https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Wed, 08 Apr 2026 09:13:31 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2299214 Wed, 23 Sep 2015 11:20:32 +0000 nana87 2299214@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Thanks again everyone for your stories and encouragement! It's been over a week since baby girl has had a bottle, and we're out of the weeds thank goodness! It was only really 2 days where she would get really upset when she asked for a bottle and we said no. She still is sometimes asking, but she doesn't get upset and quickly is distracted by something else (like milk in a cup or a snack). She's still nursing like crazy, but that also might be that daycare just started up again so she's looking for more connection. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292437 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 11:44:06 +0000 Alivoo01 2292437@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We bottle weaned DS at 18 months. He kept asking for it and would even lead us to places where we normally keep them (the grass drying area, fridge, etc.). When he realized there was none, he accepted it and drank from a cup. He did ask for it and direct us to said places for a few days before completely forgetting about it. Good luck!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292293 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 09:23:18 +0000 hellobeeboston 2292293@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: we bottle weaned late, around 24/26 months.... I started by swapping out water into the nighttime bottle at 18 months, and then he phased that out on his own and we swapped with a cup if he wanted water. Then he always wanted a bottle with milk when tired, or cranky, etc.... So, I had him pack up the bottles, we went to the mailbox and sent them to "the babies" then I brought him to the store and he got to pick a new sippy for milk. And it worked! The only problem now is he will ONLY drink milk out of the straw cup he chose (which is the worst cup and it leaks). But no bottles and he only asked for them a few times and I reminded him we sent them away and he was good. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292257 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:57:34 +0000 Mamasig 2292257@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: I'm the same about sleep too. My older son made me this way! He has pretty low sleep needs and I just couldn't understand why he didn't sleep as much as other babies! Well as he got older I realized he was growing and learning and doing perfectly. He's just not a sleeper! We're not schedule people either. And I'm not into sleep training either. So my boys aren't the best sleepers and end up in bed with us but we're ok with this. It works for us. They'll eventually sleep well on their own, right?! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292248 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:51:04 +0000 Mae 2292248@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: he said he offered a bottle and she didn't want that either?! So she has had no milk. I just offered again and she said no. I'm confused. Lol </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292224 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:42:51 +0000 twodoghouse 2292224@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: She's doing so well, though! I'm sure it's not abnormal to backslide some. We were doing pretty well but then A got sick and was hardly eating solid food so I was giving in to her bottle requests and we were right back to where we started. Did DH give her a bottle instead or just let her go with less milk? I'm trying to be zen about milk consumption since they're generally eating solids well. I figure some days they may just want more or less than other days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292223 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:42:15 +0000 nana87 2292223@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mamasig: I love your attitude about waiting through transitions! That's been my approach to sleep--I haven't done any training and don't enforce a schedule, I follow her sleep cues--and it's working pretty well so far (though it makes dh impatient sometimes!).</p> <p>@twodoghouse: so glad Blake slept so well, and Alice drank so much! Rosalie actually sttn too last night, which isn't that unusual for her normally but she'd been waking up for the the past week almost so it was a great change of pace! good liuck with no bottles today! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292221 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:42:00 +0000 Mamasig 2292221@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: Thanks! I'm giving him a few more months! With DS1 I cut him off right at 12 months, but he wasn't as attached to it. I used to stress about everything!!! One day I realized it wasn't worth it. I can't always force the boys to do what I want when I want. Sometimes we just need to go with their flow. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292213 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:39:08 +0000 Mae 2292213@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So I claim it's all good but dh said lo refused her cup this morning. I give up trying to sort out toddlers. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292209 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:36:25 +0000 twodoghouse 2292209@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: stay strong mama, you can do it! My big thing is fear that if I don't give them a bottle before bed they will wake up hungry and want to nurse all night long (and they are already less than stellar sleepers). So last night I nursed them and offered the sippy cup. Blake only drank 2 oz, but Alice drank 5 (major for her!!). Blake ended up sleeping through the night! So obviously my fears are unfounded. I'm going to try to go the whole day with no bottles today. I am doing like @Mae: and giving them their cups and cuddling like its a bottle before nap and bedtime. They seem to crave that comfort to wind down and I love the cuddles too. I hope you and your DD have a good day today without too much bottle trouble! </p> <p>@Mamasig: Good luck friend! I love your laid back attitude! I need to take a page from your book and stop stressing because I do think my LOs can sense that! