No More Bottle

[Butterfly4Christ]

My daughter will be 2 in September and I have tried everything I know to wean her from the bottle (and pacifier too ). I am at witts end. She will do fine for a couple of days and then all of a sudden she wants a bottle or pacifier again. And the other day I found out that the sitter (my grandmother) had been giving her a bottle during the day when she asked for it !!!. Her reasoning is that she doesn't eat very well (very picky eater, but what toddler isn't) and that she needs the extra vitamins and calcium in milk since she isn't getting them anywhere else. She won't drink milk out of a cup only with cereal. I just don't know how to successfully take the bottle and pacifier away from her. Any suggestions and advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Andry]

Why do you want to wean her off her bottle when's she's hardly 2? Or a better question might be, what's wrong with her being on the bottle and pacifier?

There are no documented studies uncategorically verifying a person's superiority because they walked earlier, potty-trained sooner, talked earlier, or off the bottle before the next kid. Mom, what's the apparent rush?

 

[Manna]

I believe the OP was asking for advice or suggestions on how to successfully accomplish what she wants with her daughter. I don't believe she was asking if we agreed with her or not.

My only child is just a month old, Butterfly4Christ, so I don't know from experience anything that may help. Have you talked to your grandmother about not giving her a bottle? Maybe if you discussed with her what you were attempting to do and how her interference was slowing it down, she may understand....? Some grandmothers would understand and some wouldn't!

Good luck! Keep us posted!

Anna

 

[bliz]

I, too, have to wonder why this needs to be done now. It is not at all uncommon for a 2 year old to take a bottle and use a pacificer. Canadian doctors encourage mothers to breastfeed until the age of 2, so a bottle at 2 is not unusual or a sign of anything being wrong.

The bottle, and to a greater degree, the pacificer, allow your daughter to suck. Sucking is a natural reflex and in addition to helping them get food, it also calms babies, it is very comforting and it helps them feel secure. If you take the bottle away, she is more likely to suck her fingers (which you cannot take away!) or become orally fixated - always putting things in her mouth, which, later in life often includes over eating, smoking and drinking - relativly "social acceptable" ways of satisying that need to suck, but very bad for her health.

Please reconsider why you would like her to stop. Talk it over with her doctor.

 

[lucypevensie]

I too would say that 2 is not too old for a bottle. Soon enough she will be interested in whatever Mom and Dad are drinking and she'll want to try some of what you're having. You could put a new interesting (but healthy) drink into a no-spill sippy cup and see what happens. But don't force the issue now.

 

[Zoomer]

I always started offering a sippy cup when the kids were 9 months. By the time they were 12 months, they had the hang of it. If you want to get rid of it, just stay consistent, if that means tossing the bottle then toss them. I cannot help with the paci, the kids never used them.

 

[BeanMak]

I never minded the bottle for my kids, myself. There weren't decent sippy cups, and there was a heck of a lot less mess with a bottle. How about a sports bottle with water? What worked with getting rid of the pacifier and should work for getting rid of a bottle too, is make the committment that it is only used in the bed. Not in a punishing way, but in a matter of fact way, let her know that she is getting to be a big girl and big girls don't suck pacifiers, but it is something that she can use in the privacy of her onw room for naps and bedtime. If the she wants to go lay down, or sit in her bed with either, then great, but if she wants to be up and doing big girl things, then she needs to leave the pacifier in the bed.
My first son gave up his pacifer just a little after 2, the bottle at about 2 and a half. My second gave up the bottle at about 2 but sucked his thumb until he was 5 or so. He was a much calmer child.

 

[desi]

To get them off the bottle my wife puts tasty stuff in sippy cups and warm water in bottles making both available. After awhile they instinctively go for the sippy cup. Pacifiers get tossed a week or so after the bottles go.

 

[E-beth]

My son is just two and he is now off the bottle and we are working on the pacifier. The biggest reason for us wanting him off the bottle is because he liked to take a bottle to bed, and that can rot their teeth.

We went for awhile using both bottles and cups. We would use cups all day and then he would get a bottle right before bed. Then we stopped using a bottle altogether, and PUT THEM AWAY. If he sees a bottle now, he would want it.

We are trying to just use the paci at night. If he can't see it, he is fine. But when he gets hurt or upset, he looks for it, and most of the time I give it to him. He is really addicted to it.

As long as there is no consistency with Grandma or whoever is giving the bottle, you are fighting a losing battle. If all she gets is a cup, she will learn to use it and like it. My son especially likes when we put ice in his juice so he can make noise with it.

 

[sunnyshine]

To get them off the bottle my wife puts tasty stuff in sippy cups and warm water in bottles making both available. After awhile they instinctively go for the sippy cup.

That sounds like a great idea -- my 2 and 1/2 year old drinks from his sippy cup in the daytime but still wants his bottle before he goes to bed, if he gets a choice between water in a bottle and milk in a cup he'll probably go for the cup!

