Bottle weaning help

[Emmy]

My son is almost 18 months old and I've been trying to wean him off from his bottle for about half a year with no success. He will drink everything but milk from a sippy cup and even a tumbler with no problem, but he refuses to drink milk out of anything other than a bottle. The second he tastes milk from the sippy cup or any other kinds of cup, he refuses to drink it and he actually will remember it and refuse to try it again. I have actually tried the "cold turkey" method where the only thing I offered him to drink all day is milk in a sippy cup and he actually went dehydrated the whole day. Any suggestions for how I can get my son to drink his milk from a non-bottle would be appreciated.

[smilejoyjoy]

I have that same problem with my 18th month old daughter. She won't drink her milk in anything but in her bottle. Each time I try, she either pushes the sippy cup away or throws it to the floor! I even showed her how I pour her milk from her bottle to her sippy cup and back. Still that doesn't work. I'm reading through the threads to see what advice I could get as well!

[HaPpYMoMmY]

Hey, My son just turned 2. I took him off the bottle a month ago. Its funny because I did it the same way I took him off the pacifier. I just let him forget. It might take some work on your part to. But try to keep him side tracked. When hes really into something tv, playing with toys, or anything just give him a sippy cup and walk away. It might not work right away, so in that case give it to him, stay right there and start talking and joking with him about what hes playing with or watching. They love that interaction. so that helps help to somewhat forget. At night I did the same thing I layed with him and sang and talked until he got sleepy. Now he doesnt even drink the sippy cup to go to sleep. In one day I took it away and he hasnt cared for it since. There wasnt really a transitional period. Just alot of help from mommy. Oh and one more thing I taught him how to say "NO MORE" and put his arms in the air. So when I didnt want to give him something I just said No More and he immitated and said "oh man" but he understood the concept. Hope this will help.

[kfiedler]

I remember my daughter wouldn't take anything from a sippy cup. So we tried a straw next she picked up on it pretty quick and thought it was a fun way to drink, we basicaly didn't use sippy cups. Eventally the idea of drinking from a big girl cup became way more interesting, we got her some fun one with handles and the switch was easy. Good Luck!

[biddles]

The straw is such a good idea! I used that idea w/ my middle son too, and it worked wonderfully! For my oldest (now 5) I started making chocolate milk instead. I don't know how you feel about that, but it did work for me. My son would have nothing to do w/ milk from anything but a bottle and I wanted to get away from using one. I started making chocolate milk for the sippy and he'd drink that, and after a few days of making it less 'chocolatey' I was giving him regular milk.

[sm7226]

I had a hard time with my son too. It seemed like we tried everything. A bottle before be was a part of his night time routine. We went through his normal routine but when it came time for his bottle, it was "broken". Earlier that evening I had hidden all of his bottles but one and snipped the top of the nipple. Before I put anything in it, I had shown him that it was "broken" and I needed help to "fix" it. He couldn't "fix" it either so he called my husband for help. When daddy couldn't fix it either he just laid down. The next day we were going to my parents' house, so I called my mom and told her to hide all of the bottles that she had and I brought the "broken" one with us. While my husband got my son out of the car I put the bottle in her cabinet. Sure enough, the first thing my son did when he came in the house was run to the cabinets where the bottles were. We showed him grandma's bottles were broken too and he never asked for another one. I carried the broken bottle around with us for a while just in case, but we never had to pull it out.

[sherriann]

I haven't had to go through this with my son who won't even take a bottle. I can't imagine how hard it is going to be getting him off the breast because none of these methods could possible work but here is what I have heard others use with success with items that are not attached to mommy...

Have a 'bottle fairy' come and take all the bottles (or anything that baby is getting too big for ex. pacifiers) away because little one is a big girl/boy now and doesn't need them anymore. Also you can sprinkle some 'fairy dust' (glitter) at a window sill or doorway to make the fairy more realistic.

OR

When visiting someone out of town take the bottles and on the way back 'forget' to bring them home and use the big girl/boy routine.

OR

Talk to little one about becoming a big girl/boy and get them on board. Then have them help pack the items up to give to new babies who need them more. Make sure to have little one tell the items 'bye-bye' as they go off to thier new home to help a new, younger baby.

Hope some of these suggestions help.