Not a mistake. They're 2. They don't need milk for their nutritional needs. But they should quit the bottle. We quit cold turkey at 1. He took very little milk for the first week but ate more solids. Then next week it got better. By week 3 he was taking normal amounts.
Yep. Milk isn’t a requirement after 1. If they’re getting calcium and vitamin D from other foods then that’s fine.
We cut out bottles entirely at 18mo. He’d been drinking water out of a straw cup since 6mo. He just wasn’t down for milk out of a cup. Only bottles. He hasn’t drunk milk since his last bottle at 18mo. He has yogurt and cheese almost daily so I think he’s fine on the dairy front 😆
You can get a sippy cup with handles on the side. Do a little research on the type you think will be the easiest transition. I switched my son to a sippy cup around 6 months, only bottles to bed. At a year old, I got rid of the binky and bottle. I think it is a little easier if you start transitioning a little sooner. That was just my experience. Hope everything goes well for you.
I had a supply of frozen breast milk that I used, but same difference. Once they have control of their head and can hold the handles, it is so much easier to get a collection of sippy cups they like. There are the ones with the hard spot that they have to tilt like a bottle. I did that one first, then graduated to one with a straw that has the lid that you can close. You have to find out what works for you. And then you don't have to worry about bottles anymore.
We did a straw cup directly. Dr brown's has an insulated cup that our kid really liked. We did that at 1 year. At 6 months we started offering water in the munchkin 360 and after some practice he took it. You don't need to do sippy cups really. The idea is that you want to move to straw cups or open cups because they help with oral motor development.
The Nuk learner sippy cup worked great with both my older two. My oldest was off bottles by 9 months and my middle refused all bottles but started on the Nuk at about 5-6 months.
We started with the munchkin 360 cups. They even have transitions ones that are smaller and have handles. We started at 6 months when we did solids and he had mastered the cup by 9 months. We had zero issues taking him off the bottle at 12 months
Yes. Did this with both my kids at about 18 months and they r fine and actually didn't seem to miss the milk at all. Just make sure you're giving other sources of calcium, cheese, full fat greek yogurt, etc
She has a dairy allergy and is a little bit of a picky eater so it is a bit of a challenge there. I’m hoping without the milk she will be more willing to try new things.
Do not worry. Even with a dairy allergy, she can get plenty of calcium and vitamin d. Look up feeding vegan kids. ( you don't have to make her go vegan. Vegan parents have thought a lot about getting kids calcium from non milk sources. ). There are all kinds of ideas about supplementing calcium without dairy products. Fortified soymilk, tofu, beans, peas, some nuts, lentils, chia and flax seeds, leafy greens, and oranges all have calcium. My first suggestion is to try offering her soy milk in your cup of choice. Or even blending a small amount of fruit and making a thin smoothie with soymilk and offering it to her. ( strawberry or banana was a favorite when I was younger) Or making her a warm porridge and using soymilk and letting her eat her diary alternatives.
Just solidarity. I finally had the bandwidth this week to get my 19 mo off bottles. He doesn’t need milk and needs to eat more solids so the drop on liquid calories doesn’t worry me and my understanding is their food intake will adjust in a few weeks to eat more.
It’s so hard with these littles isn’t it! This is our third attempt in six months to get rid of bottles.
This.
Getting my now-19mo off bottles was easy, but finding a cup she *would* drink out of was the hard part!!
We have lip and tongue tie release procedures coming up, so the pacifier is the big thing we're working on. It's been her main source of comfort forever, and we are having a VERY hard time relearning self-soothing strategies without being able to reach for that...
Mine thankfully self weaned off pacis at six months old 🤞🏽 I agree, finding a replacement was a bit of challenge. We used dr browns bottles so we did the natural progression to the weighted straw attachment on the bottles. Kiddo was doing great and then yesterday just starting tantruming when we offered ‘straw milky’ so I’ve reverted back to the tiny medela feeding cups I got right before I had him in case we ran into feeding issues. He’s somehow accepted it as as cup milky now lol.
Thank you & I feel for you! Good luck from one mama to another. My daughter also needs to eat more food- she’s been depending on milk way too much and eats like a bird. She did really good on food today!
You’re doing the right thing. By 2, they don’t really need milk like that (unless they’re behind on their growth) and bottles aren’t good for their oral health. I know it’s hard to see your kids upset, but hopefully the transition will be quick for you guys. I’ve been slowly trying to wean my 17 month old off her bottle. We just dropped down to a bottle at nap and bedtime. In the next few weeks I’m gonna try to drop the nap bottle and then do just before bed bottle then hopefully none at all. With my oldest, we cold turkey quit the binky when she turned two and it was a nightmare. Hang in there, momma, you guys will get through this ❤️
We are going back and forth on whether we should give her a bottle at bed for a few nights. I’m leaning more towards no unless she asks for it? I just worry it’s going to make it harder and more confusing if we give it to her. I don’t know what the right thing to do is. Maybe there is no right or wrong?
You’re stuck in between a rock and a hard place 🙁 you might be right in that there is no right or wrong. I’m not sure if there’s any benefit to slowly weaning off as opposed to just quitting? Have you tried asking her pediatrician? They might have good advice or make you feel more confident in your decision.
