tell me your story about taking them off the bottle altogether...

when did you do it?
how many days did they act up and seek the bottle?
how did they sleep?
any other info is appreciated. this is about to happen in my house... i just dread it.

 

!.) I set a date in my head. December 31, 2008. New Year's Eve. We came home from a party(I think?) and I sat on the couch and gave both boys their bottles for the last time. I cried.

2.) Never. We never looked back. We were doing sippy cups before though.

3.) They slept totally fine.

I think you may be surprised. I know I was. I was worried about them waking up at night(they've sttn since they were six months old). They never have. And they see their sister's bottle-and want nothing to do with it(even though my mil was convinced they would want it again).

Try it-it may be smoother than you think! And-good luck!

 

We did it sort of spontaneously. They were about 14 months, and we'd been meaning to do it sometime, but hadn't set a date. We were already down to one bottle a day, at bedtime, and one night DH and I just looked at each other and shrugged, and gave them their sippies again instead of the bottle. They barely even blinked. It was seriously no big deal at all. And they were still (and are still) great sleepers.

But the older they get, the more attached they are to that bottle, so do it now!

 

when did you do it?

One Saturday morning as they napped I thought of how sick I was of washing all the bottle parts and decided TODAY is the day! They were 13-months.

how many days did they act up and seek the bottle?

DS had no problem. DD cried and cried at first and rejected it. My pediatrician told me that might happen and not to fret and that she wouldn't starve and would eventually drink out of the sippy...and he was right. She did!

how did they sleep? Perfectly normally!

any other info is appreciated. this is about to happen in my house... i just dread it.

I DREADED it too and put it off as long as possible. You can try swapping out a bottle for a sippy at different times during the day (the 11 a.m. bottle becomes a sippy but the morning and evening bottles remain)...I'd read on here that the cold turkey approach as best and those wise mamas are RIGHT! I haven't looked back since...you can do it! :clapping:

 

we did the cold turkey method. the day of their first birthday was the last day for bottles. i didn't want to go through what i did with dd1. she was on the bottle til she was 2 years old. they didn't miss their bottles cause they didn't really like them anyway but they wouldn't drink milk out of the sippy cups either. so i had to get creative with their food to make sure they got enough calcium. i put milk in everything i could think of and gave them yogurt alot. they're 21 months old now and still don't drink a lot of milk but it's better than it was when they turned 1. good luck! oh, and they slept fine too!

tanya

 

We stopped bottles at 11 months. Each time we went to the pedi, she would stress that they needed to off the bottle by 1 year.

I was already giving them water in sippies for about a month. When I finanlly made the switch, I would just leave their sippies out so they could drink from it when they wanted.

I never had any issues with sleeping.

I really don't think they noticed the change since they did not go searching for their bottles.

Within a few days, I packed up all the bottles and have never looked back.

Good Luck!

 

when did you do it?

With my dd at 13 months and with my ds at 19 months.

how many days did they act up and seek the bottle?

DD didn't care. DS never acted up but didn't drink his milk very well for about a week.

how did they sleep?

No change in their sleep at all.

any other info is appreciated. this is about to happen in my house... i just dread it.

Advice: You know your children best. Do it how you see fit. For my ds, who was a bottle lover, it was best to do cold turkey. Remember, you have to be ready too. You have to be ready to stick to it and then it will be an easier transition for them. Good luck!!

 

My boys were 11 months old when we stopped doing bottles. They had been using sippy cups since about 8 months and were fine with getting a cup all day instead of their bottles. One morning I just gave them a cup instead of their bottle and they were fine and when it got to be bedtime they had a cup instead of a bottle and we never looked back. They did just fine with the transition. Never fussed for a bottle or refused a cup so it was pretty easy for us. Going cold turkey worked well for us.

I agree with pp though, the longer you wait, the harder it will become.

 

It was way easier than I thought, and ironically one of my boys peed through his PJs 2 days in a row after being taken off bottles. He was actually drinking more liquid. Can you believe that?

We did it cold turkey. I did let them take a sippy cup to bed for a couple days, but they didn't really drink it.

