What age did you drop bottles

Since I am having that dilemna (posted yesterday)...The girls turned on one on the 12th and I feel an enormous pressure that they should no longer be on bottles. I see my cousin's kids who will still take bottles at ages 4 and 2. I feel the older they are the harder it is to drop the bottles, but am finding it hard now. The girls associate the bottles with milk and sippies with water.

How old were your kids when they stopped taking bottles?

Thanks!

Can't wait to see how hard it will be to let go of pacifiers.

 

We started dropping bottles at 11.5 months and just now at almost 13 are completely done with them. I found that dropping the first bottle was really really hard, it was a LONG 2 weeks. But after that each subsquent bottle got easier to drop and when we dropped their bedtime bottle this week they could have cared less, I was the sentimental one.

I don't have any other experience but it was my thinking that it would be easier to do now than when they are older so that's what we did.

 

We dropped ours around 12 mos, I think......soon as they were doing ok with sippies. I really dreaded it, thinking it was going to be this major thing. I finally told dh to just pack up all the bottles & get rid of them b/c I knew I would cave if they were still in the house. I couldn't believe it, they hardly noticed! I hate the pressure, though.....I think yours are young enough that you shouldn't worry.

 

My older DD was stubborn -- and also a skinny thing that didn't eat well, so I was hesitant to take away her bottle -- so she had it until she turned 2. We then switched to the soft-spout Nuby sippies, and then at 3, switched to straw cups. Both transitions weren't fun.

My little ones have straw cups of milk in the morning and after nap, and they drink them just fine. But, they still get their bottles of milk at bedtime -- I'm trying to switch them, but they're being resistant. And frankly, I like that they sleep -- I don't need them waking up hungry, LOL.

Anyhow. I wouldn't stress about it. True, it's harder to switch as they get older, but it's just not worth the stress...

 

I forgot, we started with the soft spout sippies, too. Seemed like an easier transition from the bottle's nipple

And I think some bottles even have sippie spouts you can replace them with - same bottle, just a different spout.

 

mine actually gave theirs up at 13 mos - they were down to one bottle a day (everything else was sippies - we started transitioning them at 6 mos) and they handed me back the bottle when I gave it to them - they wanted a cup!

 

We had gradually dropped all daytime bottles by 13 months. I let the bedtime bottle slide until 18 mos b/c I thought it would be difficult getting them down. Nope! Very easy. I think it helped that I started giving them sippies early.

 

At 12 months they were down to just their bedtime bottles, and by 12.5 months we had gotten rid of that. So 12.5 months. I totally agree that it would get harder as they get older. Mine are 30 months and one still has her bedtime paci to show for that, I can't figure out how to get rid of it. She's stubborn and attached.

 

ha! We JUST did, last week!!! :blush: They're still not up to par w/ their milk intake, but I'm hoping it'll happen soon. I know they were drinking much more when they had bottles b/c I'd give them juice/water at meals, but now they're getting their leftover milk that they didn't drink earlier in the morning... They don't seem to have a problem taking the sippies, they just won't down it like they did w/ their bottles.

 

:hug:'s Momma, I didn't like that pressure either.

My dd transitioned to a sippy cup at 13 months. :good: She didn't mind, but I also went to the soft spout sippy with her. My ds wouldn't have any of it until he was 18/19 months. ardon:

I think you know your kids best, so if you think they are ready then do it. When I tried with my ds at 13 months he had a total meltdown and would not drink milk from his sippy. At 18 months, he didn't shed a tear, so, for us, it was worth the wait. :good:

 

With the boys it was exactly a week after their first birthday and with Katie she was done with them exactly the day of her birthday. With my kids it has never been a issue getting rid of them. They adjusted just fine. I do it cold turkey that way its an all out switch and they barely notice.