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292188 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:25:38 +0000 Mamasig 2292188@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@nana87: My 16 month old still gets a bottle before bed. No advice, but I'm hoping he weans from it soon. I find that I often worried about transitions and my boys did it at their own pace. I'm hoping this is the same! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2292174 Wed, 16 Sep 2015 08:15:14 +0000 nana87 2292174@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@Mae: Hey if it works, it works! </p> <p>@MrsB2012: see, I was wondering if I just let her have bottles long enough if she'd wean herself! Glad it worked for you!</p> <p>We've had a couple tantrums this morning asking for a bottle, but not as intense as yesterday. And she did in the moment drink some from a cup. She's also asking to nurse like every 5 seconds, like@twodoghouse: Said! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291959 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 20:50:43 +0000 MrsB2012 2291959@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>B was still getting a bottle around 22 months. It was always on my list of to-do's to get her off, but I just never had the energy to fight it. ( We had a newborn when she was 18 months old.) She went through a faze of having tantrums when she went to bed and she'd throw her bottle out of the crib. I stopped giving it back to her, then the next day I just didn't give her one. Then she never wanted one again. I just waited for a time when it worked for her to get rid of it :) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291874 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 19:57:00 +0000 Mae 2291874@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>well hopefully the point is moot now, but we just made the transition at 16mo. My LO takes water and juice out of straw cups just fine but absolutely refusssssed milk in a straw cup. she acted like I was giving her poison and would gt really angry and throw the cup. I tried a thousand (felt like). </p> <p>Finally I bought these Nuby trainer cups at target (can't find them on their website but they are on amazon): <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Nuby-Stage-Bottle-Ounce-Colors/dp/B001TBYNUW" rel="nofollow">http://www.amazon.com/Nuby-Stage-Bottle-Ounce-Colors/dp/B001TBYNUW</a> . </p> <p>I hadn't tried sippy cups before really because she didn't understand how to tilt them to drink (she also can't/won't feed herself a bottle). But basically I just bought this and put the sippy cup top on. Then I called it a bottle and sat down with her and held it for her like I do with a bottle and that was that. She had no issues with it. </p> <p>So right now I'm still giving it to her bottle-like which I know is weird bc I don't know of anyone else who feeds their kid a sippy cup of milk like that rather than letting them do it themselves but.... whatever. She's off bottles and drinking enough milk so I'm okay with weird. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291848 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 19:33:21 +0000 nana87 2291848@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>...so she didn't ask for a bottle or throw a tantrum before bedtime :shocked: Could this have already worked??? The last time she asked/flipped her shit was around 4pm (it's 8:30 now). I'm crossing my fingers so hard... </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291746 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 16:42:23 +0000 catomd00 2291746@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Consistency and empathizing with her. Should get better in a few days. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291745 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 16:40:37 +0000 nana87 2291745@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@twodoghouse: Ugh sorry you're struggling with it too! I tried to cut the bottles gradually and we were down to just before nap/bed + in the stroller or carseat bc girlfriend screams bloody murder if I dare give her a cup on the go, but then we were traveling for 2 weeks and she has been demanding bottles all day long. So we're trying cold turkey...it's only been 1 day and I'm losing it, haha </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291735 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 16:25:44 +0000 twodoghouse 2291735@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I'm right there with you! My twins are 16 months and I've been trying to get rid of bottles for 2 months now. They get still get one before their nap and before bed. At first they were fine with cutting out the other bottles because they would just ask to nurse instead. That was fine until they were nursing alllll day long. I finally had to start saying "it's not time to nurse right now, do you want milk in a cup?" And give the cup instead. Blake's doing pretty well with that but Alice generally just takes a few sips. She's better about drinking water though. We did find a sippy cup that they both like (Nuk trainer cups) and I got a large one (9 oz or something) and Alice will drink well from that! I think she thinks it's a bottle with a fancy nipple? Anyway, it's still a major work in progress here because they don't really like sippy cups so their milk intake that way is pretty low, and they much prefer to nurse (but my supply has always been low so they probably don't get a lot that way). </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/bottle-weaning-a-toddler#post-2291711 Tue, 15 Sep 2015 15:52:23 +0000 nana87 2291711@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>So lo is already 17 months, and we just decided to take the bottles away (our pediatrician didn't push it before, he said we should just take it away before 2). Omfg the tantrums! She can drink from a cup, and will, but when she wants a bottle that is the only thing she wants. It's mostly a comfort thing-- she nurses too and I'm not boob-weaning yet though I've supplemented since early on (only wcm since 1 year) so she's used to getting both the boob and bottle together.</p> <p>Any others have experience with this? It's breaking my heart to have her get so upset </p>