bottle after 2yrs?

[Anonymous]

Yes, yes, i know. I shouldn't be giving my DC a bottle this late in the game for bedtime but i want to know for those of you who did, how did you stop? I know we can go cold turkey but she loves her bottle and we love it too. It relaxes everything and then allows for a very easy bedtime. We have an entire routine down and only give 5oz and then we clean teeth and go to bed. Should I just switch to a sippy or is this one of those things that will find a natural end? I fight so many things that I just want to know if this is another thing that I am going to have to stand my ground or if i can let it find its own natural end.

[Anonymous]

Transition to a zippy with a soft nipple. Just go cold turkey and she'll adjust. They are bottle like/easy to drink out of. The best for us are the NUK's.

http://nuk-usa.com/products/c-10$p-122/trendline-whimsylearner-cup.aspx

http://nuk-usa.com/products/c-10$p-70/active-cup-.aspx

[Anonymous]

OP, we are right there with you. Our two year old still has a bottle at bedtime. We keep telling ourselves, "This is the last week," but then postpone the inevitable. He loves the bottle and it's so soothing to him.

[Anonymous]

We still do a bedtime sippy cup if 2.5 year old DD remembers to ask for it. But it's not good for their teeth unless it's just water, or particularly helpful for overnight potty training. My new goal is to have her drink during storytime at night, use the potty, go to bed without a sippy cup and wake up with a dry diaper.

[Anonymous]

I agree with PP about the issue with potty training. After 2 years old, best not to have a routine that involves drinking right before bed.

[Anonymous]

With the pacifier (nights only at the time we gave it up) we told him to throw it away and then when he asked for it we said "oh no! it got thrown away, remember?" I couldn't believe that worked but it did.

So we did the same sort of trick for the bottle. One night I said "Oh no! I can't find the bottles, will you help me look?" and we looked around and couldn't find any and I said "is a cup ok for tonight?" and he said "yep" and smiled and that did the trick.

Some people on here will give you grief but I was the same way "oh, we'll do it next week" - my family gave me tons of crap about it so I finally gave in. We used the toss and go sippy cups for bed time.

HTH

[Anonymous]

OP, I feel for you. While our bottle-loving child isn't quite as old as yours, we too had one who seemed to need the bottle to relax and calm down enough to go to bed without a fight. DS was 16 months when we said it's now or never with the bottle. He could go into his crib drowsy but awake but seemed to need the bottle to get him to drowsy. We were scared to death there was going to be a huge fight. What was key for us was entirely changing up the routine. Before, it used to be bath, pjs, and rocking in the recliner with the bottle. We realized he was associating the comfy recliner in our bedroom with the bottle, b/c whenever he would see the chair, he'd run to it saying bottle. So now we do bath, pjs, maybe go downstairs a little to play some more or clean up toys with his sister, and then he goes into his room. We have an old creaky rocking chair in there and he sits with DH and reads books while sipping on water in a sippy cup. He then goes in awake.

So the point of my long-winded post is that you might have to entirely change the routine to disassociate the bottle with whatever you're doing now.

BTW, we have friends whose soon-to-be 5 year old is still on the bottle. He drinks from it morning and night. Apparently they've told him he's cut off on his 5th birthday, which is in early Oct. He is sad and doesn't want to turn 5 b/c he's losing the bottle.

[Anonymous]

I have a related question, especially to those who say to use a sippy. We transitioned to the sippy at bedtime around 14 months, and DS is now 2 and is positively addicted to the sippy, just as a bottle. What do you then? It's just substituting one vice for another. We are stuck.

[Anonymous]

My DS is two-- we keep moving back the nighttime cup of milk. Right now he's getting it at about 7:30 (bed at 8:30)-- I'm hoping that helps with potty training. As for the vehicle the milk comes in, I really don't think it matters. Bottles and sippy cups are annoying to wash (too many pieces!) but obviously we don't want 2 year olds spilling milk all over the place. I figure that my DS will give up his sippy cup gradually as he gets better at drinking out of a real glass. I'm not too worried about it.

[Anonymous]

hey, we have an almost 3 year old who still likes her bottle at bedtime. i'm going to let it to to its natural end. she drinks milk quickly (doesn't suck on it for a long time), then brushes, then goes to bed.
she is fully potty trained, including night-trained, has been since 2.5.

[Anonymous]

You just stop. Get rid of all of them. It will be hard but it is something you've created.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You just stop. Get rid of all of them. It will be hard but it is something you've created.

Yep.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You just stop. Get rid of all of them. It will be hard but it is something you've created.

Yep.

Oh please. OP, do you WANT to stop? Doctors think it's A-OK for babies to nurse up until two and then as long as mom and baby are okay with it. I'm still nursing my 26 month old to sleep and don't plan to stop at all! He loves it, and it's easy, and it's working. A good friend nursed her first to sleep until 3 years old! He stopped on his own and just said he wanted to be a big boy and that was that. One thing you can be sure of, he won't still take a bottle in middle school!

Good luck.

[Anonymous]

Bottles are for babies. Two year olds are not babies and should not be drinking out of bottles.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Bottles are for babies. Two year olds are not babies and should not be drinking out of bottles.

HAHA HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA.

Wow, you suck.

My two year old doesn't take a bottle, but he's still a baby. Jeez, you're cold!