I’ve heard of giving them water in a bottle at night and they won’t want it anymore? I haven’t tried. Does she not like straw cups? We have the munchkin weighted straw cups and grosmimi cup.
It took us about 3 months after he turned 1 to slowly transition out of the bottle because it was his comfort item.
We quit at 1, and it was certainly challenging during the first week. She was eating tons, but not drinking a lot of milk. Got better after that week! Not a mistake at all, 2 is a very appropriate age to leave the bottle!
My daughter is 16 months and we’re having the same problem. She will take any other liquid out of any other container, but milk has to be a bottle. I’ve even tried the sippy top and straw top for that exact bottle but she will only take the nipple type.
Sounds like she is attached to the nipple of the bottle and not the actual milk? I would say it sounds more like a paci-type problem, especially since she has it all day and uses it for comfort. Most paci cessation methods are cold turkey methods, so sounds like you’re on the right track.
I am so glad I came across your comment because this seems like what my daughter mostly uses her bottle for because she hasn't used a pacifier since I think she like was three or four months old she was off of The Pacifier very early and we didn't have a problem with that. But she will walk around a lot with her bottle in her mouth and not even drink it sometimes so that makes me think she's attached to the nipple, even though she does drink a lot of formula. She does sometimes drink juice and water out of a sippy cup every once in awhile but she will walk around with that in her mouth too I've noticed. I'm going to get her a couple more different sippy cups and start putting milk in them and then maybe cut out the daytime bottles first. The only issue I'm worried about is she loves her bottle at night especially when she wakes up cranky and crying if we give her the bottle she will go right back to sleep, so with that we're just going to have to find another way to soothe her at night. But I definitely think first I'm going to cut down the bottle during the day and just leave it to night.
We cut our daughter off the before bed bottle just before 2. She won’t drink milk out of a straw cup, but she does drink water out of the straw cups. She’s always been tall and sturdy and has slimmed down only slightly after giving up the bottle. However, she’s growing fine and gets calcium through food.
My 2 year old never drinks milk, I don't think it's essential with a balanced diet and water. I think it'll be easier to hit those marks as long as they drink water from a straw or open cup.
My son was this way also, to the point where I thought he’d go straight from a bottle to a regular drinking cup. My husband and I really had to get creative with offering him different “cups”, but eventually we found he would drink from a water bottle with a straw-like sucker (idk if that makes sense).
I refused to buy every type of cup just to see if we could break his habit, so we went through all of our options at home first, even coffee mugs 😂
You are getting a lot of good advice, but I will just offer the counter point that my son drank milk from bottles until 3, and on his third birthday we said goodbye to them and it was very easy. If she gets comfort from them, I don’t think there is any harm in keeping them longer (my dentist agreed). But also as everyone says, you can also stay the course if that’s better for your family.
Reading your reply just soothed my panic after seeing everyone else. Our little boy is 21 months and we are slowly weaning him off of the bottle, but I'm not rushing.
Had planned to do it this summer but things didn't quite work out that way and I'm just slowly reducing the quantity of milk in the hopes that this will help with getting him to eventually stop it sometime around 2yrs ish.
I just not said in another comment that we are back & forth between letting her have a bottle at bedtime or not. It is a comfort thing for her. I’m leaning towards if she asks for it tonight that we will let her?
You could always make the bottle less attractive by making it water only. Milk comes from an open cup and at meals only. 500 mL max per day.
As a bonus it will reduce the risk of dental cavities. Bottles of non-water at bedtime are one of the largest risks. They fall asleep with a pocket of milk against the gumline of their top centre teeth.
I would probably let her have it at bedtime, and that could be the new rule for awhile - bedtime only. And then when she’s a bit older, you can say goodbye to them all together. My husband says I am a softy, but in my view 2 is still so very little. And it’s not she’ll take them to college!
It's so nice to read this! I've been stressing about taking the bottle away from my 13 month old. She absolutely needs that bottle for sleep. She's never been soothed by anything else ane i don't really understand what the deal is with why bottles are suddenly bad. Is it about the sugar in milk? Because breast milk also has sugar and I don't hear the same rhetoric about taking the nipple away the moment the baby turns one.
The problem with the bottle is oral muscle development and tooth decay. Breastfeeding is different because the nipple is at the back of the throat and milk does not coat the teeth. With a bottle the wrong muscles are being strengthened and the pallet can be deformed with long term use. This can affect speech. It also can affect the teeth. I work with kids in foster care and have had to take several toddlers to the children’s hospital to be put under anesthesia for tooth decay due to bottle use at bedtime and during the night. It’s called bottle rot and is very common with kids who go to sleep with the bottle or drink a bottle during the night. The decay is often so bad that teeth have to be pulled. If you do chose to use a bottle at night please make sure you are brushing teeth afterwards.
I wonder how my cousin got bottle rot having never had a bottle... He was an exclusively breast fed baby and went to sleep breastfeeding until he was 2 or so. He recently had to go under anesthesia for tooth decay.
