Anyone take away all bottles cold turkey?

[713abc]

I have a friend who has advised me to stop bottles cold turkey when DS turns a year, just take them all away at once. I was shocked to hear her say this because it seems a bit harsh, and I hadn't heard of anyone else who had done this, but I really respect her opinion (she is a close friend, has a masters in child education, is a wonderful mother to two, and teaches pre-school).

Has anyone done this? Right now he drinks water from a sippy or straw cup, but wont drink his formula from a cup. If DS refuses to drink his milk from a cup like he refused drinking from a bottle when he was younger, I am tempted to try this. But I don't want it to be a miserable experience for us, either.

Just wanted to see if anyone had done this...

Mom to Max, 05/28/03

[tinkerbell1217]

Well, we did bottles and sippy cups for awhile and then at around 18 months we just had to takde the bottle away and did it cold turkey. It was a rough 5 days, but it worked out just fine. But, my DD never refused to drink from a cup. Neither did DS. With DS it took 3-4 days. I won't lie, it wasn't easy. But they both survived and are just fine!

Lots of luck!

Kelly

[kaitlinsmommy]

I really think it's a personal decision. I think weaning (from breast or bottle) should be done gradually but that's JMO.

[AndrewsMommy]

We went cold turkey and it worked out fine. He took to the cup right away and never looked back. I was shocked. He never liked a sippy before that, so I thought it would be awful. My ped recommended cold turkey and said that they get more attached between 12-18 months. Good luck. It is a personal decision. You know your child best.

Tina
Proud Mom to Andrew 3/03

[egoldber]

When Sarah was 13 months, over the course of about 2 weeks, I took away all the daytime bottles and replaced them with sippies. She never had a problem with it. She took a nighttime bottle until she was 15 months and then one night she went to sleep without it, and we never looked back.

HTH,

[atlbaby]

We did this, the week Arielle turned one. I'd given her formula and water in a sippy, and she would drink both fine, but obviously loved her bottle. Over the course of a two days I began to put some whole milk in the sippies, since I thought it was simpler to never put whole milk in her bottles at all. I first began with a good deal of formula and very little milk, but she did't seem to care and by the end of the second day she was drinking all milk from her sippies and never missed her bottle at all. So it worked out better than expected for us...but then I now have a 2.5 year old who LOVES her sippies and is addicted to milk! :) That's another problem...

-Rachel
Mom to Arielle Jill, 10/30/01
and Daliya Samantha, 10/27/03

[emmiem]

With both my daughters, one 14 and one 3 now, I took all bottles away cold turkey except for the nighttime one. We made a big deal about boxing them up and sealing the box and being a big girl. We kept the nighttime bottle for about two more weeks and then just stopped. My husband wanted to bottle feed at night more than the babies wanted it. No problems, no fussing.
Michele

[713abc]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences. It really helps!!

Mom to Max, 05/28/03