weaning off bottle

[momofgrace]

We will soon be switching to cow's milk and I was wondering when you can stop offering the bottle and switch to a cup of milk with meals?  Right now our schedule is still staggered with the solids coming around 1 1/2hours after 8 oz. bottle of formula and it would be nice to do it all together.  But I'm afraid she won't take enough milk and will wake up hungry or not get enough nutrition.  And I was also wondering what the times look like.
Here are our times now:
6:30 8oz bottle
8:00 solids
11 solids
1:30 8oz bottle
5 solids
6:45 8oz bottle

Thanks for any advice!
Amy

[stressybessy]

my DD loved her bottle and I thought I would have a right job taking it from her...Tommy tipee do a range of training cups that go up in stages from a cup with a soft spout a bit like a teat to a sippy cup. My DD was fine using these and moving up a stage every two months or so. Good luck X

[Noelle]

This is what I do with Zoe...

She wakes at 7:00AM...I change diaper, clothes, then play...

Eat with sippy cup at 8:00
I offer the sippy as a snack between 9-10 sometimes she takes some, sometimes she doesn't     Also, depends on if she naps.
Lunch with sippy 11:30-12
Between 2-3 we have snack time with the sippy
Dinner between 5-5:30 with sippy
Bottle at 6:30.

Once she turns a year we'll try switching the last bottle to a sippy.  If she doesn't take it we won't offer the bottle and hope she doesn't wake in the night    :shock:

[momofgrace]

Thanks for the sippy cup advice and the schedule help too!  Maybe I'll start with the sippy at lunch first and drop the seperate bottle at 1:30.  Noelle, do you have any idea how much baby is drinking overall each day.  We just switched to bottle from breast about a month ago and I'm not really sure how much formula (and in another month milk)she should be getting.
Thanks!
Amy

[Jane D]

I'm also struggling with this one and have tried over the last few months to offer my ds his milk in a cup/bottle with cup type teat (every type under the sun I'm afraid) but he just doesn't want his milk unless in a bottle!

Is this a problem/when would it become a problem/why would it become a problem?

Sorry for all the questions but some help/feedback would be good.

He takes three good meals a day, is fully on cows milk 3 times a day and takes water from a sippy cup of any sort no problem!

Thanks

Jane D
x

[Noelle]

Amy....Zoe takes between 15-20 ounces of milk a day and 8-9 of that is the last bottle - eek!!!   I'm happy with that...any less and I would probably take a different route to up the milk intake a little.  A lot of kids still do more and that's ok too! 

Jane....Zoe uses a straw cup.  Since your LO has had a cup type one, maybe try the straw one but offer ONLY milk in it.  I have heard of your situation a lot where they will only take water/juice from a sippy.  My trick to this..for if/when you have another baby :wink:  is to only offer milk in a sippy.  Once they have that down for a good couple of months then offer the juice/water.     Otherwise, at his age I would probably just bite the bullet and only offer the sippy at least for the first meals of the day.  Their milk consumption will go down for a couple of days, but they catch on quickly.    Does he still get a "night" bottle?  You may want to keep that for a while until he gets the sippy down.  Once they hit a year, more of their calories should start coming from their solids.
I guess really, it's probably only a problem in terms of "what it looks like to others" to see a LO with a bottle. If you know what I mean    :wink: .  Though I will say the older they get, the harder it is to change 

[momofgrace]

I was also wondering exactly how you do the sippy cup.  Do you give it to her in the high chair first and when she seems done do solids or give the cup after solids or just let her drink it while she eats?  Just want to figure out how to get the most into her!
Thanks!!

[Jane D]

JohnandZoesMom - thanks for the advice, i decided to just lose the bottle middle of the day and I've given him a straw cup (which I've tried before with not much luck) although he hardly took three sips, I didn't resort to swapping it over to a bottle - I'm hoping like you say, he'll get used to it in a couple of days.

Momofgrace - I offered water in a sippy cup while ds was in his high chair with his meals, with regards to milk, he gets milk after he's finished with solids/water - not sure if this answers your question?

Jane D

[Noelle]

I was also wondering exactly how you do the sippy cup.  Do you give it to her in the high chair first and when she seems done do solids or give the cup after solids or just let her drink it while she eats?  Just want to figure out how to get the most into her!
Thanks!!

Hi,
I give her the straw cup as I am preparing/cutting up her meal.  I then give her her meal and she takes drinks of milk throughout the meal, the same as we do.  I take the sippy away when I clean up her tray.  This way she is getting the chance to drink from it beginning to end. 

Jane D....let us know how it goes 

[allchrste]

I am so glad to see this post, it is exactly what I needed.  DS drinks three bottles a day with formula.  He weaned himself off from 5 bottles at nine months to 3 bottles at eleven months.     

I have decided to make the middle day bottle a sippy cup with half milk half formula.  Is this a good idea?  What about putting half and half in a bottle and then later on in a sippy cup. 

I tried putting the formula in a sippy cup and he would not drink it.  Also, he is not the best "sippy cup" drinker.  What are some suggestions on helping him with that.  I have offered him a sippy cup since 10 months old. 

I hope that I am not asking too much, a new stage...new discoveries for mom!