giving up the bottle

emlklg444

My spouse (who is also a primary care doc) insists that we do everything we can to stop giving our daughter a bottle by 12 months... our daughter turns 12 months in a few days & she still LOVES the bottle... like every meal and with snacks too. I've tried every sippy cup under the sun (literally, there is not one brand or type I haven't tried) & even tried regular cups and she will not drink from any them. So I'm thinking why stress, she will give up the bottle when she's ready... every child develops on their own schedule... but darling spouse insists that the bottle will mess up her teeth. What to do? Anyone else been here? When did your baby stop drinking from a bottle?

mel

My kids had bottles once or twice a day until 18-20 months old or so. The only reason is that I was out of town and their other mom didn't do dishes quickly enough, so all the bottles were dirty and she offered cups at bedtime. They were fine with it and we never looked back. They are 6 now and have perfect teeth (though also a perfect mouth for allowing the teeth to grow) and there were no issues at all.

That said, good luck arguing with a doc.

K&H

If you think she's in love with the bottle now, wait until 15-18 months! She will be IN LOVE at that point, much more opinionated, and you will have a crazy hard time getting it away from her.. So, just know that it's likely a 12-months or 20-months decision. Are you willing and happy to have her keep it, and keep likely arguing with your spouse until then?
Have you tried a straw cup like the Momma cup?

Shanny

What if you come up with a compromise and a plan? Shoot for 15 months and spend the next 3 months gently weaning her so it isn't a cold turkey event.

lville

I had my daughter down to sippy cups during the day, and a bottle at night until she was 14ish months. Actually our issue was her iron begun to get low and realized that she was getting too much cow's milk during the day (which can interfere with iron absorption).

I agree that getting her onboard with a sippy is key, and during the day is easiest, as little ones are sooo much more easily distracted during the day. For one meal, offer the sippy and nothing else. After a couple days, offer only a sippy for two meals. Offer sippy several times throughout the day. If you go back to offering bottles for those meals, kiddo will hold out for a bottle. Kids are smart :-) Kids won't starve themselves (in theory anyway...).

Get her down to just that one bottle that she is really attached to. For my daughter it was the night time bottle. We did that one from 12-14ish, maybe even 15 months. To wean her off of that, I went from 6oz to 4oz...stuck to 4oz for a week, then from 4oz to 3oz for a week, then 3oz to 2oz. Then only 2oz of just plain water, and she was not really interested in the water.

As I decreased the amount of milk in the bottle, I increased our bedtime routine cues. Bath, Books, (Bottle), Bed. I bought a sound/light machine that plays soothing sounds and shines little fish on the ceiling. She still uses that today (she is now 2yrs). She might fuss for the bottle, but I did two books, then made a big deal about the fish on the ceiling, and said night night, and left the room. That is still our routine (bath, books, night light/sounds, bed). Good luck!!

emlklg444

Thanks for all the advice so far everyone! I just ordered a Momma Cup... maybe that one will work? I don't want to keep arguing with my spouse, that's for sure. I'll start taking away the bottle gradually... she's just going to have to learn to use cups!

michelle.malott

I had no idea what a momma cup was, so I googled it and was pretty confused that everyone was giving their kids wine glasses with lids on them. Nope, that's a mommy cup, not momma cup...

ttc.jujubee

We used momma cups too. It was a perfect transition. Best of luck!

Zen

I let Shiloh keep the bottle until 24 months. At a year I felt she was just too young to take it away. I know that sometimes new medical info trumps old but ... not in this case.