I didn’t put much thought into when we’d stop giving Chloe a bottle until we were at her twelve month well visit. The pediatrician said that it was time to start Chloe on whole milk and get rid of the bottle. Our pediatrician recommended that we finish out the canister of formula that we had on hand. Once it was gone, get rid of the bottles completely. It sounded easy in theory — out of sight, out of mind — but Chloe doesn’t take well to sudden change and we knew that this was going to be a battle. Our biggest obstacle was nap time and bedtime. Chloe has been routinely taking a bottle to help her fall asleep since she was born. She used to fall asleep nursing, then would fall asleep after we transitioned her onto formula. We knew that this was going to be a hard habit to break.
We first introduced Chloe to a sippy cup when she was around 5 months old. My mom bought one for her and I mostly wanted to see what she’d do with it. We put some formula in the cup and while she figured out right away what to do, she was teething and used the cup as more of a teething soother than as an actual cup.
We reintroduced the sippy cup a few months later, and she’s been using her Big Girl Cup at mealtimes since around 8 months old. The good news was she knew what to do, and seemed to really get a hang of her new cups. We didn’t want her to associate her cups with formula, though, so we continued to give her formula in her bottles and only put water in her sippy cups.
Our next obstacle was actually quitting the formula. We were committed to starting a new bedtime routine (one that didn’t include having a bottle) and knew that it was going to be a long, tiring week of hell. Nature got in our way, though. We had just finished our last canister of formula and were ready to start our new bedtime routine when we were told to prepare for Hurricane Sandy. Worried that we’d be left without power for days, we ran to the store and picked up two more canisters of formula. We decided to give the new routine another try after the storm had passed. The storm barely hit us though, so we jumped right back into the weaning. We tried quitting the bottle cold turkey, but Chloe simply wouldn’t have it. It took me about a week to wean her from her morning bottle. Then we got rid of the snack bottles, which she didn’t seem to notice or care too much about.
Before weaning, our schedule looked like this:
– breakfast,then AM bottle
– nap time bottle
– “snack” bottle
– bed time bottle
Now it looks like this:
– breakfast
– snack
– nap time milk
– snack
– dinner
– bed time milk
After she realized how good whole milk tasted, she wanted nothing to do with her formula. We give her a few ounces of milk in her Big Girl Cups, and she’ll sip on it throughout the day. We always have a sippy filled with water for her, too. We still struggle with nap time and bedtime though. She still wants her bottle and after four hours of ear piercing screaming, we caved and let her have a bottle of milk. She seems to associate the actual bottle with soothing, and not the liquid that’s inside.
If we make her a bottle, she’ll run right over to the boppy, lay down and drink her bottle until she falls asleep. We’ve tried establishing new routines, but she does not like to be held (so I can’t rock her to sleep) and has never been a “drowsy but awake” kind of kid. We’ve tried putting her in her crib soon after she falls asleep, but she wakes up the instant her head hits the mattress and starts screeching. We’ve come to realize that this is not going to be an easy process, but we’re trying to be patient and do one thing at a time.
Did you have a difficult time weaning your baby?
coconut / 8279 posts
We’re having this issue right now. DS doesn’t quite get sippy cups (I’ve tried since 4-5 months). He likes to turn them upside down and somehow manages to get the liquid out of every single one of them no matter how “spill proof” they are. It’s frustrating. He doesn’t even hold his own bottle. He can, but he’d rather tip it and get the liquid all over the rugs. (He’s 11 months old!)
hostess / wonderful watermelon / 39513 posts
Thanks for this! My LO will drink water from a Zoli straw cup but has zero interest in sippy or straw cups for breast milk or formula!
cherry / 155 posts
I hate to admit, but I have a 15 month old and he still has one bottle with whole milk at night (right before bed too). I know we need to stop because he brushes his teeth before this bottle- bad bad bad, Our routine is soooo great, and he sleeps wonderfully so I am petrified to mess with success. I think what we will do is a sippy cup with milk during story time, brush teeth, and then a song and then in crib. Fingers crossed!
