When to Wean Last Bottle?

[Mom to M&M]

Would love your advice on when to drop DD's last bottle. We switched her over to whole milk about 10 days ago. She's doing OK with it - still has to be at least room temp - but doesn't seem to love the taste. For at least 2 months now she's been on straw cups throughout the day and only one bottle at night. She used to get to 10-14 ounces formula from cup/food and then 5-6 ounce bottle. But now I'm lucky to get 7-8 ounces in her before bottle and then she grabs for that bottle. She's also teething BADLY (eye teeth and molars) so it's hard to tell how much is from that and how much from taste - but she will happily drink juice and/or water from her straw cup.

Should we keep up with that last bottle for now to get enough milk in her? Or is it only making the situation worse and will she adjust faster if we bite the bullet?

TIA.

[*Natasha*]

Karen does she take milk with her meals? Before we weined or should i say DD weined the bedtime bottle she was having milk in her cup with breakfast and dinner. The week before her 1st birthday she started fussing with her bedtime bottle we struggled to 4ozs into her so the day after her birthday we stopped giving it to her and she never missed it. We justed added the extra to her milk with dinner and anything she doesn't finish then we offer her after her bath while we are eating. HTH

[Mom to M&M]

She used to drink 2-3 ounces formula from her cup with every meal. Now i'm lucky to get 1-1.5 milk. I'm really not sure if it's the taste of the milk, the extreme teething or both...

[Lana]

When we first switched E over to milk from formula it did take him a while to get his consumption up so we made sure he had other dairy as well.  I am sure that the teething doesn't help your situation at all.

For me I would probably just drop the bottles all together and only offer the milk in a cup.

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks Lana - so you think starting tonight ditch that last bottle (the only one left) and offer in her straw cup and don't worry if she only has a couple ounces (or none)? How long did it take E to get his consumption up? She did have some yogurt this morning (but only about 1.5 ounces) and about half a stick of cheese just now. She's only had about 5 ounces milk so far today other than that and we just finished lunch.

[Lana]

I don't remember how long it took and it really wasn' that long ago hey .  Also at that age E was still having cereal with formula already in so that helped the transition too. 

I know we had a few days that he only had 4 or 5 ounces and I was really worried so what I did was put out an insulated cup with milk in it so it was always available to him and stopped worrying.

Once I stopped stressing about it then he just sort of did it on his own.

Right I meant to say as well that you could gradually make the bedtime bottle smaller the same way that you cut out a DF or just cut it out cold turkey that is up to you.

[Mom to M&M]

Thanks again... It's so tough to decide - I feel like if I keep offering her 5-6 ounces in her bedtime bottle she'll never up her intake earlier in the day - but when she's teething and all I feel badly... Argh...

[*Natasha*]

I agree with Lana to just drop the bottle now and keep offering milk in her sippy. She will get the hang of it and start drinking more and more everyday. Catherine loves drinking milk herself from her cup and will get upset with us if we try and help
BTW you changed your user name

[Mom to M&M]

I think you guys are right - maybe we'll start tonight and hope for the best. Yes, I changed it today - people kept calling me Marisa instead of Karen and I thought this made it clearer!

[Mom to M&M]

Well we tried tonight. DD had had 8.5 ounces of milk from cup and/or food and 1.5 ounces yogurt during the day, as well as half a stick of cheese, although she only had half an ounce with dinner - all the rest earlier in the day. So we put 5 ounces of milk in her favorite straw cup that she uses during the day. Her night bottle has always been in front of Sesame Street - so we tried the same. She opened mouth at first thinking it was her bottle and then just kept refusing and not drinking. She didn't cry though. So we let her watch a little and then brought her into her room to read her Goodnight Moon and try again there. In there she finally drank 2.5 ounces (she likes to have a drink in there before her naps as well). So we'll see what happens - curious to see whether she wakes hungry overnight or early in the morning - although it will be hard to tell since she's also teething... If she does wake I assume I should just try to get her back to sleep and/or offer some water? She never did cry about it - just seemed confused and kept reaching for me...

[*Natasha*]

That is a great start she soon will realise that their is no more bottle and will drink more from her sippy.

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Hi Natasha! I havent had a chance to read all of the replies, but I thought I would share what we have been doing. Gage doesnt have anymore bottles. The bedtime bottle was the last to go. I bought some tippy cups from walmart that have a soft spout like a bottle nipple. I fill it up all of the way and give it to him before the bedtime routine and he usually drinks 3/4 of it. I give him the remainder like a bottle (tip it up while I rock him) right before bed. My hope is that he will drink most of it prior and not want anymore at bedtime (like tonight). Plan b would be to get him to drink it DURING bedtime routine, like during story. Plan C would be to gradually wean him with less milk and/or put water in it. I am not sure where we will end up, but at least the bottle is GONE!
HTH
Alice

[Mom to M&M]

Interesting night. Not a peep from Marisa after she went to bed at 7:40 until 4:25 this morning - at that time she let out a sharp whimper but it only lasted 5 seconds and then nothing until same thing 10 minutes later. Then silence until 5:30 and she cried for 10 seconds and then she was quiet (I guess sleeping) until 6:30 and she's up now... Hopefully she drinks more today/tonight and I'll be sure to give her a more filling dinner if she'll allow...

[Gage and Sophie's Mom]

Marisa's mom, Gage has been doing something very similar. I was thinking maybe the shouts were related to being overtired Boy these kids are hard to figure out!

[JennŠ]

Just a thought that you can ignore: have you tried flavouring the milk at all?   Charlotte will drink plain milk, but will inhale it if I add a bit of chocolate or strawberry flavour.  Or, would she like a touch of vanilla?  Of course, with Marisa's tummy, not sure what she would think.  So what did you have to do to change your name?