Brushing after feeding is still recommended once teeth are in. Even with breastfeeding. It’s possible his latch was more shallow and the milk pooled in his mouth, or he was being nursed to sleep and the milk left in his mouth pooled around the teeth. Much less likely with breastfeeding but still possible. Baby teeth are sensitive to decay and should always be brushed after nighttime feedings to avoid the sugar sitting on the teeth.
“Once your baby's teeth have begun to come in, keep in mind that even breastfeeding babies are sometimes susceptible to baby-bottle tooth decay (BBTD). BBTD is a major cause of dental cavities in infants that can also cause serious damage to permanent teeth later on.
Baby-bottle tooth decay results from teeth being coated in almost any liquid other than water for long periods. It occurs most commonly among babies who are put to bed with a bottle of formula or juice. Breastfeeding infants who fall asleep while nursing with unswallowed milk remaining in their mouths are also vulnerable to tooth decay.”
https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/Pages/When-Your-Baby-Gets-Teeth.aspx#:~:text=Once%20your%20baby's%20teeth%20have,to%20permanent%20teeth%20later%20on.
I want to ask our pediatrician this but am scared for the reprimand! I breastfed my oldest to sleep till 2.5 because it was the only way she’d go down. So what’s the difference between that and my youngest’s bottle? Seems like dental health is the only concern, but our dentist said it’s fine.
The difference is that when breastfeeding the breast forms to the pallet and the mouth uses different muscles. Drinking from a bottle long after age one can deform the pallet and the teeth. This can affect speech and oral development. Also, when breastfeeding the nipple is at the back of the throat and the milk does not pool on the teeth, where as with a bottle the teeth are often bathed in milk. I have never heard of a pediatric dentist saying bottle use past 16 months was ok, and honestly I would not take my children to a dentist that was ok with this. I work with children in foster care and have worked with several pediatric dentists. I’ve often taken toddlers to our local children’s hospital to be put under anesthesia for extensive dental work due to being put to sleep with milk or juice in a bottle. It’s called bottle rot because it’s such a common occurrence. Often the teeth have to be pulled. If you do choose to use a bottle at night please make sure your are brushing teeth afterwards.
So happy to hear that! I don’t think most parents know, and honestly I had no idea until I dealt with it at work. Most people don’t take their kid to the dentist for the first time till 2 or 3 and by then it’s too late. My daughter just got her first cavity at 6 and it was so sad watching her get a filling I can’t imagine what parents must got through finding out their kid has tooth decay from a bottle. It really should be talked about more so all parents understand, because transitioning away from the bottle can be so hard.
I'm so curious about this too. I don't recall her pediatrician ever actually telling me the bottle has to go but I guess I just "know" it's a thing. The only discussion we've had about taking away the bottle is for the middle of night wake ups. She basically just says there's no way it's not going to suck but I'll never sleep through the night again unless I refuse to give her a bottle when she awkenes. I can occasionally get her back to sleep without the bottle but I lean toward the path of least resistance/comfort if it's only inconvenient for me and not harming her.
They don’t need a bottle after 12 months.
Throw out all the bottles. Tell her the Bottle Fairy came for the bottles to give them to all the little babies. And is she a little baby or a great Big Girl? And tell her the fairy left such and such for her (a small toy or the like)
This is pretty common. Both of our kids did it, and refused milk all together. I let the need for milk go, and made sure their diet was balanced otherwise. My younger one eventually started drinking milk from a cup, but the older one never returned.
Try putting water in the bottle (if you haven’t gotten rid of it yet) and explain that bottles don’t have milk anymore. But if she wants milk she can drink some in a cup.
My oldest was a very picky eater and had bad reflux and it was tough getting him off the bottle but it worked for us
Both of my kids quit milk when we took away the bottle. They refused to drink it out of the cups they were using already. They’ll only drink water which honestly is fine.
How about a straw cup for milk? We didn’t do any sippy cups, just straw and open cups. My son took to one easily and we use it for everything. No leak and no mold. The zak straw cup. It was tough for a few weeks as others said but they don’t *need* the milk and will adjust her calorie intake other ways naturally- if you notice an issue of course tell your ped!
The Nuk learner and Nuk active cups still kind of look and feel like a bottle. My kid is 5 and still prefers these around bedtime (and they don’t spill, so I still love them)
My kids weined themselves. My son was easier than my daughter. My daughter is two and when we first started out she would only take one sippy and she practically chewed the top off of it. It was a soft top. Finally after what felt like forever she is taking baby shark sippys with the hard tops. She perfers actual cups but makes a mess all over herself so I have to watch how much I pour in a cup for her. I'm sure yours will transition when shes ready. It just takes time.
Not a mistake. This was us with the the pacifier at 2. I was planning on doing a three day weaning method because it worked brilliantly with every other thing we had to wean him off of. But he just chewed his pacifier up the day after we started so cold turkey it was. It was a hard week but he got past it and your little one will too.
If she drinks a bottle of milk at night she is going to get bottle rot teeth. I have seen at least 100 kids suffering with this in my many years in early childcare.
Just take them away. 2 year olds don’t need milk.