Someone asked me how a sippy cup is that different than a bottle, they both encourage sucking. I think I thought, hey- you are right! And that’s why we haven’t been as motivated to give up that last bottle…
persimmon / 1295 posts
@RLCeigh: don’t feel bad! I’ve got a 15 month old who still nurses to sleep!
honeydew / 7488 posts
@RLCeigh: My 14 month old is still taking a bottle of whole milk in the am and one before bed… I am trying to get him to take a sippy cup, but he is used to having only water in a sippy cup and will throw it on the ground if I put milk in there. I am also guilty of warming his milk a litle too before putting it in the bottle. I am cocerned about calories since he is on the very low end of the weight scale so that’s why it’s been hard to get rid of the bottle when he takes it so well.
blogger / eggplant / 11551 posts
Weaning N from her bottle was easier than I thought! We slowly transitioned her out and kept only the morning and night bottles starting at 12-months. Then we kept only the night bottle. Then one day, we just stopped giving her milk right before bed and she wanted it the first day, but by the 2nd or 3rd day she didn’t even seem to miss it. We fully transitioned her at 14-months.
cherry / 155 posts
Phew- I feel a little better. We have his 15 month well check-up this week and I seriously thought of fibbing to the doctor.
I nursed him for 9 months, so he has always been either nursed to sleep or given a bottle. It soothes him.
Routines are hard to break when they work so well!
cherry / 187 posts
I can’t wait to hear all of the comments on this one. I’m the guilty mom of a 15 month old who still drinks her milk out of a bottle! Originally, she didn’t use a sippy cup well when we made the switch from formula so we just switched using bottles. Now, she drinks water well out of the sippy, but not milk. I’ve been wondering if just going cold turkey is the answer?
blogger / coconut / 8306 posts
@tipperella: It’s comforting to know Im not the only mom struggling with weaning.
Chloe isn’t old enough to understand the concept of being a big girl just yet. We’ve thought about taking the weaning slowly (she doesn’t adapt well to sudden change, so quitting cold turkey isn’t for us), and in a few months throwing her a Big Girl Party. We figured we’d let her pick out a new sippy cup, bake a cake together, and let her throw out her “baby bottles”. Maybe she’ll be more receptive of the change if she has a say in it!
guest
I still nurse my 2 year old to sleep at night and for naps on the weekends And I don’t feel at all guilty about it. Her pediatricition has never suggested we do otherwise. She never took to a bottle, so we didn’t have to worry about that. Weekdays at daycare she goes to sleep on her own.
I understand that the general guidance is to stop bottles after a year but if the bottle is what worked for my family, I would let her have it for now revaluate it in a couple of months. My daughter does not respond well to sudden change so we tend to take changes very slowly and really watch her for cues she’s ready for a change.
Be gentle with yourself, you’re doing a great job!
GOLD / wonderful coffee bean / 18478 posts
I started phasing out bottles of formula before she turned 1 since she was eating more and more food. By 1, I think we were down to 3 bottles from 5. We transitioned from formula to whole milk first, still using the bottles. That was fine and then I took the bottles away cold turkey. That was a stressful 1-2 weeks as we had to do a lot of experimenting between different sippy cups. Finally, I discovered that she would drink milk out of a straw cup so she got her whole milk in that and weaning was complete!
GOLD / pomelo / 5167 posts
Mavrick is 2.5 and still has a bottle in bed. I know HORRIBLE! egh. But we keep reducing the amount of milk we give him. and i dont know how he can like it after brushing his teeth.
blogger / persimmon / 1398 posts
We’re coming at this from a different angle since bottle=attachment in our world. But after unsuccessful attempts here at 1.5, 2, and 2.5 … we just let him have it. He gave it up four days before he turned 3! So I guess you could say we had a little trouble.
guest
I am struggling right now with this, too! I have a 14-month-old who still takes bottles at naptime, bedtime, and even twice during each night! Arrgh. He’s my #2 child and I didn’t have to deal with this with #1 because I breastfed her until 12 months, then had no trouble weaning her to sippy cups. But this guy will only drink water from sippy cups. I have not been able to interest him in milk at all. And if I put his formula in a sippy cup at one of his bottle times he freaks out. Don’t know what I’m going to do. I’m sure I’m going to get a lecture about this from his pediatrician at his 15-month checkup. I just hope the lecture includes some helpful advice!
guest
A night nanny I spoke with when my twins were 3mos old suggested a gradual reduction… don’t take the bottle/milk away all at once if that doesn’t work for your child… try to gradually reduce the amount you offer. If that is an ounce a day, or .25oz every 3 days less go with your gut. You can even try watering the milk down… water before bed is better than milk for her teeth… obviously you’ll still have issues come potty training time but “baby steps” is best with babies I’ve learned