Weaning from the bottle - thread spin-off

[BabelFish]

I hope nobody minds if I start another thread about weaning - it's a slightly different subject to the other current one so I thought they'd better be separate rather than hijack the other thread.

My DD is one in two days, and still has three bottles a day. About 210 - 240 mls each. She's only just worked out a tippy cup, even though she's had one since the age of seven months. The other day it just `clicked' and so she'll drink happily out of one now - but only a few sips before she starts spitting it out.

She loves her bottle and it is not a problem for us. I think one is too young to be weaning her, but I'd like to start thinking about it in the next six months or so.

Our next baby is due in January.

DD NEVER goes to bed with a bottle, she holds it herself but always in one of our laps on her rocking chair. It is taken out of the room when she is put to sleep, and she goes to sleep with no fuss at all.

Of late, she has started refusing her bottle a little bit, or drinking less. Which I'm not sure is a sign of teething or that she's ready to `upgrade'.

She will not be moved onto regular cow's milk when she is one - we would like to exclude it from her diet as much as possible (yes I know formula is cow's milk based) so she will still be getting formula, but my main questions are:

1. How old was your baby when you weaned them?
2. How did you go about it? I.e cold turkey / gradual cut-down etc...

Thanks in advance! :)

[Hooves]

I did it gradually with my older two. But master 3 is a bit more strong willed, and babied.

I did the 50/50 milk/water, thing. Then kept it up until it was just water.

And in the end, Santa took the bottle away altoghether. Santa for one child, and the Easter bunny for the other one.

Was easier to be tough, when I had less children, though.

Now I just want peace and sleep.:laughing: Translate to am lazy.

With master 3, in the end, I just threw it in the bin. All the other methods did not work.

Now with another bub in the house, he keeps asking for the bottle. Which is gone. SO he is out of luck.

[BabelFish]

Thank you :)

I kind of feel very fortunate that my DD is an absolute champion sleeper and seems to go down without her bottle quite happily on the times that we've tried it.

I am also REALLY hoping that the arrival of new bub doesn't put her sleep all out of whack, but I'm hoping that since she is such an awesome sleeper and always has been, that she will continue with that trend and not get out of routine.

I just mainly feel like perhaps she is still a little bit young at one year old, but that maybe looking at 18 months is not too early?

[Hooves]

In all honesty hun, do it as soon as you can. All of my friends who did it early, never had a drama with their children.

yet those of us who left it a bit long, have had enormous issues. Because of the attachment thing.

Although I am one of those bad mummies, who to keep the peace, let mine sleep with it.

So I created my own Rod for my own back. And being older and wiser, doesn't make it any easier.

My new bub is having a cup, as early as he can. I am not doing this horrendous bottle thing again.

Mind you, I have been losing this battle with my 3 year old, for over a year now. And have only just won it.

He still asks, and chucks a tanty though, but it gets him no where.

Just not a lot of fun, for any of us.

Good luck with your approach to this, and hopefully your child is more reasonable then mine.

[BabelFish]

Hahaha I doubt it! She is just now starting to go through melt down phase literally every, single time I take something off her that she has and wants to keep. Ohhhh joy! Up until now she has been an absolute delight - mellow, cooperative, champion sleeper, champion eater ... you know the drill.

I am in for a rude shock with toddlerhood approaching, methinks ... :D

I'm thinking perhaps that I will start with her afternoon bottle. That's the one she seems to miss the least. I will give her her milk in a cup at lunch time and throughout the afternoon, and see how she goes at first.

The thing is, she sleeps a minimum of 13 hours straight every night. So I'm quite reluctant to deprive her of her night bottle when I think it will keep her little tummy warm and full. Although she refused it completely tonight and will no doubt sleep all the way through again, so we'll see.

And I have a VERY guilty secret to admit and that is that, well, she's not much of a cuddler - I'll get a quick hug and then she's off again looking at something else. And because of all the endless, interminable months of struggle I had with breastfeeding, our bottle-time is very, very important to me and I feel like she's growing up so fast - I will be heartbroken when bottle-time has ended. That's selfish though, I know. It shouldn't be about me.

[Hooves]

Awwwww she sounds like a little heart breaker already. LOL

That is our babies for us, they come into our lives, and melt us from day dot.

I know exactly where you are coming from. Except mine are all not great sleepers. LOL

Good luck with it. Get her used to one new part to her routine, and do it gradually. I think that is the best approach.

Good night, gotta catch some sleep, now that the little man, is tucked in.

[BabelFish]

Thanks for all your advice :hugs:

[reAllytee]

1. How old was your baby when you weaned them?

Boof didnt take to sippy cups or anything else until around 18mths & then only at certain times.

G is a few weeks off being 2yrs & is nowhere near ready :no:

2. How did you go about it? I.e cold turkey / gradual cut-down etc...


We believe in the child choosing to 'wean' because I havent met a 13yr old with a bottle yet ;)

We took Boof's lead when he was ready to use a sippy cup because before 18mths of age anytime we tried he refused it. Then all of a sudden he decided he would try some water out of one of the 'Pump' bottles when we were on a road trip & it went from there ! He chose to take his lunchtime milk out of a sippy cup & it was around 2yrs that he opted for one for evening too .... Some nites he still wanted the bottle though.

G has had a rough start having an oral aversion so having him drinking itself is all we care about ! Especially as he NEEDS to drink a certain amount per day & that also factors in 240mls of his specialised formula.

He still hasnt completely worked out how to use a sippy cup but at least now he tries whereas before he wouldnt have a bar of it & he has become more willing to drink water or juice out of a pop top type bottle at times rather than his Nuby bottle.

G still has a lot of pain from his reflux so I am especially wary about taking any of his comforts from him when thats something he relies on, he will do it when he is ready !

[~Temet Nosce~]

My dd is 2 and still has a bottle at morning and night, and probably still will even once the baby is here (she will be 2.4)
She started on cows milk and cut down to 2 bottles a day (200ml) at about 14 months and this is what she still has. I did 50/50 with the formula for a few days and she was fine.

[h086]

DS was completely off bottles by 16 months.

We tried at 12 months and although he would use a sippy cup for water he would not drink out of it if it had milk in it. He still needed his milk at 12 months so we were happy for him to keep having his bottle as he only had 2 a day anyway, before his nap and before bed at night.

We ended up just taking them off him when he seemed ready, packing them away out of sight and giving him his sippy cup with milk which he ended up drinking from with next to no dramas... :)

You will know when she is ready to give them up but I would not be in a hurry until she is confident drinking milk out of a cup.

[BabelFish]

Thank you - I have always been led very easily by her, she is a baby who gives very clear signals and always does things when she is ready (and not before, thanks very much!). I'm very happy to continue taking my signals from her because it has worked SO well for us up until now. I will continue to offer her alternatives, as I've always done, and when it `clicks', it just clicks. Hopefully that will happen with weaning, too.