Hi all

When are u planning to get rid of the am/pm bottle for all those babies 1yr+ (how many bottles are they getting now?)
Ava usually sleeps through the night or wakes once around 3:00 for a bottle...then wakes for the day around 6:30-7:00....would you normally give another bottle of b-fast (she gets some cereal/fruit etc)
I'm still rocking her to sleep with a bottle...I'm scared, but thinking of doing what I did with ds
Give her a bottle about 1/2-1hr before bed....play, then read books...bring to bed
Ds adjusted really well and slept better without the pm bottle...Ava is such a hard cookie to get to sleep...I can't even settle her down after her bottle anyway
Any thoughts?
For now she gets in total 3-4bottles per day

Noah is still 100% bottle fed, so I don't know that I can be much help! He takes his nap after a bottle and he goes to bed at night right after a bottle. Its a tough pattern to get out of, but I don't have much of a choice with him since that is how he receives all of his calories.

I think it all really depends on the amount of food she is taking in at her meals. Perhaps you could reduce the size of the bottles that come with or close to meals so that she is eating more and drinking less?

Lauren is now 15 mos. old... so I'm trying to remember (I've got a bad memory)...

When she turned 10 mos. old, she was getting 2 bottles, one when she woke in the am and one before bed. When she turned 1, she was down to only the bedtime bottle... she could've been off the bottle completely at 1 year, but dh and I wanted to hold on to her last "baby" thing. So, at 14 mos., she was completely off the bottle and transitioned very well. No problems.

Just the other day, Lauren was playing in "her"cupboard where I keep her unopened bottles of juice, sippy cups, and bottles. I haven't gotten around to packing up the bottles and she still "plays" with them. She had gotten into them the other night and I mentioned to dh that I was just going to pitch them because I want new for the next baby. The bottles have gotten worn out. He says "Don't you think we should keep just one, just in case?" Just in case of what? She's never getting another bottle. He so wants to hold onto that.

Thanks Sandy

So now Lauren drinks from a straw cup?
The problem is Ava won't drink milk from a sippy and I would prefer to use a straw cup anyway
Instead of drinking from the straw cup, she plays around....she sucks up the milk then spits it out or tips the straw cup over to let the milk pour out...ugh
I am sick of her getting herself soaked/the floor etc...

I'm not too worried about weaning Cady from the bottle. Neither is her ped. She said that she would most likely wean herself by age 3. We're letting Cady take the lead with this. She has one-three bottles a day. I don't offer them. I still offer her milk in cups, but she only sips from it, then when she goes to the drawer and says "baba", then I give her one. Sometimes she asks for a bottle only once a day, sometimes three times, but never more than that. Her bottle has always offered her comfort, so her ped. said it's fine that she takes a botte, as long as it doesn't go to bed with her and she doesn't carry them around and sip from them all day. She takes her bottle, lays on a pillow, sucks it down, and chucks it away when she's done and doesn't pick it back up. I don't mind. I was no help at all...sorry. I don't think it's necessary to completely wean Ava if she isn't ready.

Thanks Sandy

So now Lauren drinks from a straw cup?
The problem is Ava won't drink milk from a sippy and I would prefer to use a straw cup anyway
Instead of drinking from the straw cup, she plays around....she sucks up the milk then spits it out or tips the straw cup over to let the milk pour out...ugh
I am sick of her getting herself soaked/the floor etc...

I recently tried to get Noah to drink his Pepatamen from the straw sippy, but he only wants his water in that one. Its frustrating, but its hard to argue with a toddler, isn't it? :roll::laughing:

I'm not too worried about weaning Cady from the bottle. Neither is her ped. She said that she would most likely wean herself by age 3. We're letting Cady take the lead with this. She has one-three bottles a day. I don't offer them. I still offer her milk in cups, but she only sips from it, then when she goes to the drawer and says "baba", then I give her one. Sometimes she asks for a bottle only once a day, sometimes three times, but never more than that. Her bottle has always offered her comfort, so her ped. said it's fine that she takes a botte, as long as it doesn't go to bed with her and she doesn't carry them around and sip from them all day. She takes her bottle, lays on a pillow, sucks it down, and chucks it away when she's done and doesn't pick it back up. I don't mind. I was no help at all...sorry. I don't think it's necessary to completely wean Ava if she isn't ready.


This is exactly what Noah's GI said. He said that as long as Noah didn't take the bottle to bed or carry it around and chew/suck on it, it is fine. Noah still doesn't hold his bottle, so I don't have to worry about this, lol. But, yes, Judy makes a very good point...

