Ditching the bottle - advice please ;)

[clairebear79]

I have an almost 19 month old who thinks that milk comes from a bottle and water from a sippy - no messing with this or you will hear about it!

^^^this is my DS too.

He is 21.5months & just has one bottle at bedtime, but he screams & yells for it.  We tried to get rid of it a few months ago but he just wouldn't drink milk from a sippy although he drinks water from it no problem during the day.

We finally thought we'd had a breakthrough about 2 weeks ago b.c we were looking at a book & there was a picture of milk in a sippy & I told him 'big boys drink their bedtime milk from a beaker not a bottle' and he suddenly ran to the kitchen wanting to choose a beaker to have his milk in.  He only drank 3oz & the next night he asked for his bottle again.  We gave it to him & I think this was a mistake & we should have persevered.  We are having terrible trouble with his eating right now though, & most days he is refusing dinner so I don't want to take a stance over the milk yet as I want him going to bed with something in his belly.  And I'm not unduly worried about him having 1 bottle/day, esp since he's MPI so its really the main opportunity for him to have his calcium.  But the time is coming....very soon! 

[ZacsMumme]

Ugh, we're in the same boat. I did the dumb thing too where I replaced BT bf with bottle because I was terrified he would scream if I offered nothing. Now he loves his BT bottle

I'm trying to reduce the volume for his pre nap bottle. We're on 150mls about to drop to 100.

BTW Claire- I hear you on the BT bottle and dinner disinterest!

[Rizo]

We weaned the before nap bottle at around 16months and the BT bottle at around 19months (same as you). I reduced the amount of milk over a couple of weeks from 200ml down to 100ml. Then one day when he was in a happy mood about going to bed, quite tired, big morning and exhausted I just did his stories and didn't offer the bottle. He didn't even notice!

We did the same with the BT bottle later. When we were reducing it and he complained about being finished I would just say "thats all the milk, you must have drunk it all up" and he would look at the bottle and be like "oh yeah theres none left now, ok"

[*Kara*]

Mine can't drink cow's milk so I have that issue as well... I will be weaning her just to water soon though!

[ZacsMumme]

We're also on formula, Z refuses cows milk. But I dilute it. So really he gets the equiv of 1 formula bottle not 2 ATM. Doesn't bother him.

[*Kara*]

I have cut Alexandra way back too...

5ozs at nap and 7 ozs at bedtime.

[ZacsMumme]

Umm we cut his nap bottle to 100mls today and he had a little fit when he finished lol

[*Kara*]

LOL~!