Getting 1-year-old off bottles

[Anonymous]

My 2.5 year old finally gave up milk in a bottle (just down to one per day) recently. At 1 we didn’t even think about it and even my ped didn’t start suggesting until 18 mo and we started gradually cutting back. Mine needed milk at this age for sure. As long as he’s using a sippy cup for some feeds I really don’t see why this is a big deal. Agree with others that this isn’t worth the stress. Parenting kids this age is hard enough- no need to make things harder on yourself. Plenty of other “boundaries” to enforce over if that’s you thing.

[Anonymous]

Take the bottles, trash them, offer cup of milk, deal with crying for 3-4 days. Don’t give in. Done.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Our pediatrician has said that now is the time to get our 1-year-old son off of the bottle. Easier said than done, right?

He drinks out of a sippy cup all day long as long as there's water in it, but he'll only drink milk out of a bottle. Put milk into a sippy cup? Stiff arm. Put milk into an open cup? Stiff arm. Put milk into a sippy cup with a straw? Stiff arm. Give him a sippy cup of water? He'll chug it.

Ok, so we maybe ditch milk then? Wrong. He refuses to finish a meal without milk. He'll start eating a meal, but at some point, during the meal, if he doesn't get his bottle of milk he will cry and cry and cry. We've tried, for several hours, to only offer all the different options containing milk in lieu of a bottle. He just cries so hard until he gags. It's soul-crushing.

How do we get him off the bottle? He's having whole milk, happily, so getting him off formula wasn't an issue at all. He'll drink all the sippy cups with water. He just refuses milk out of a sippy cup.

We've tried:

- distracting him while giving sippy cup
- only offering sippy cup
- many different options of sippy cups and open cups
- the switch-a-roo where he's having a bottle of milk and when he stops for a breath we swap to a sippy cup

What worked for you guys for your LO's who had a difficult time getting off the bottle?

You’re not being consistent, this is a you problem not a kid problem.

[Anonymous]

You are way overthinking this. Take the bottle away, if he chooses to drink milk, great. If not, great.

[Anonymous]

I have a 3.5 year old who still drinks a bottle of milk at bedtime (before we brush his teeth). This was not a hill worth dying on for us. We successfully weaned him off the other bottles -- no morning bottle (took a few days of crying, especially because he has a baby brother who gets bottles), then when he stopped napping it was easy to drop the nap bottle (and now he is in school at that time anyway). This is the only way he will drink milk and he really, really needs the calories. I haven't seen any adults walking around drinking from bottles so I figure he will kick it when he is ready.

[Anonymous]

My kids nursed until 2. Never wanted to drink cows milk from anything. Now at 3 i finally get them to drink milk with chocolate sauce added from an open cup/with a fun straw. Meh. They eat plenty and the pediatrician doesnt care.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Take the bottles, trash them, offer cup of milk, deal with crying for 3-4 days. Don’t give in. Done.

This !!!

[Anonymous]

How about viewing this as just one of the first difficult, firm stances you'll have to take. Tough love says, get use to the hard things and strengthen that parenting muscle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Pick one bottle a day to start with. I’d start with whichever he seems LEAST attached too, and for god sakes not the last one of the day. If he’s on one nap, I’d vote either breakfast or post nap so he won’t lose sleep with the crying. From now on, at that meal, he gets a sippy of milk and a sippy of water. For all other meals, he gets his bottle as always. No more pleading, negotiating, distracting, games, different cups, or even pressure. The two sippys are there, he can drink them or not. He cries for a bottle, he gets a neutral “Sorry sweetie, at lunch we only have milk in a cup.” If he does take a sip of milk, it’s like you don’t even notice.

He cries until he gags? Snuggle him, say, “I know it’s hard. Change can be hard.” But do. not. waver.

I bet if you don’t cave, you’re looking at extensive crying the first day, nearly consistently until dinner, the second day it starts out just as bad, but peters on and off, the third day he cries for 15 mins, day 4 he gives a single wail and then you’re done. He may or may not drink the milk out of the cup, but at this stage, it really doesn’t matter.

The first will be the worst. Give it two weeks of no tears, then do the next, and so on, until they’re all gone. And if you have another kid, start this process right at 12 months when they’re less stubborn.

Bottom line, you’re in a power struggle, and you’re losing. Set your boundaries and hold firm.

This right here. Life is going to be full of disappointments and adjustments and having to do things we don't want to do. Protecting our kids from all of these things so that they don't cry ever isn't helpful to them or society. Comfort your son but setting these boundaries is good for him.

Bad advice. Children need love and compassion to grow into well adjusted adults. No need to torture your children to teach them that life is hard.

And this is how we end up with boys like Brock Turner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Pick one bottle a day to start with. I’d start with whichever he seems LEAST attached too, and for god sakes not the last one of the day. If he’s on one nap, I’d vote either breakfast or post nap so he won’t lose sleep with the crying. From now on, at that meal, he gets a sippy of milk and a sippy of water. For all other meals, he gets his bottle as always. No more pleading, negotiating, distracting, games, different cups, or even pressure. The two sippys are there, he can drink them or not. He cries for a bottle, he gets a neutral “Sorry sweetie, at lunch we only have milk in a cup.” If he does take a sip of milk, it’s like you don’t even notice.

He cries until he gags? Snuggle him, say, “I know it’s hard. Change can be hard.” But do. not. waver.

I bet if you don’t cave, you’re looking at extensive crying the first day, nearly consistently until dinner, the second day it starts out just as bad, but peters on and off, the third day he cries for 15 mins, day 4 he gives a single wail and then you’re done. He may or may not drink the milk out of the cup, but at this stage, it really doesn’t matter.

The first will be the worst. Give it two weeks of no tears, then do the next, and so on, until they’re all gone. And if you have another kid, start this process right at 12 months when they’re less stubborn.

Bottom line, you’re in a power struggle, and you’re losing. Set your boundaries and hold firm.

I'd do this BUT..... first, I'd wait 2 months as your baby may outgrow this resistance naturally. You could even wait a few weeks and then put a sippy cup of milk on his meal tray immediately, with his food. IF he doesn't drink it and starts to ask for a bottle, get it without any discussion. IF he drinks from the sippy cup then don't make a big deal of it. No comments!

But if not, then in a few months, do the above, but honestly sometimes kids just need a few months to warm up to the idea so I'd give him a ew months.

[Anonymous]

Here’s what worked for us:

Drop all bottles except for morning and bedtime. Offer milk in sippy cup throughout day. You might have to have a special milk cup and a special water cup; mine wouldn’t drink out of the milk sippy cup that looked too much like her water cup

After a week drop down to just the bedtime bottle.

When time to drop bedtime bottle (we dropped at 15 months, she’d been getting only bedtime bottle since 13 months) move solely to milk in cups. Baby went on milk strike for three days. Would drink water but nothing from designated milk cup. She was frustrated, we were frustrated, but after a few days she realized that she liked milk more than not liking the cup and went back to milk.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD was like this. We held firm. She never drank milk again. If I could do it over, I’d let her continue with milk in a bottle.

and? There are a million other places to get good nutrition, like yogurt and cheese.