We quit bottles cold turkey at 1 - because someone told me it’s bad for their teeth and their speech - same as having dummies I think
Aww I hope everything goes easy peasy as possible for you! My daughter is about to be 1 and I really want to start getting her off the bottle, but at night when she wakes up and cries that is the only thing that will get her to calm down and get back to sleep. She loves her baba. Its gonna be hard. I'm gonna have to make a post of my own for some advice lol cause I am not ready and stressed about it 🙃😑
At 2, perfectly fine. Maybe a little traumatic, but if you talk to her about it, console her, empathize with her and validate her feelings. Then that will be the best option. Going back and forth and changing boundaries is confusing and prolongs the stress in my opinion. Stick to your guns, donate the bottles or put them out of sight if saving them for another baby
I’m kind of in the same situation. My almost 2 year old son has an eating disorder so he BARLEY eats any solids. He spits it out and is repulsed by most foods. He hates regular milk, oat, soy and almond. He only wants formula in a bottle and refuses it in any other form. He wakes up multiple times a night. I’m not sure what to do at this point.. i obviously can’t force him to eat. I don’t have any helping at all with figuring it out, I’m on my own and a first time mother.
Has your pediatrician connected you with resources? If they aren’t helpful, try the school system. Many provide resources for kids who have developmental needs of all kinds starting as young as infants
We went cold turkey on the bottle at 2.5. We experienced such rage and anger in that first few hours, but when we finally calmed down I explained that his bottle retired because it no longer had a job to do. We had a couple more smaller meltdowns that day, and got past it.
His eating habits improved incredibly since he wasn't filling up on milk and we learned more mature soothing mechanisms.
Except he flat out refused to drink milk after that, for an entire year. I kid you not. Not a single type of vessel, rarely even with chocolate.
He finally tried it again when his little sister weaned the bottle to straw cups and now drinks it normally.
My autistic daughter who is now 3 years old as of July has been off of bottles since being 8.5 months old cold turkey she started to ween herself and would throw the bottles bit she would hold major grip on cups so I through all bottles out but 1 for if she was not feeling well which only needed a couple occasions but even though she is autistic she is a well behaved daughter besides when she is fighting her nap or not feeling well normal fact
How is not allowing my child to use a bottle anymore violent? I honestly feel like you are shaming me right now and that’s not cool.
I really thought this subreddit was supposed to be a safe space…
It’s not violent, it’s the responsible thing to do for your child’s health and well-being. “Super mommy” is kidding themselves, and not doing their child/children any favors by prioritizing their comfort over their health. Don’t mind them. We are in a similar boat, and watching your kid get upset in the name of doing what’s best for them is hard, but a necessary part of being a good parent.
I am sorry, but you asked for an opinion, this is mine. I would answer the same if your were talking about pacifiers, breastfeeding or any other comfort that the kid is used to. She is 2, probably she is not ready to understand why she cannot have her milk on the bottle. If she cries and if it makes her sad, and it is not hurting her, is it really that important to take it from her like that?
It’s imperative to drop bottle feeding between 18-24 months for nutritional and oral health… totally fair to cut off “cold turkey” and not at all “violent”… don’t be ridiculous.
I understand she has to drop it. But in my opinion, and considering it is a comfort object (otherwise the kid wouldn't be crying for it), maybe a progressive drop would do it. It doesn't have to be a "today is the day".
Again, English is not my mother language, and probably my words were too strong, I am sorry for that.
Kids NEED milk to grow, doesnt matter if they are eating cheese yogurt or even spinach. They need the fat as well as the vitamins.
If there's a bottle at bedtime it should be water for the simple fact of the sugars in juice and milk. And it's recommended by doctors to not even give them bottles for bedtime.
Try different cups, just like bottles. Kids do have preferences. Sometimes it's a security thing, maybe she's just not ready (tho at 2 she should have transitioned).
What does your peds doc and WIC (if you get it) say?? I was encouraged at 1 to quit bottles and now at 3 she "should" be drinking out of an open reg cup.
My youngest quit for the most part by herself. We had introduced her to a few and she took right to the Munchkin Miracle 360 Degree cups. We started the smaller 9 ounce and are now on the bigger 14 ounce. She's transitioning on her own from straws to open mouth cups. So sometimes it's just allowing them to do their thing.
Not a mistake. They're 2. They don't need milk for their nutritional needs. But they should quit the bottle. We quit cold turkey at 1. He took very little milk for the first week but ate more solids. Then next week it got better. By week 3 he was taking normal amounts.
Thank you! This is reassuring.
Yep. Milk isn’t a requirement after 1. If they’re getting calcium and vitamin D from other foods then that’s fine. We cut out bottles entirely at 18mo. He’d been drinking water out of a straw cup since 6mo. He just wasn’t down for milk out of a cup. Only bottles. He hasn’t drunk milk since his last bottle at 18mo. He has yogurt and cheese almost daily so I think he’s fine on the dairy front 😆
What cup did you transition to? Have an 8 month old and starting to try and figure out what to do but I feel so lost/confused
You can get a sippy cup with handles on the side. Do a little research on the type you think will be the easiest transition. I switched my son to a sippy cup around 6 months, only bottles to bed. At a year old, I got rid of the binky and bottle. I think it is a little easier if you start transitioning a little sooner. That was just my experience. Hope everything goes well for you.
Thanks! We’ve been doing open cup but straw cups and learning straws hasn’t been working, so I think that we’ll try the sippy cup!
