ARGH! This is Much More Difficult Than I Anticipated!

Hi,

I'm sure this is a common thread here in the second year forum, but oh do I need to vent! Jonah & Dalia will be one tomorrow (yay!) and have been exclusively bottle fed since they were 3 months old, though I have been pumping breastmilk for them up until today (last day, yay!). They were really slow to take water in a sippy and still don't love it. I finally got them to drink it through one of those Rubbermaid "litterless juice box" thingys with a spill-proof straw. They will also sometimes drink from one with a sip slot with or without a valve. However, starting yesterday I have been giving them cow's milk mixed with formula in a sippy for their morning and mid-day bottle. They flat out refuse. Dalia will take a few sips from one with a straw, but Jonah won't touch anything. Any that goes in his mouth he spits out. But then after a long time of trying to get them to drink, holding them, distracting them, relaxing them, changing cup types (now I have to wash a million dirty cups) - I poured the mixtures into bottles and they gulped it down! So I know that a) they were hungry, and b) they don't mind the taste of the cow's milk. Argh! :headbang: :headbang:

I have read that you shouldn't give in and give them the bottle, but they don't really eat or drink as much as they should as it is (Dalia, for one, basically doesn't eat any protein other than yogurt), and I've been worried about that as a separate issue, so I am just not willing to sacrifice whole feedings. Any suggestions? Or any chance that if I just keep it up it will get better?

Thanks!

 

I say give it to them in bottles and then slowly transition them into the sippy cups.

 

Just because they turned one doesn't mean that they have to be off the bottle. Take it slow and start offering a few sippies of something throughout the day. They will get it. They will!!!

 

I agree. My two had weight issues at 12 months and the doc wanted to make sure that they were getting 24 oz of milk a day and the only way I could assured of that was keeping them on bottles, so I did that until our 15 month appointment. But I don't think that 12 months has to be the magic age for bottle weaning.
We also went through a few sippies before my kids settled on the Munchkin straw cups, once they had them, they did not look back.

 

My guys did not "get" sippies until I forced the issue by going cold turkey off of bottles. When they turned 1, I just started giving them milk at meals and snacks in sippies, and only had a bedtime bottle for one (I nursed the other). I had to help them tip the sippies back for a week or so, but they caught on really quickly. My guys were < 3% for weight, so I was concerned about calories, but they figured out how to drink really quickly.

But if you're not comfortable moving that fast, then absolutely go more gradually, and give them sippies of water throughout the day for practice!

 

[quote name='Nate and Jack's Mom' date='15 July 2010 - 04:12 PM' timestamp='1279224742' post='1666002']
My guys did not "get" sippies until I forced the issue by going cold turkey off of bottles. When they turned 1, I just started giving them milk at meals and snacks in sippies, and only had a bedtime bottle for one (I nursed the other). I had to help them tip the sippies back for a week or so, but they caught on really quickly. My guys were < 3% for weight, so I was concerned about calories, but they figured out how to drink really quickly.

[/quote]

5 months ago I posted the same question and many moms told me to go cold turkey with the cups. So, I bit the bullet and mixed half formula and half milk for about a week, but only used soft silicon straw cups. Ryan had no problem but it took Michael a full weekend to catch on. A week later they caught the stomach flu and I was tempted to go back to bottles, but I'm glad I didn't. But, we never had weight issues, my guys are 50%ile.

 

I had a similar experience. Mine had been drinking water like champs out of the sippy for about a month but at first wouldn't touch the milk unless it was in a bottle. I did the halfway approach like Nate and Jacks mom. They still nurse am and bedtime but if I am not home they still have a bottle for bed. However, during the day I offer only sippies. I found they drink more if I offer it during meals because they will drink a few sips, eat, drink a few more sips, and by the end of the meal they have drank 3-6 oz. I do this 3 times a day and they seem to get enough averaged over the day. Once I figure out how it fits in the bedtime routine I will phase out the bedtime bottle but I haven't gotten that far yet. I found mine did best on the Nuby soft spout cups because the mechanism to drink from them is similar to a bottle and yay, no valves to wash!

 

Oh, and from the pediatrician's point of view, the important thing as you are weaning off bottles is to never put juice or water in the bottle and to never put them to bed with the bottle. Teeth and using the bottle as a comfort object are the main reasons the AAP says to have them weaned off bottles by 12 month.