s/o bottle weaning - getting enough fluids?

[BabyBearsMom]

DD is turning 1 next week and I have already been mixing her formula with cows milk. I'd like to start weaning her off of bottles and having her just drink from sippy cups. She is fully capable of drinking from a sippy or a straw and we offer them during all of her meals and both of her snacks. But, she only drinks, maybe 3 table spoons of the milk or water at a time. I'm worried that when we take her off of bottles, she won't get enough fluids. DD is a big eater and LOVES solids, so I'm not worried about her getting enough nutrition. How much fluid should a 1 year old get?

[Pinky]

We were told minimum 16oz of milk and up to 24 oz per day. Not sure about total fluid for the day though.

We are also weaning from the bottle and were down to 3/day when she turned one. Dropped the middle one and now just give on in the am and one in the pm.

Same problem here though... when she drinks from her sippy she doesnt drink as much as she would from the bottle. To complicate things our ped told us to only offer the milk away from her meals so that it doesn't fill her up and she end up eating less.

[WolfpackMom]

DS refuses milk from the sippy. We have taken to giving him lots of yogurt and cheese and cooking with with millk and cheese. He spits out any milk that isnt in a bottle - and yes we have had constipation issues as a result of all of this. ugh. He is weaned from the bottle, but Im worried about his calcium and Vit D intake as Im sure you are too.

He will drink water out of the sippy though, I just keep one around as often as possible so he gets fluids. I think the constipation issues stem from the 3 xa week he is at daycare and drinks are only offerred with meals and 2 of those are milk which he wont drink.

So I guess thats not much help, but I would just keep a sippy around as much as possible to keep her drinking fluids. I am trying to offer DS lots of fruit and veggies and dairy products to get his vitamins and calcium in but will be speaking to the Dr at his next appt about the milk issue.

[Pinky]

DS refuses milk from the sippy. We have taken to giving him lots of yogurt and cheese and cooking with with millk and cheese. He spits out any milk that isnt in a bottle - and yes we have had constipation issues as a result of all of this. ugh. He is weaned from the bottle, but Im worried about his calcium and Vit D intake as Im sure you are too.

He will drink water out of the sippy though, I just keep one around as often as possible so he gets fluids. I think the constipation issues stem from the 3 xa week he is at daycare and drinks are only offerred with meals and 2 of those are milk which he wont drink.

So I guess thats not much help, but I would just keep a sippy around as much as possible to keep her drinking fluids. I am trying to offer DS lots of fruit and veggies and dairy products to get his vitamins and calcium in but will be speaking to the Dr at his next appt about the milk issue.


We area also trying to add dairy in other ways besides milk... She loves yogurt and I also add milk to her oatmeal etc so I know that helps. But we are definitely having trouble too getting in the minimum 16oz of milk they recommend. I'm hoping with the yogurt etc that she doesn't have to actually drink 16oz of milk.

Our LO is also in part-time daycare and they only offer drinks with meals... fortunately they do offer water to her since we've said no juice but I wish they would offer her a water sippy more often. I should probably mention that because I'm guessing they would if I asked.

[AnnieW625]

I didn't start bottle weaning with DD1 until she was about 14 months old, and she was off the nipple by 16 mos. old, it was much easier than I thought it would be. The Avent sippy spouts worked best for us because she was still holding the same bottle it just had a sippy spout vs. the regular nipple. DD1 used these for milk until she was 3/1/2.

[YouAreTheFocus]

We've had the same issue since 1 yr--he would happily drink water out of the straw cup, but wasn't interested in having milk in there. The ped gave us the same range, I think it was 20-24 was ideal, w/ a low of 16 or a high of 30 also acceptable. This is until he is 2.

At the 12 mo appt she said no bottles by 15 mo, at the 15 mo appt she said no bottles by 18 mo. At the 15 mo appt we asked--what is more important, that we get him off bottles or that he gets enough milk? She said to take the bottles away, that his intake may drop for a couple weeks, but that they naturally love milk and will ramp up again.

Well, I wasn't fully willing to do this--I was too concerned about him meeting his milk quota :) So he got a bedtime & morning bottle to top him off & ease my mind. No we are down to just morning.