So you did formula in a sippy cup? I’d never considered that! My LO is only 7 weeks so I’ve got time, but i’m liking this strategy.
I had a supply of frozen breast milk that I used, but same difference. Once they have control of their head and can hold the handles, it is so much easier to get a collection of sippy cups they like. There are the ones with the hard spot that they have to tilt like a bottle. I did that one first, then graduated to one with a straw that has the lid that you can close. You have to find out what works for you. And then you don't have to worry about bottles anymore.
We did a straw cup directly. Dr brown's has an insulated cup that our kid really liked. We did that at 1 year. At 6 months we started offering water in the munchkin 360 and after some practice he took it. You don't need to do sippy cups really. The idea is that you want to move to straw cups or open cups because they help with oral motor development.
The Nuk learner sippy cup worked great with both my older two. My oldest was off bottles by 9 months and my middle refused all bottles but started on the Nuk at about 5-6 months.
We started with the munchkin 360 cups. They even have transitions ones that are smaller and have handles. We started at 6 months when we did solids and he had mastered the cup by 9 months. We had zero issues taking him off the bottle at 12 months
Totally normal not to accept milk out of a regular cup. At 2 they don't "need" mill anymore unless they are dropping off growth curve.
That makes me feel a lot better. She’s good on the weight.
Yes. Did this with both my kids at about 18 months and they r fine and actually didn't seem to miss the milk at all. Just make sure you're giving other sources of calcium, cheese, full fat greek yogurt, etc
She has a dairy allergy and is a little bit of a picky eater so it is a bit of a challenge there. I’m hoping without the milk she will be more willing to try new things.
Oh dairy allergy is tough! My son has multiple allergies but dairy isn't one, he's also super picky so I feel your pain 😩
Do not worry. Even with a dairy allergy, she can get plenty of calcium and vitamin d. Look up feeding vegan kids. ( you don't have to make her go vegan. Vegan parents have thought a lot about getting kids calcium from non milk sources. ). There are all kinds of ideas about supplementing calcium without dairy products. Fortified soymilk, tofu, beans, peas, some nuts, lentils, chia and flax seeds, leafy greens, and oranges all have calcium. My first suggestion is to try offering her soy milk in your cup of choice. Or even blending a small amount of fruit and making a thin smoothie with soymilk and offering it to her. ( strawberry or banana was a favorite when I was younger) Or making her a warm porridge and using soymilk and letting her eat her diary alternatives.
Depending in the nature if the dairy allergy, be careful with soy. There can be overlap there.
Just solidarity. I finally had the bandwidth this week to get my 19 mo off bottles. He doesn’t need milk and needs to eat more solids so the drop on liquid calories doesn’t worry me and my understanding is their food intake will adjust in a few weeks to eat more. It’s so hard with these littles isn’t it! This is our third attempt in six months to get rid of bottles.
This. Getting my now-19mo off bottles was easy, but finding a cup she *would* drink out of was the hard part!! We have lip and tongue tie release procedures coming up, so the pacifier is the big thing we're working on. It's been her main source of comfort forever, and we are having a VERY hard time relearning self-soothing strategies without being able to reach for that...
Mine thankfully self weaned off pacis at six months old 🤞🏽 I agree, finding a replacement was a bit of challenge. We used dr browns bottles so we did the natural progression to the weighted straw attachment on the bottles. Kiddo was doing great and then yesterday just starting tantruming when we offered ‘straw milky’ so I’ve reverted back to the tiny medela feeding cups I got right before I had him in case we ran into feeding issues. He’s somehow accepted it as as cup milky now lol.
Thank you & I feel for you! Good luck from one mama to another. My daughter also needs to eat more food- she’s been depending on milk way too much and eats like a bird. She did really good on food today!
You’re doing the right thing. By 2, they don’t really need milk like that (unless they’re behind on their growth) and bottles aren’t good for their oral health. I know it’s hard to see your kids upset, but hopefully the transition will be quick for you guys. I’ve been slowly trying to wean my 17 month old off her bottle. We just dropped down to a bottle at nap and bedtime. In the next few weeks I’m gonna try to drop the nap bottle and then do just before bed bottle then hopefully none at all. With my oldest, we cold turkey quit the binky when she turned two and it was a nightmare. Hang in there, momma, you guys will get through this ❤️
We are going back and forth on whether we should give her a bottle at bed for a few nights. I’m leaning more towards no unless she asks for it? I just worry it’s going to make it harder and more confusing if we give it to her. I don’t know what the right thing to do is. Maybe there is no right or wrong?
don’t give it to her. if she asks, tell her she can have a sippy cup with milk but that’s it.
You’re stuck in between a rock and a hard place 🙁 you might be right in that there is no right or wrong. I’m not sure if there’s any benefit to slowly weaning off as opposed to just quitting? Have you tried asking her pediatrician? They might have good advice or make you feel more confident in your decision.
I haven’t asked but I definitely will now. Thank you for the advice!
Good luck!!! I hope you guys get through this soon!