We did away with Catherine's bottles completely around 14mo, I think. Prior to that, she was down to 2 a day, morning and bedtime, from about 12mo. I need to transition her to open cups (her SLP's 1st choice) and straws (2nd choice) because sippy cups do nothing for oral development. That's my shopping trip for this weekend. Sippy cups are no longer an option as she's now officially in need of speech therapy.

We were down to 2 bottles a day at 12 months.. 1 first thiing in the morning (they wake at 6:30am) and one beofre bed. They were only 3-4oz bottles though.
To get rid of them, I opted to stop the night bottle first. So at around 13 months we did this. Instead, I offered the sippy cup which they refused to drink from. So, I offered water, rather than milk at this time. ANd it was fine- they drank 2 oz or so.
Then at around 15 months we got rid of the morning bottle.. I simply replaced it with the sippy cup... I put milk in it and ironically they drank it. So, now they have the sippy cup morning and night with milk in it. Oh, and when I say sippy cup, I actually mean a cup with a straw.....
They never look for a bottle either...

Sam took his last bottle when he was 13months old. He transitioned very well. We slowly started to take them away. The last one to go was the night bottle. Sam also drinks from an open cup at snack and meal time, per our SLP as well. He does use the Tupperware tumbler with lid when we are playing in the Living room. I only fill it with water. Then when he is thirsty, he gets it, drinks, and sets it back down. I just don't want the huge mess that comes with an open cup in the Living room. KWIM? This was okay with our SLP since ther is no vent and he needs to control the flow so it is similar to the open cup.

Tupperware makes spill proof straw cups. Here is a link for it: http://order.tupperware.com/pls/htprod_www/tup_show_item.show_item_detail?fv_item_number=P100 54860000&fv_item_category_code=5000&fv_section=highlights

They only come in an 11 or 16 oz size though. Just a thought.

I just convinced Ava to use a sippy cup (Daddy and Grammy created a lazy girl, always holding bottles and cups for her!), and she takes usually a bottle or 2 while I'm at work. She nurses at night (not asleep, but until she's really sleepy). I've also thought of the order you thought of- nurse, bath, books, bed- but I think that right before bed, nursing or a bottle can coat the stomach/esophagus a little and help them get comfy. I don't know how Miss Ava would react, even though she's so tired at bedtime from not sleeping at night that she could probably sleep on the front porch and be just fine. We were playing in the living room today (house is all tile), and I went to grab her sippy cup out of the fridge. She had grabbed her blankie and curled up in a ball and the floor and was almost asleep. So that made me wonder if she really needed a nap/bedtime nurse/bottle.

Does anyone else think that sippy cups are almost exactly like bottles? I don't really feel like the sippy is preparing Ava to drink from a real cup. We're working on drinking from a straw, and when I'm up for the mess, I hold a real cup for her and let her try it. I also think they have to tip the sippies up so far that they're hard to get the hang of. Anyone else?

Kim... they actually make a "sippy" cup that has a straw... and they still don't leak. That's mainly what we use with Lauren. Well, until they're all dirty and then we get out a sippy with a spout.

She has been off her naptime bottle for about 3 months, and off her nighttime bottle for 1 months. So, she was 15 months old when she was completely off bottles. I think *I* was holding onto the bedtime bottle longer than she wanted it anyway. :oops: It was my last bit of "control" over the calories that she got each day.

Instead of a bottle after her bath, she's been getting a cup of formula (takes anywhere from 4-6 oz) and some Ritz crackers, Cream of Wheat, or oatmeal.

Her oz. have stayed the same (18-20 oz. per day) and she hasn't even asked for her bottles - could care less.

As for the type of cup Em uses...I use a straw sippy or regular sippy (minus the valve) for her breakfast formula and snack formula because I put her Miralax in it and I don't want her accidently spilling it. She gets an open cup at lunch and dinner and LOVES it. I just put about a 1/2 inch of formula in it and she does just fine. I just keep refilling it.

She also gets water throughout the day. I have a water bottle in the fridge and I keep a straw in it (pushed down so I can reclose the lid) and sometimes she drinks it with the straw and sometimes she drinks it straight from the bottle.

Hope this helps. :hello2:

Thanks everyone
I didn't know they made spill proof sippy/straw cups...I'll have to check them out this weekend
I've been giving her Zach's straw cups and she is making a MESS

Thanks ladies

Kim, personally I see no problem with her having 3 bottles a day still, I would get rid of the 3am bottle and offer water until she realises it isn't coming.

I would then give morning, lunch and dinner. I know things are different but here we still give bottles at this age, I offer the sippy all day with water though.

Parker is 22months and is still having one bottle and if he would take it I would be giving him 3 (as long as it wasn't affecting his eating).