 

I think they were off the bottles by 12 months, but it's a blur We had been doing sippy cups for a while for practice before that. I started cutting out bottles that they weren't drinking and replacing with a sippy at mealtimes and snack times. I was also adding milk to the formula at that point too. I think we were on 4 bottles a day and dropped the 11am first, then the nighttime bottle, then the afternoon bottle and then the morning bottle. I could have the order wrong, though. They could care less. They were never really attached to the bottle, though. It took them a few days with just sippy cups and milk to really start drinking. It took me a while to not stress about how much milk they were getting. I was so use to getting a certain amount of formula in them and it was hard to remember that milk isn't as important as formula. I would just do it cold turkey at this point if I were you. The longer you wait, the harder it gets. It might be rough for a few days, but they'll soon get over it and be fine. Good luck!

 

Really great thread. I need help with this too. I've had a hard time finding a sippy they like. Which do you guys have? They will drink water out of their Nuby ones, but not well, and if I put milk in them they get thrown to the floor. I have several other types, but it seems they are having trouble with the sucking part.

Any suggestions? I'm feeling inspired.

 

At 12 months I gradually switched over the course of about 2 weeks, replacing a bottle with a sippy at meals. The last bottle to go was the bedtime bottle (for Jack; I nurse Nate at night).

They never acted up or cared. Nate *hated* bottles so he was ready to ditch them. We had a hard time getting him to drink from a sippy, but after tipping it up for him for a week or so, he got it. Jack was a natural with the sippy.

They slept absolutely fine, even Jack (my problem sleeper). They just started eating more real food to compensate.

Don't dread it; I guarantee it will be easier than you imagine!

I can absolutely believe this! Nate is drinking more milk from a sippy than he was ever getting from a bottle. *And* eating like a lumberjack.

We have a "sippy graveyard" in our house, with all the brands that we tried and rejected. These are the ones that worked best for us.

You may need to buy a few different types before you find one they really like.

 

I want to add the "schedule" I followed during that time. At 11 months they were still getting I think a bottle at approx wake5:30am, 9:30, 1:30, 6:00, and bedtime(not full bottle). We just gradually dropped bottles. The first week I changed the bottles to wake5:30, 11:30, 4:00, and 7:30 (bedtime at 8:00 so last bottle 30 min before bedtime) so 4 bottles. The second week they got bottles at wake5:30, 2:00, and 7:30. The third week they got bottles at wake5:30 and 6:30pm (right after supper). The fourth week we did two days of still giving the morning bottle and then just stopped and did breakfast with milk sippies at wakeup. They did great and took sippies with milk at meals and water in between. I really don't think they even noticed since we did it so gradually. GOOD LUCK!

 

awww we're in the process of weaning and we're about to go down to only 1 bottle a day. we'll probably be off bottles altogether by the end of the month. i'm going to have myself a big ol' cry when it's finally done. i'm really going to miss that special kind of cuddly time. :cry:

 

Mine were done with bottles at 11 months. I just gradually replaced each bottle feeding with a sippy cup. The last bottle before bed was the last to go. We had no issues at all with the transition.

 

We started sippies during the day with water. At about 11-12 months (the details are fuzzy after all these years), we tried the first nightime sippy with milk or formula. Aaron threw it across the room in a fit of rage. I just put him to bed without the nightcap. We never looked back.

 

I really don't know why so many mums stress out about this! To me there are two issues - the first being getting off the bottle and onto a sippy for milk - the second getting rid of the before bed bottle. Ellie was never a problem as he always had a sippy. Max loved his bottle and I gradually changed his day time bottles to sippies no problem. The bedtime bottle was changed maybe 1 month ago - after his milk intake had already gone down anyway at this time. All three of my children are still offered milk before bed - in sippies. Never changed their sleep patterns and I still offer it now as part of their routine and for nutritional value. Lara still has a good drink but the boys only a couple of sips. I would have hated to have taken away Max's bottle when he was enjoying the milk so much. Really - how much damage can a bottle do when it's only being used for 3 mins a day? If you dread it so much then don't do it yet. Wait a little - they are still sooooo young.