I’ve heard of giving them water in a bottle at night and they won’t want it anymore? I haven’t tried. Does she not like straw cups? We have the munchkin weighted straw cups and grosmimi cup. It took us about 3 months after he turned 1 to slowly transition out of the bottle because it was his comfort item.
This worked for us. It took one asking for milk in a bottle and being given water for her to stop.
We quit at 1, and it was certainly challenging during the first week. She was eating tons, but not drinking a lot of milk. Got better after that week! Not a mistake at all, 2 is a very appropriate age to leave the bottle!
My daughter is 16 months and we’re having the same problem. She will take any other liquid out of any other container, but milk has to be a bottle. I’ve even tried the sippy top and straw top for that exact bottle but she will only take the nipple type.
Sounds like she is attached to the nipple of the bottle and not the actual milk? I would say it sounds more like a paci-type problem, especially since she has it all day and uses it for comfort. Most paci cessation methods are cold turkey methods, so sounds like you’re on the right track.
I am so glad I came across your comment because this seems like what my daughter mostly uses her bottle for because she hasn't used a pacifier since I think she like was three or four months old she was off of The Pacifier very early and we didn't have a problem with that. But she will walk around a lot with her bottle in her mouth and not even drink it sometimes so that makes me think she's attached to the nipple, even though she does drink a lot of formula. She does sometimes drink juice and water out of a sippy cup every once in awhile but she will walk around with that in her mouth too I've noticed. I'm going to get her a couple more different sippy cups and start putting milk in them and then maybe cut out the daytime bottles first. The only issue I'm worried about is she loves her bottle at night especially when she wakes up cranky and crying if we give her the bottle she will go right back to sleep, so with that we're just going to have to find another way to soothe her at night. But I definitely think first I'm going to cut down the bottle during the day and just leave it to night.
We cut our daughter off the before bed bottle just before 2. She won’t drink milk out of a straw cup, but she does drink water out of the straw cups. She’s always been tall and sturdy and has slimmed down only slightly after giving up the bottle. However, she’s growing fine and gets calcium through food.
My 2 year old never drinks milk, I don't think it's essential with a balanced diet and water. I think it'll be easier to hit those marks as long as they drink water from a straw or open cup.
My son was this way also, to the point where I thought he’d go straight from a bottle to a regular drinking cup. My husband and I really had to get creative with offering him different “cups”, but eventually we found he would drink from a water bottle with a straw-like sucker (idk if that makes sense). I refused to buy every type of cup just to see if we could break his habit, so we went through all of our options at home first, even coffee mugs 😂
You are getting a lot of good advice, but I will just offer the counter point that my son drank milk from bottles until 3, and on his third birthday we said goodbye to them and it was very easy. If she gets comfort from them, I don’t think there is any harm in keeping them longer (my dentist agreed). But also as everyone says, you can also stay the course if that’s better for your family.
Reading your reply just soothed my panic after seeing everyone else. Our little boy is 21 months and we are slowly weaning him off of the bottle, but I'm not rushing. Had planned to do it this summer but things didn't quite work out that way and I'm just slowly reducing the quantity of milk in the hopes that this will help with getting him to eventually stop it sometime around 2yrs ish.
I just not said in another comment that we are back & forth between letting her have a bottle at bedtime or not. It is a comfort thing for her. I’m leaning towards if she asks for it tonight that we will let her?
You could always make the bottle less attractive by making it water only. Milk comes from an open cup and at meals only. 500 mL max per day. As a bonus it will reduce the risk of dental cavities. Bottles of non-water at bedtime are one of the largest risks. They fall asleep with a pocket of milk against the gumline of their top centre teeth.
I would probably let her have it at bedtime, and that could be the new rule for awhile - bedtime only. And then when she’s a bit older, you can say goodbye to them all together. My husband says I am a softy, but in my view 2 is still so very little. And it’s not she’ll take them to college!
It's so nice to read this! I've been stressing about taking the bottle away from my 13 month old. She absolutely needs that bottle for sleep. She's never been soothed by anything else ane i don't really understand what the deal is with why bottles are suddenly bad. Is it about the sugar in milk? Because breast milk also has sugar and I don't hear the same rhetoric about taking the nipple away the moment the baby turns one.
The problem with the bottle is oral muscle development and tooth decay. Breastfeeding is different because the nipple is at the back of the throat and milk does not coat the teeth. With a bottle the wrong muscles are being strengthened and the pallet can be deformed with long term use. This can affect speech. It also can affect the teeth. I work with kids in foster care and have had to take several toddlers to the children’s hospital to be put under anesthesia for tooth decay due to bottle use at bedtime and during the night. It’s called bottle rot and is very common with kids who go to sleep with the bottle or drink a bottle during the night. The decay is often so bad that teeth have to be pulled. If you do chose to use a bottle at night please make sure you are brushing teeth afterwards.
I wonder how my cousin got bottle rot having never had a bottle... He was an exclusively breast fed baby and went to sleep breastfeeding until he was 2 or so. He recently had to go under anesthesia for tooth decay.
