12 months was the cut off for bottles and made him stop at 12 months. He really missed that nighttime bottle for a long time, and so did I, so I decided not to push it with DS2.

[elbenn]

I would probably wait until your baby is a little older. I think it will probably be easier to give up the bottle when she's older.

[rin]

Are you switching from formula to milk AND from a bottle to a sippy? (I couldn't tell if I was misreading that or not, so if I did please just ignore the rest of this comment.) If so, maybe you could try just switching one thing, so formula in a sippy cup for a few days, or milk in a bottle, and then once that's become the new norm switch out the next part to end up with milk in a sippy.

[catsnkid]

I think we did water in the sippy cups first. What kind of sippy are you using? A softer spout might ease the transition. We love nuby sippies.

[Green_Tea]

Are you switching from formula to milk AND from a bottle to a sippy? (I couldn't tell if I was misreading that or not, so if I did please just ignore the rest of this comment.) If so, maybe you could try just switching one thing, so formula in a sippy cup for a few days, or milk in a bottle, and then once that's become the new norm switch out the next part to end up with milk in a sippy.

:yeahthat:

Imagine that tomorrow morning, instead of hot coffee in a mug, your DH handed you iced tea in a straw cup ;).

Those are two BIG changes to make at the same time. I'd wean off formula first, and slowly, by mixing 2 ounces milk with 6 ounces of formula and gradually upping the milk. Once you get her on 100% whole milk (and this might take a few weeks) THEN start introducing a sippy, preferably at midday. I wouldn't mess with a wake-up or bedtime routine until she's comfortable with the sippy and used to whole milk. While you're working on weaning to whole milk, you can offer sippies with water in them, to get her familiar with the cup.

[scrooks]

Thanks ladies...

Did you both switch to milk at 12 months? And just let them have milk in the bottle until 18 months?

Yep....milk in bottle from 12 months on. I agree with other posters abou trying water in sippies first. We probably started both DC on water in sippies around 10 months. DS seems to prefer nubby sippies but we have probably three or four types on hand.

[lhafer]

Thanks ladies...

Did you both switch to milk at 12 months? And just let them have milk in the bottle until 18 months?

I did not put milk in a bottle. I did milk and water in sippy cups at other times throughout the day. My DD1 was very petite (even a age 5 she's 8th percentile for weight). So I did the Step 2 formula in the bottles. Since it was so few bottles, it really wasn't that expensive to keep the formula going. And she got the vitamins, etc.

DD2 is not as petite as DD1 was, but I have her on the Step 2 formula as well. I reserve it for bottles. She gets whole milk and water in sippy cups or straw cups throughout the day and with meals.

[Simon]

Ds2 takes bottles of formula at bedtime/overnight and was weaned in the daytime until last week. I am so very, very glad we haven't weaned off bottles completely yet because Ds2 was just hit with a long illness and he hadn't eaten anything but bottles (of formula) for the past week. We have continued using formula (for overnights and then last week) since it is more complete nutrition than milk alone. Too much milk causes problems with iron absorption.

Ds drinks milk and water in a sippy cup very well. We likely won't try weaning off bottles until summer (closer to 18 mo) and I'll let him keep a bedtime bottle, though switch to water, for longer if he wants/needs.

[blue]

Preface my BTDT with saying every kid is different, and IMHO their is no one way that will work for every kid. I also don't see anything wrong with keeping your DC on bottles longer if that's what works for you and them :).

I started leaving out a sippy cup of water for DS around 10 months (not sure on age) to try to get him used to drinking from them. When I started transitioning DS away from bottles at 11.5 months, he was averaging about 6- 7 bottles per day at the time (he LOVED his bottles!)...

At around 11.5-12 months I took the bottle he used to get after his noon nap away and replaced it with a sippy of half water half juice (prior to that he never had juice). A few days later I got rid of the dinner time bottle and offered him a sippy of milk instead (he rarely drank it). Next to go was the mid-morning bottle, sippy of milk offered in its place (also rarely drank). After that his naptime bottle was taken away (he would fall asleep drinking it in his crib) and replaced with a sippy of water. Around 13 months the night time crib bottle (that he fell asleep drinking) was no longer offered, and I had him drink it before putting him immediately in his crib ( I left a sippy of water in his crib). We where now down to three bottles, one when he woke up, one before bed, and one in the middle of the night. Next to go was his wake up bottle, replaced with a sippy of milk at breakfast. The second last to go was the before bed bottle when we ran out of formula. That night he woke up at his usual time wanting a bottle, I offered him a sippy of milk instead, he was p*ssed about that, but eventually went back to sleep without drinking the milk. The bottles and formula (since we only put formula in bottles) were gone around 14 months.

That is my BTDT, I hope my ramblings helped some ;). Good luck OP, and remember you don't need to rush if its not something you want to do. I only did with DS because I was hoping to get him on a better schedule with drinking and meals (but it sounds like your DC already has a good schedule of 3 bottles a day). I am embarrassed to admit it, but another reason we rushed is because DS refused to pick up his bottles and hold them himself (he was physically capible of doing so). Which was fine when he was younger, but when he was closer to a year, it would just cause him to get really frustrated, and me in return... He now has 3 cups of milk (usually in sippys sometimes open cup) a day. One at breakfast, one mid-morning (so he takes his vitamins) and one at dinner.

[Pinky]

Thank you so much for all the replies! I'm just still sooo very shocked that she reacted this way because I honestly didn't think she cared all that much about how she got her liquids.

I started working with her using sippy cups a few months ago and at first we didn't have much luck but we finally found the Tilty Cup and now she drinks out of those like champ. She loves her water with meals and snacks.

I tried to giver he a sippy cup of milk (instead of her bottle) at mid-day today and she got super mad again... her getting mad is a brand new thing for me too and i suppose I should get used to it. It's like just all of a sudden here in the last month she has started forming strong opinions and she is not afraid to let me know her thoughts. LOL

I think part of the problem is she is used to our routine... we sit in the recliner with her bottle and snuggle for all 3 bottles. I'm guessing if I'm going to ditch the bottle I need to not sit in our same spot and maybe try to mix that routine up a little. I even thought that maybe tomorrow for her mid-day bottle I should just offer the sippy to her in her high chair. (rather than us sitting in our "bottle" spot)

Thanks so much for reminding me that I don't really have to stop bottles right now if we are not ready... I thought it was going to be easy to stop them so I hadn't even considered bottles for a few more months, but I think I will, at least for her morning and night bottle. I'd like to stop the mid-day bottle because that way we wouldn't need to send one to daycare. (she's there part-time).