[Sunshinegirl2011]

Any suggestions? Baby girl is 12 1/2 months and loves her bottle. I gave a cup this afternoon instead of the bottle and she refused and threw and hour long fit. She had her nighttime bottle before bed but I really want to get her off completely.

[NSB]

Sorry, no advice. I'm a total suck (no pun intended !LOL) when it comes to bottles. My girls were definitely talking well before the bottle was gone for good, but I honestly can't remember when I actually took it away. With our DS, I'm thinking probably around 3. What's your hurry? (honestly asking, not saying you shouldn't wean.)

[luvbeingamom]

I always wean slowly. I take away the bottle they are least interested in first, and then go from there. The process usually takes 3 months starting at 12 months. The last one to go is the bedtime bottle. One of my foster kids came here on a bottle at 17 months. I did the process after the initial few weeks and had him off of it at 20 months.

[Fostermom22]

I did it in steps with my kiddo...swapped to milk in the bottle first...then slowly moved from one bottle to a sippy cup and kept the other bottles in place. Once that was done I replaced another one w/the cup. The last one to go was the bedtime bottle.

Some people told me I should have taken all the bottles away at one time but he was too distraught about that.

Good luck

[buckeyemama]

We started with a Nuby sipple cup for FD. It is a half step away from being a bottle, really. She came to us at 17 months on a bottle and she changed without a problem! Since then, I've been switching up to different sippys, some with a hard tip and even one with a straw and she's doing great! Maybe get her a "special" big girl one?

[UTbrie]

Could you transition to a soft sippy cup first, like a Nuby? And then go to a regular cup? That might make it a little easier.

The 12 mo old baby Aman that came back into care was still using a bottle. Would get very upset if you used a nuby or a cup. If I would have had him long term, I would have sucked it up and transitioned him. But since he was going to g-ma's, I didn't push the issue. I figured it was a comfort thing at that point, and if he was going to family, I wasn't going to change something that might not stick, ya know?

[teacher1998]

We transitioned to the Nuk cup with the soft silicone spout. It's very much like a bottle, but a step in the right direction. Good luck!

[Ians mom]

I dont take the bottle away at all but make it less and less appealing. An 8 oz bottle would be 7 oz of milk and 1 oz of water, then 2 oz of water for a day or two, 3 oz of water for a day or two...until its 8 oz of water. Then nothing but water in bottle with juice or milk in the cup. I havent had a little one yet that hasnt chosen the cup. The whole process takes a week of two and if your little one hangs onto their bedtime bottle, its just water so not so much worry about their teeth rotting.

[Momoftwoboyz]

All the PPs gave great advice. When mine were 6 months or so, I introduced the cup...with JUICE. They took right to it... cuz juice was yummy. Then I just started giving more cups (with formula/milk). The nightttime bottle was the hardest, it was a comfort thing... but I did like a previous person said...water only. Then it was easy to give up. Both mine were off the bottle by 11 or 12 months.
You could give a bottle with water AND a cup with juice/milk and let the child decide.... pretty sure the sippy cup will win!

[heatherandlouis]

I would start using the sippy cup during the day aand let her get used to it first. Is there are reason that you are in a rush to take her bottle away? Bottles are great comfort tools and wonderful for bonding.

[Mommy2NoneHopefully1]

I agree do it slowly. Start with the soft nipple sippy cups during the day, but before bed the regular bottle. I am a firm opponent of putting kids to bed WITH a bottle. But I would start with the soft nipple sippys for awhile, usually they DO throw a fit, which makes them pretty thristy! Eventually they will just take the sippy. But I would do it in stages.

[SouthernLady85]

Lots of good tips! With my youngest, he didn't want to give up the night time bottle...I switched the nipple to a slower flow and he didn't want it after that

[MomInCorazon]

Snuggy is 15 months and just got off bottles for good a week ago. I did as others here have suggested - transitioned slowly, switching to the Nuby soft nipple sippy (they work well, don't leak and are super cheap!), and taking away the bedtime bottle last. So far so good!

[ImpactingLives]

I just wanted to say you're not alone...we've been SO close with our DD 3 times, each time we've taken a baby in and it totally screwed it up. Each time she saw the baby with the bottle she reverted right back to wanting it and screaming and throwing 2hr long fits. I've finally decided that FS will be 12m next month, and the bottles will go in the storage container and they will both just have to live with it. It's so much harder to get one off when you have one on (IMO).

[jmd5294]

We always transitioned with a soft spouted sippy cup (like the Nuby cups or similar ones from wal-mart that are more like a nipple), and we always started with juice/water mixture in the sippy. It's delicious-- they WANT to drink it.

We also start introducing the sippy cup pretty early on. I know my son was drinking exclusively out of a sippy by 10 months, so I'm guessing I started introducing him to a sippy at around 8 months?

I agree with taking away the bottle that is least important first. That's what we've done with all our kids. Oh, and keep a sippy of water available to the child during all of her waking hours. She'll ignore it for a couple weeks, but eventually, she will start drinking out of it.