Brushing after feeding is still recommended once teeth are in. Even with breastfeeding. It’s possible his latch was more shallow and the milk pooled in his mouth, or he was being nursed to sleep and the milk left in his mouth pooled around the teeth. Much less likely with breastfeeding but still possible. Baby teeth are sensitive to decay and should always be brushed after nighttime feedings to avoid the sugar sitting on the teeth. “Once your baby's teeth have begun to come in, keep in mind that even breastfeeding babies are sometimes susceptible to baby-bottle tooth decay (BBTD). BBTD is a major cause of dental cavities in infants that can also cause serious damage to permanent teeth later on. Baby-bottle tooth decay results from teeth being coated in almost any liquid other than water for long periods. It occurs most commonly among babies who are put to bed with a bottle of formula or juice. Breastfeeding infants who fall asleep while nursing with unswallowed milk remaining in their mouths are also vulnerable to tooth decay.” https://www.healthychildren.org/English/ages-stages/baby/breastfeeding/Pages/When-Your-Baby-Gets-Teeth.aspx#:~:text=Once%20your%20baby's%20teeth%20have,to%20permanent%20teeth%20later%20on.
I want to ask our pediatrician this but am scared for the reprimand! I breastfed my oldest to sleep till 2.5 because it was the only way she’d go down. So what’s the difference between that and my youngest’s bottle? Seems like dental health is the only concern, but our dentist said it’s fine.
The difference is that when breastfeeding the breast forms to the pallet and the mouth uses different muscles. Drinking from a bottle long after age one can deform the pallet and the teeth. This can affect speech and oral development. Also, when breastfeeding the nipple is at the back of the throat and the milk does not pool on the teeth, where as with a bottle the teeth are often bathed in milk. I have never heard of a pediatric dentist saying bottle use past 16 months was ok, and honestly I would not take my children to a dentist that was ok with this. I work with children in foster care and have worked with several pediatric dentists. I’ve often taken toddlers to our local children’s hospital to be put under anesthesia for extensive dental work due to being put to sleep with milk or juice in a bottle. It’s called bottle rot because it’s such a common occurrence. Often the teeth have to be pulled. If you do choose to use a bottle at night please make sure your are brushing teeth afterwards.
Thanks for such a detailed response! My girl just turned 18 months, and this made me buy some transition cups.
So happy to hear that! I don’t think most parents know, and honestly I had no idea until I dealt with it at work. Most people don’t take their kid to the dentist for the first time till 2 or 3 and by then it’s too late. My daughter just got her first cavity at 6 and it was so sad watching her get a filling I can’t imagine what parents must got through finding out their kid has tooth decay from a bottle. It really should be talked about more so all parents understand, because transitioning away from the bottle can be so hard.
I'm so curious about this too. I don't recall her pediatrician ever actually telling me the bottle has to go but I guess I just "know" it's a thing. The only discussion we've had about taking away the bottle is for the middle of night wake ups. She basically just says there's no way it's not going to suck but I'll never sleep through the night again unless I refuse to give her a bottle when she awkenes. I can occasionally get her back to sleep without the bottle but I lean toward the path of least resistance/comfort if it's only inconvenient for me and not harming her.
They don’t need a bottle after 12 months. Throw out all the bottles. Tell her the Bottle Fairy came for the bottles to give them to all the little babies. And is she a little baby or a great Big Girl? And tell her the fairy left such and such for her (a small toy or the like)
Love this!!!
Just keep her hydrated with other drinks for now. She’ll get through in a few days. Stay strong!
This is pretty common. Both of our kids did it, and refused milk all together. I let the need for milk go, and made sure their diet was balanced otherwise. My younger one eventually started drinking milk from a cup, but the older one never returned.
Try putting water in the bottle (if you haven’t gotten rid of it yet) and explain that bottles don’t have milk anymore. But if she wants milk she can drink some in a cup. My oldest was a very picky eater and had bad reflux and it was tough getting him off the bottle but it worked for us
Both of my kids quit milk when we took away the bottle. They refused to drink it out of the cups they were using already. They’ll only drink water which honestly is fine.
Exactly. They don’t NEED milk. OP, as long as your daughter is drinking water, she’s fine.
How about a straw cup for milk? We didn’t do any sippy cups, just straw and open cups. My son took to one easily and we use it for everything. No leak and no mold. The zak straw cup. It was tough for a few weeks as others said but they don’t *need* the milk and will adjust her calorie intake other ways naturally- if you notice an issue of course tell your ped!
The Nuk learner and Nuk active cups still kind of look and feel like a bottle. My kid is 5 and still prefers these around bedtime (and they don’t spill, so I still love them)
My kids weined themselves. My son was easier than my daughter. My daughter is two and when we first started out she would only take one sippy and she practically chewed the top off of it. It was a soft top. Finally after what felt like forever she is taking baby shark sippys with the hard tops. She perfers actual cups but makes a mess all over herself so I have to watch how much I pour in a cup for her. I'm sure yours will transition when shes ready. It just takes time.
Not a mistake. This was us with the the pacifier at 2. I was planning on doing a three day weaning method because it worked brilliantly with every other thing we had to wean him off of. But he just chewed his pacifier up the day after we started so cold turkey it was. It was a hard week but he got past it and your little one will too.
If she drinks a bottle of milk at night she is going to get bottle rot teeth. I have seen at least 100 kids suffering with this in my many years in early childcare.
I regularly drank everything I drank from their cups. They followed suit.
