Ask:
I am NOT going to make this age specific....because I KNOW there will be a debate...BUT
when you DO decide that you are going to have your baby wean off of the bottle, how do you do it??
Cold turkey??
Morning and night bottle only and sippy cups during the day??
One bottle a day, morning or night, and then all sippy cups??
How do you plan to do this??
With my first two, I did cold turkey, but that was 10+ years ago and I was much stronger and had lots more patience...
Answer:
With Ds he stopped taking a bottle during the day on his own, but still refused to go to bed without one. So one night I just didn't' give it to him. It was hard, but it took 3 days and he never looked back. Cold turkey here... or as I say Out of sight out of mind.
Answer:
My oldest was easy. I gave her whole milk in ther sippy cup at 11 1/2 months. She didn't want the bottle again.
My youngest, now 19 months will not drink anything but milk in her bottle. She switched from formula to whole organic milk at 14 months. She have several different cups and can only get her to drink a little juice out of a cup. I am hoping she will progress on her own but am playing it by ear.
Answer to the question, I believe it depends on your child.
Answer:
Ds pretty much gave up the bottle on his own. With DD we weaned her off of the bottle. We had a hard time getting her to give up the bed time bottle. She never fell asleep with her bottle but her routine was always bath and then bottle. She would scream when we tried to give her a sippy cup but we just persistently kept offering her the sippy cup in place of the bottle and eventually she gave in.
Answer:
My dd gave it up pretty much on her own but I had to look for the signs that she was ok will the sippy cup she got a bottle at bed time a little longer tho. My ped talked to me about it and told me it was ok to do when ever she was ready and not to miss my window or she would have the bottle for a long time with that advice I watched she was just fine with her sippy cup so it was a very easy transition for us.
Answer:
I don't believe there is an exact age either and I don't think there is a big rush to take the night bottle away. If it conforts your child before bed time, why not? In my mind when they are ready they will say it or give you clear signs.
Good luck
Answer:
This is a very touchy subject. It is hard for them to give up the bottle and hard for us too. I think cold turkey is the way to go.
Answer:
With both of my kids they pretty much weined themselves. They just decided one day that they would rather have a sippy cup as opposed to a bottle so I never really had to deal w/ deciding when was a good time to give up the bottle. Now, the paci on the other hand thats another story.
Answer:
Well, I can tell you what NOT to do! I took my ds off his bottle at 12 months when we started milk and gave him those Nuby cups thinking they would be an easier transition. They have soft silicone spouts and my ds just took right to them. Well fast forward to age 22 months and it is the only cup he will drink milk out of. He will use a sippy for any other drink, but not milk. I used to stress about it, but now I don't care anymore. I will just let him keep using them and then at 3 I will take all the sippys away and if he still uses those they will go too.
Answer:
That's funny that you posted this because I was just discussing this with my pediatrician yesterday when I was in for my dd first year appointment. He brought the subject up with me, and he said that he hopes that when I go back in at 15 months that she will be weaned from the bottle. He told me the way to do it is to make the bottle as unappealing as possible. Some ways he suggested was to only give my dd water in her bottle, and juice and milk in sippy cups. That way the cups are that much more appealing.
I'm not sure when I will start weaning my dd, but when I do, I know the nightime bottle will be hard to lose. What I am thinking I will do is just try to fill her little tummy at dinnertime, and give her enough milk/juice at that point that I won't need to give her anything else. That will also help with potty training, not giving them liquids before bedtime.
The sooner we do it, the better, I know that. It will make the transition that much easier. The older they get, the resistance they will show.
HTH