Off bottles!! ... Now what???

My girls have been off bottles for a little over a week now and while they are drinking plenty (having wet diapers, etc.) I would like to see them drink more.

Right now they will not drink milk with meals -- only water. They will drink milk before naps and bedtime. I usually give them their milk in sippy cups at "reading" time and then take it away just as I am about to leave their room for naps/bed. At bedtime, we brush their teeth first.

But, here is the thing: they have started to let the milk dribble out of their mouths, resulting in very wet clothes and lots of laughter. They are both doing it. I am now not going to serve milk anytime but at meals to avoid it getting everywhere. But, how do I get them to drink more at meals?

Should I offer it before they are finished eating, but after they have had some to eat? One of my girls drinks better than the other so I'm less worried about her.

I don't want to spoil meals with sippys before a meal ... but surely there is someone out there who has experience with this??? Thanks in advance.

 

How much do you think they are getting a day? The recommend is around 16 oz. Mine drink probably less than this but eat yogurt and cheese everyday. The main thing is for them to get the calcium and fat from the dairy. Offer plenty of cheese with the meals to off balance the milk.

 

I don't think they are getting 16 ounces ... probably more like 9-12 ounces, but they, too, get one yogurt and one cheese, serving a day also. I also put milk in other things, like scrambled eggs, etc. when possible.

But, if they refuse (or drink very little) milk during meals and I'm not offering it any other time, that amount will decrease greatly.

 

I don't think they really need much milk, if they have other sources of calcium & protein, and are eating enough food to give them plenty of calories overall. I only give milk at breakfast and dinner; otherwise it's water. Mine probably only drink about 8 oz a day (a couple at breakfast and a full sippy at dinner/bedtime).

I think the dribbling issue is not really a problem with milk. They are just playing around, same as if they were throwing food or flinging their sippies. Mine went through a phase like this and we didn't make a big deal of it, but just took the sippies away when they started doing it. If they asked for the sippy back they could have it back, but it would get taken away again if they were playing rather than drinking. It also may just be that they are still getting used to sippies, and experimenting with different ways to "use" them. From about 12-14 months, mine got a lot better about actually drinking from their sippies.

I would suggest just offering milk or water whenever it makes sense to you, and leaving the rest up to them. I agree that offering milk before meals is probably not a good idea unless you are really desperate to get more milk into them, but IMO you don't need to be.

 

I would keep offering it at meals(I don't give them a cup at all until they are about half way thru) and before nap time(do take the sippy away if they start playing with it, mine did this also). Just make sure to offer lots of calcium rich foods(cheese, yogurt, pudding, cottage cheese, salmon, and fortified foods such as cereal and waffles). Cream cheese is a good source of fat if your worried about fat intake. Mine like the jammin swirls with strawberry jam.

 

I agree with your worry about them not getting enough milk. I know the common pedi recommendation is to be "off bottles" by age one. However, at that age, I shared your concern about them getting enough milk. They don't suddenly and miraculously at 12 months, eat enough table food and get enough dairy necessarily to accomodate the drop in milk consumption that comes with drinking from sippies. You don't have to follow my route--I (horror of horrors!!) actually still gave my girls bottles until well over 18 months (they took sippies, but still got a bottle in the afternoon and one at bedtime). We still gave a bottle with their bedtime snack until they were 2 years old. This way, I knew they were getting their daily quota and now they still like milk and prefer it with their meals. So while I don't recommend putting them back on bottles if you've already made the transition, I would recommend offering meals more often during the day in sippies and not worry so much about the spilling etc. They'll grow out of it. Formula (and then milk) is their primary nutrition that first year. Like I said earlier, I think the move to getting enough nutrition from table foods and other dairy doesn't happen over night when they hit a year old. I would use strategies to increase their milk consumption until you know they are getting sufficient nutrients from the food you are serving.

 

We ended up kept the night time bottle until 18 months -- actually my pedi said 18 months was what he wanted so I stretched it out. For a while their milk consumption was lower but we were always consistent about cheese, yogurt and the occasional ice cream. And eventually their consumption came back up. Especially after they got the hang of straw sippies.

The dribble thing is a phase. Both of mine did that, they find it amusing.

 

quote:
But, here is the thing: they have started to let the milk dribble out of their mouths, resulting in very wet clothes and lots of laughter.


Yep, mine also did that and still do it!

Mine drank I think 3-4 sippies of milk a day... they were more interested in juice though.