I really worked myself into a tizzy about his milk intake for months--I would keep a running tally in my head (2 oz at breakfast + 4 oz of yogurt +2 oz at lunch, OMG he still needs 10 more!)--now I am trying to be more relaxed about it. He drinks about 8 oz per day from his cup (probably 1 oz at a time). Not great, but there is only so much I can do! I've kind of had to let this go.

[Pinky]

I really worked myself into a tizzy about his milk intake for months--I would keep a running tally in my head (2 oz at breakfast + 4 oz of yogurt +2 oz at lunch, OMG he still needs 10 more!)--now I am trying to be more relaxed about it. He drinks about 8 oz per day from his cup (probably 1 oz at a time). Not great, but there is only so much I can do! I've kind of had to let this go.

I think you're right about there is just only so much we can do... I've been trying to remind myself that during my freakout moments over her not having a perfectly balanced diet. :)

[pepa]

I really worked myself into a tizzy about his milk intake for months--I would keep a running tally in my head (2 oz at breakfast + 4 oz of yogurt +2 oz at lunch, OMG he still needs 10 more!)--now I am trying to be more relaxed about it. He drinks about 8 oz per day from his cup (probably 1 oz at a time). Not great, but there is only so much I can do! I've kind of had to let this go.

I know exactly what you say, I ve been the same way since DD was never a good drinker, after 8 months of constantly stressing that she drinks her min quota a day, she finally has her normal formula intake and likes her bottle, and I can just see it in the future, I will be please pretty please drink from your cup, :bowdown:
I need holidays

[daisymommy]

I think it is far more important that your baby remain hydrated than to have them wean off bottles. If they are only taking a sip or two from a sippy and that's all you can get in them, I would not wean from bottles until you are sure you can get enough liquids into them. That is of utmost importance. Now, if you are still breastfeeding, then it isn't that big of an issue.

It's not like they are going to turn into a pumpkin if they aren't bottle weaned right away. Most doctors say to aim for 15-18 months to be done.

[BDKmom]

I am going through the same thing with my DS who is 15 months old. He will drink from a straw cup, but only a little at a time, similar to OP. This is the same whether it is milk, water, or watered-down juice. I'm not as concerned with his calcium, as he LOVES yogurt, but with hydration. So I have made the choice to not worry so much about weaning. Pediatrician at the 12 mo visit said 15 mo is fine, and we don't have the 15 mo check for a couple of more weeks, so I'm sure we will discuss it more then. Even from the bottle he's only taking 2-4 oz at a time, so I just try to offer as often as I can from both bottle and straw cup. I think his problem is that there are much more interesting things to do than drink. So I try to remind him periodically to drink, thinking that maybe I'll get more in a little at a time than all at once.

Glad to see that others are having similar issues. Well, not glad that we're having issues, but glad that my DS is not the only one...

[AnnieW625]

Until my daughter gets more teeth, like 8 I don't plan on weaning her off the bottle because she doesn't drink much milk out of a sippy cup at this point. She still gets 8 oz at night during the week (the rest of milk comes from daycare and is served in a sippy so I think she gets 4 oz. 2x a day max, and probably not even that much). On the weekend she'll get a 4 to 6 oz. bottle in the AM, 4 oz. before nap, and about 6 to 8 oz. at night, all from a bottle. She only gets water from a sippy cup.

I remember being super nervous about weaning DD1 off the bottle by 18 months which is what my pediatrician advised us to do and it ended up going really easy once she had enough teeth to use the Avent bottles as sippy cups. She was weaned off the bottle by 15 months old. I plan on doing the same with DD2 (although at 12 mos. she only has her two bottom teeth).

[Pinky]

Annie, my 14 month old just got her 3rd tooth... I thought we were the "only" ones with such slow teeth. :)

For the same reason we are also not weaning quickly. My daughter will drink a 9oz bottle in the AM and a 7oz bottle in the PM but if she had to drink it from a sippy she'd probably only drink about 1/4 of that amount. She loves sippys (We're huge fans of the Tilty cup) but she wants water in it. She'll drink a little milk from the sippy but nowhere near the amount from a bottle. And she's tiny so we want to make sure we get as many nutrients in her as possible.

We're down to just two bottles and I'm hoping to have her off them by 18-24 months... no hurry here. Actually I posted a similar question a while back and the ladies on this board are the ones that encouraged me that I didn't have to follow the rule of 12 months weaning exactly.