 

I honestly had never encountered such a mania for getting rid of bottles (and pacifiers) at a pre-determind age, with a staunch belief that if you go past the age it will "get much harder", before I started visiting this forum. I really don't understand it. ardon:

Just to be clear I am talking about for the first and last drink (of milk) of the day, not every drink:
Naomi and Luke dropped bottles at 3 years, Alyssa and Bryony dropped bottles at about 3 years 4 months. FWIW it was not a really difficult adjustment.
In fact A & B still, at 5 1/2, have their bedtime milk in a sippy cup. They drink everything else from normal cups and don't need to have the milk in sippies, but they like to. They brush their teeth afterwards and it doesn't cause any problems so where's the harm in it?

If you are really unhappy about them having bottles and desperate to get rid of them then I would suggest just going 'cold turkey'. Throw out (or better yet give away) the bottles and be prepared to have to work the milk/calcium into their food because they probably won't drink as much from the sippies at first.

 

My babies stopped between 12-14 months old. It always seemed like I thought they would never give up their sippy and then all of a suddent they would. I always took away their nighttime bottle last because I too always wanted the sleep over everything else - ha ha. good luck

 

we tried to go to sippy cups at 12 months and they refused. So I went back to bottles for another week. Then by an accident I left the only 2 bottles that we had at someone's house over 2 hours away. Since I refused to buy more bottles, I bought NEW sippy cups for milk, and they took it. (I use one kind for milk; one kind for water.) It IS hard - best of luck!

 

The girls were about 13 months when we dropped everything but bedtime/nap bottles. At 18 months we dropped all bottles. It was very easy. The last month we just started putting water in bottles, instead of milk. The really didn't drink it, they just held it and loved it. Then we just got rid of them. No trauma no crying

 

We went from formula in bottles one day, to milk in sippies the next at 11 1/2 months. It was very easy. One problem with dropping them slowly, is that if they are really attached, and know they will get a bottle later, they will just hold out for the bottle. If there is no bottle coming, they will adjust much quicker.

 

I always said I wouldn't let anyone pressure me to get rid of my boys' bottles. We switched to a new daycare when the boys were 10 1/2 mos old & that daycare was not fond of giving bottles (it was a REALLY small one that didn't have any kids under 15 mos til my boys started). Since they didn't 'try' to give my boys bottles very well & they were at the horrible age of getting massively distracted, I just dropped their daytime bottle & put them to all sippies all day. The first 2 weeks or so were rough with their decreased intake & difficulty napping (they had gotten their daytime bottle right before nap) but then I stopped obsessing & pushing the sippy & they did MUCH better.

We went camping when the boys were 11 1/2 mos & just out of curiosity, I handed them a sippy of milk in the morning vs their bottle & they took it. So then we packed up the bottles & never went back (I would ONLY go cold turkey). They did just fine. Never whined...never fussed...nothing. I can't tell you how happy I was to pack up all those darnded bottles!

We did use soft spouted handled sippies in the transition; the boys refused the hard spouted no handled ones. They also HATED Nubys. I think it's very dependent upon the child, so I always recommend to try various brands (I had a TON). We didn't start straw sippies until 13 mos & it took them quite some time to figure them out. Oh & we initially introduced sippies at 6 mos, which I think helped a LOT!

Good luck with your transition. Base it on your child & yourself, not what others tell you.....

 

QUOTE(SMiLeD @ Oct 18 2008, 11:27 AM) [snapback]1031476[/snapback]
We started dropping bottles at 11.5 months and just now at almost 13 are completely done with them. I found that dropping the first bottle was really really hard, it was a LONG 2 weeks. But after that each subsquent bottle got easier to drop and when we dropped their bedtime bottle this week they could have cared less, I was the sentimental one.

I don't have any other experience but it was my thinking that it would be easier to do now than when they are older so that's what we did.



This is exactly how we did it. My boys still don't like the non silicone spouts very much, but actually drink more milk than formula with the cups. I don't know if it's the milk or the cup they like better. I wouldn't be too worried about it, but would def. try the silicone spouts.