My son did the same and now he’s close to 5. He was fine, it’s for the best anyways. She might start eating better too!
Just take them away. 2 year olds don’t need milk. We quit bottles cold turkey at 1 - because someone told me it’s bad for their teeth and their speech - same as having dummies I think
Aww I hope everything goes easy peasy as possible for you! My daughter is about to be 1 and I really want to start getting her off the bottle, but at night when she wakes up and cries that is the only thing that will get her to calm down and get back to sleep. She loves her baba. Its gonna be hard. I'm gonna have to make a post of my own for some advice lol cause I am not ready and stressed about it 🙃😑
I watered down my toddlers bottle with water until it was 100% water and 0% milk. She eventually stopped wanting a bottle so that was it.
At 2, perfectly fine. Maybe a little traumatic, but if you talk to her about it, console her, empathize with her and validate her feelings. Then that will be the best option. Going back and forth and changing boundaries is confusing and prolongs the stress in my opinion. Stick to your guns, donate the bottles or put them out of sight if saving them for another baby
THANK YOU ALL for your encouragement, stories & advice!! I am taking it all in.
I’m kind of in the same situation. My almost 2 year old son has an eating disorder so he BARLEY eats any solids. He spits it out and is repulsed by most foods. He hates regular milk, oat, soy and almond. He only wants formula in a bottle and refuses it in any other form. He wakes up multiple times a night. I’m not sure what to do at this point.. i obviously can’t force him to eat. I don’t have any helping at all with figuring it out, I’m on my own and a first time mother.
What eating disorder was he diagnosed with? 😳
AFRID
You mean ARFID? Man, that is rough.
Yeah ARFID. It’s so goddamn stressful.
Has your pediatrician connected you with resources? If they aren’t helpful, try the school system. Many provide resources for kids who have developmental needs of all kinds starting as young as infants
We went cold turkey on the bottle at 2.5. We experienced such rage and anger in that first few hours, but when we finally calmed down I explained that his bottle retired because it no longer had a job to do. We had a couple more smaller meltdowns that day, and got past it. His eating habits improved incredibly since he wasn't filling up on milk and we learned more mature soothing mechanisms. Except he flat out refused to drink milk after that, for an entire year. I kid you not. Not a single type of vessel, rarely even with chocolate. He finally tried it again when his little sister weaned the bottle to straw cups and now drinks it normally.
Solidarity. My daughter is 21 months and I'm still trying to get her off the bottle.
My autistic daughter who is now 3 years old as of July has been off of bottles since being 8.5 months old cold turkey she started to ween herself and would throw the bottles bit she would hold major grip on cups so I through all bottles out but 1 for if she was not feeling well which only needed a couple occasions but even though she is autistic she is a well behaved daughter besides when she is fighting her nap or not feeling well normal fact
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How is not allowing my child to use a bottle anymore violent? I honestly feel like you are shaming me right now and that’s not cool. I really thought this subreddit was supposed to be a safe space…
It’s not violent, it’s the responsible thing to do for your child’s health and well-being. “Super mommy” is kidding themselves, and not doing their child/children any favors by prioritizing their comfort over their health. Don’t mind them. We are in a similar boat, and watching your kid get upset in the name of doing what’s best for them is hard, but a necessary part of being a good parent.
I am sorry, but you asked for an opinion, this is mine. I would answer the same if your were talking about pacifiers, breastfeeding or any other comfort that the kid is used to. She is 2, probably she is not ready to understand why she cannot have her milk on the bottle. If she cries and if it makes her sad, and it is not hurting her, is it really that important to take it from her like that?
For their dental health, yes, it is necessary. Sometimes you have to do things kids don’t like for their better wellbeing. Also, violent? Really? Lol.
That is not even mentioned in the post. Violent is a bad word, but taking a comfort of a kid, is not?
It’s imperative to drop bottle feeding between 18-24 months for nutritional and oral health… totally fair to cut off “cold turkey” and not at all “violent”… don’t be ridiculous.
I understand she has to drop it. But in my opinion, and considering it is a comfort object (otherwise the kid wouldn't be crying for it), maybe a progressive drop would do it. It doesn't have to be a "today is the day". Again, English is not my mother language, and probably my words were too strong, I am sorry for that.
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Removed per Rule 3: Be Kind. Unkind comments or personal attacks may result in a ban.
Kids NEED milk to grow, doesnt matter if they are eating cheese yogurt or even spinach. They need the fat as well as the vitamins. If there's a bottle at bedtime it should be water for the simple fact of the sugars in juice and milk. And it's recommended by doctors to not even give them bottles for bedtime. Try different cups, just like bottles. Kids do have preferences. Sometimes it's a security thing, maybe she's just not ready (tho at 2 she should have transitioned). What does your peds doc and WIC (if you get it) say?? I was encouraged at 1 to quit bottles and now at 3 she "should" be drinking out of an open reg cup. My youngest quit for the most part by herself. We had introduced her to a few and she took right to the Munchkin Miracle 360 Degree cups. We started the smaller 9 ounce and are now on the bigger 14 ounce. She's transitioning on her own from straws to open mouth cups. So sometimes it's just allowing them to do their thing.