 

[selune]

To get them off the bottle my wife puts tasty stuff in sippy cups and warm water in bottles making both available. After awhile they instinctively go for the sippy cup. Pacifiers get tossed a week or so after the bottles go.

great idea, but our daughter wanted the "hotta water bottla" at nightbefore bed. It seemed to go forever.

 

[Butterfly4Christ]

My son is just two and he is now off the bottle and we are working on the pacifier. The biggest reason for us wanting him off the bottle is because he liked to take a bottle to bed, and that can rot their teeth.

That is my biggest concern. With my older son he sucked a bottle for a long time and I ended up capping almost all of his teeth. I don't want to do the same thing with my daughter. I was asking about the paci too because it seemed when I got rid of that with my son the bottle soon followed. Thank you all for you advice. I think I will give her a little more time. I have already introduced the cup and she seems to like that very much. I guess it just takes time.

 

[lucypevensie]

What is in the bottle? If it's just water it won't really cause tooth decay. I made a rule with my kids that if they want to walk around the house with a drink or take a drink to bed it can only be water. If it's juice or something else they have to sit at the table and it's more like a treat then. Besides, I think if a person is truly thirsty water is the best thing to drink.

 

[Andry]

Without exception, the last thing my 4 yo son puts in his mouth before bedtime is toothpaste and toothbrush. Whether he wants milk or juice or water prior to bedtime is irrelevant. His teeth are perfect. No rot, no stains. But he also brushes in-between meals or junkfood snacks.

 

[HeatherJay]

My youngest never would take a nookie (pacifier)...believe me, when she was little I TRIED. My nights would have been much more restful if she had.

But, my oldest loved her nookie whenever she slept. I have the secret to break the habit!!! LOL, actually, it happened accidently, but it was totally effective. She bit a little hole in the one she was using and we didn't know it (otherwise I probably would have replaced it). After a few days she didn't even want the thing anymore. The reason being that a hole in the nipple allows air in, which causes it to collapse when they suck on it...which totally ruins the sucking effect that they love so much. Actually, I don't know if that will work on other kids, but it definitely worked on Emily.

As for bottles, both mine started drinking out of cups between 1 1/2 and 2. We didn't force anything...they naturally transition, especially once the see that 'big kids' don't drink bottles. Good luck.

 

[Mayzoo]

I used the Avent system. These "bottles" have interchangable tops nipple or soft no spill sippy. This system is even cheaper because you can convert two bottles to sippy cups for about $4.00 whereas a single sippy cup is usually 5-8.00. So, even when you switch to sippy, it will still look and feel familiar. My daughter switched from nipple to sippy top around the age of 8mo. She loved the change, and prefers sippy top anytime of day or night. She is now 29 mo old. We have always allowed water accessible to her even at night. Now we use Gerber easy grip sippy cups, which she switched to from the Avent sippies with no problems. But, I should say she has always been content and easy going. We can make changes to almost any routine and she takes it in complete stride with no complaints.

And as for grandma---when you decide to make that change, and have it be non negotiable, throw away or hide the bottles so grandma cannot (helpfully?) undermine your decission.

I don't have any paci advice since sweetie rejected them wholeheartedly.

 

[tnpebbles]

I had to break my 3 year old when she was 13 months old because she was biting the top of the nipples off, scared me and I was afraid that she would choke on the nipple, so we walked them over to the trash can and said Bye-bye to them, she never wanted another one again...

 

[Jillian1527]

I had this problem too with both my girls. one took a Paci and the other a bottle. at 2.5 my bottle girl quit because she was ready and I put only water in it. if your worried about her teeth then I wouldnt see a problem with a water bottle. this is why we pushed for the bottle to go away with my oldest.
as for the Paci, my ped. told me that it wont hurt her, let her go to preschool with her and let the kids tease her out of it.. That I couldnt do. but when she was 4 on new years day I told her we left it at Grammys and if she was a big girl and went with out we could take her to pick out a toy.. that worked. she did ask for it. but I would tell her I am going to take the special toy away.
I also had friends who said they had friends with babies that needed the pacis and bottles and told their child that they are big now and it was time to give the items to the baby.
hope this helps.
-Jillian

 

[HeatherJay]

My mom told me she did something similar to what Pebbles and Jillian suggested to break me from the bottle. We'd been to the zoo and fed the baby goats bottles of milk and I loved it so much. My mom told me when we got home that it was time to give my bottles to the baby animals at the zoo because I was a big girl and didn't need them anymore. I helped her put them all in sacks and never worried about them again.

I think making the child a part of getting rid of the bottles is a good idea...much less traumatic than having them all just disappear suddenly.

Love, Heather

 

[allieisme]

I dont think 2 is too old for a bottle..

I always started offering a sippy cup when the kids were 9 months

omigosh that seems so young!
With the pacifier, once both my daughters could ask for it, it was gone.. What we did, and most of you have probably heard this, but what I did, was cut the nipple off the pacifier with scissors, and show her it was "broken" once she tried to stick it in her mouth to see it was truly broken, they were ok with it..
I dont know, maybe we just got lucky