 

I did different things with each child.. .mainly b/c of course your first time you are more paranoid about things, and want to do everything 'just right'. So, my first son stopped taking the paci at 4 months (on his own, just wouldnt take it) and we introduced a sippy cup at about 8-9 months, and took the bottle cold turkey at 12 months. He did fine. He was our text book baby, all the way around. Then with my DD and the twins, we were a little more lenient, and let them have a the bottle a while longer than a year.. but the twins used a sippy cup to go to bed until about 20 months. Then I started giving them a drink in a regular cup in the kitchen before bed, and they did ok. My DD sometimes still wakes up at night for a drink but I give her a regular cup, and she drinks it and goes back to sleep.

 

Hi Everyone,
I've been reading the posts about when to relinquish the bottles. I am just wondering how and when people exactly did it. When I give my boys their sippy cups at lunch and dinner, they seem to prefer to play with it vs. drink from it. I am concerned that they will not get enough fluid. So, we continue the bottles (3 a day, yikes). Any ideas about this? Thanks

 

QUOTE(sharongl @ Oct 19 2008, 04:30 AM) [snapback]1032247[/snapback]
We went from formula in bottles one day, to milk in sippies the next at 11 1/2 months. It was very easy. One problem with dropping them slowly, is that if they are really attached, and know they will get a bottle later, they will just hold out for the bottle. If there is no bottle coming, they will adjust much quicker.


we went cold turkey around 18 months. Like Sharon said, in our case my DS would have held out for a bottle for each milk serving, so it had to be cold turkey. It was a rough 3-5 days - but now he's fine. However we did introduce sippies well before their first birthday for milk and juice.

don't let anyone pressure you...do what is best for your family and kids.

 

For the most part bottles were out of fashion around here around 12 months, although I still offered them in the morning and before bed until about 15 months. My boys weren't very attached to their bottles.

I see no reason to rush them unless they sleep with their bottle (that can lead to teeth rot).

 

I have always let my kids drop things when they are ready too. They stopped their bottles at 18 months old.

 

QUOTE(Twin nanny @ Oct 18 2008, 04:45 PM) [snapback]1031892[/snapback]
I honestly had never encountered such a mania for getting rid of bottles (and pacifiers) at a pre-determind age, with a staunch belief that if you go past the age it will "get much harder", before I started visiting this forum. I really don't understand it. ardon:

Our state Dept. of Health sends us guidelines on milestones to watch for and tip sheets on what we should be doing with our kids at their age - and one of their big things seemed to be off of bottles at age 1. When I came on here, I actually sensed a lot more leniency than what I read in the DOH bulletins, so this board actually made me feel a little better about not stressing over the 'deadline.'

That said, we did have them off of bottles just after their first birthday. We took about one week after they turned one to switch from formula to whole milk, still in bottles. When they were on all whole milk at the end of that week, then we did a cold turkey switch from bottles to straw sippies. They definitely drink less milk (even still) than they did when they were getting bottles - but I don't worry about it, because now they're getting that nutrition from their food. If they still drank all of that milk, there wouldn't be enough room in their little tummies for any food!

 

QUOTE(BridgePort @ Oct 20 2008, 05:36 PM) [snapback]1033672[/snapback]
Our state Dept. of Health sends us guidelines on milestones to watch for and tip sheets on what we should be doing with our kids at their age - and one of their big things seemed to be off of bottles at age 1. When I came on here, I actually sensed a lot more leniency than what I read in the DOH bulletins, so this board actually made me feel a little better about not stressing over the 'deadline.'

Thanks for the explanation.
Parents here do get information on development milestones etc. I think it is mentioned that once they are one they should be able to use (sippy) cups for drinks, but there is no big push to get off bottles entirely.

I still don't understand the need for all the pressure.

 

Thanks for all your replies! The girls had their one year appointment today and he'd like them off bottles by their 15 month appointment. I had felt such a pressure to have them off at the stroke of midnight when they turned one! I will try by dropping their night bottle in the next few weeks, since they are not so attached and will work on their morning bottles after that. I am just afraid they will not meet their dairy requirement. Oh well, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Thanks again!