Author Topic: 15 months old and still demands bottle in morning and before bed (Read 5154 times)

kirsty_167 · « **on:** November 01, 2006, 20:18:01 pm »

Hello and welcome back!!!Yippeeee!!!

I have posted this here as the bottle feeding forum seemed to be for much younger babies.

Jakob is 15 months old today and I have had no luck dropping his morning bottle.He cries for it and throws a wobbly if he doesnt get it within minutes of getting dressed!! He also still has one at bedtime. Im not so fussed about the bedtime one but should he at his age have dropped that morning one??

If so.....how on earth do i go about it? I have tried offering breakfast but he wont touch it until he has a bottle!!!! Please any tips or advice greatly appreciated!!!

Sorry if this is the wrong forum but thought perhaps other mums of toddlers could help me out if it was on here....

Thanks
Kirsty

Lana · « **Reply #1 on:** November 01, 2006, 20:21:26 pm »

TBH we dropped the bottle a week after Ewan's first birthday and will do the same with Bram. Now for us we had alread started to do the solids first thing in the morning at 9 months so neither of them get up with a bottle so that makes a difference.

With Ewan we did it cold turkey and after one fussy day he pretty much forgot about the bottle. IT did take him some time to get his consumption up but that was all good with me.

Does he know how to drink out of a sippy? Or a straw cup?

Right I meant to say that I think you need to just go for it and not give in but that is only my opinion. really he will not starve himself, trust me Ewan didnt.

RyansMum · « **Reply #2 on:** November 01, 2006, 21:52:41 pm »

All we did was threw out the bottles on his first birthday and give him his milk in a sippy cup. He didn't miss the bottles, he didn't take so much in the sippy cup at first but now takes a fair bit in the morning now he is used to it.

**Clare** · « **Reply #3 on:** November 01, 2006, 21:57:04 pm »

We have just got rid of the bedtime bottle at 16 months, the morning one went first at 15 months. TBH we went away for a couple of days last week and forgot the bottle so he just went with out and he was fine! Like TPB he doesn't drink as much but were getting there! I was soooo worried about doing it but hes amazed me.... as usual!!

Good luck, Id say do the morning one first but sound like it might be better just to get rid of and offer a cup?

xxxxx

ryan's mum · « **Reply #4 on:** November 01, 2006, 21:59:18 pm »

After reading the other replies i am a little confused wether i have read your post correctly .I read it as you want to know wether you should drop the morning feed , now after reading other replies i'm confused as to wether you mean drop the drinking the morning feed out of the bottle $:-\$ .Is it the bottle that is the issue or the milk in the morning ?

mari · « **Reply #5 on:** November 01, 2006, 22:06:41 pm »

Does it affect his eating, Alex still has a bottle in the morning and at bedtime, and TBH, it never occured to me that she should drop either of them as she eats plenty. Milk is good for her and I'd rather her drink that than juice.

kirsty_167 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 02, 2006, 00:07:05 am »

HI

Thanks for the replies..
Jakob does drink well from a sippy cup during the day and his fluid intake isnt of a concern really on most days.He also eats well so he isnt having bottles because he has to...more because he demands it!! He WILL NOT drink his milk from a sippy cup,tried that one.

Ryans mum....the bottle is the issue.He doesnt want to give it up and i was worried if i went cold turkey and just refused to give it i was being too harsh.Im confused now too as it sems others simply stop giving it.Jakob throws mean wobblies!!! Do i just let him throw these tantrums till he gets over it??

The times i have tried to stop the bottles i have given in after 20 mins of hysterical crying for it,in saying that i also want to do somethign about it now before it becomes even harder.

Sounds like my son is the only one so demanding for this bottle.

What do i do?

?

Thanks
Kirsty

Lana · « **Reply #7 on:** November 02, 2006, 01:06:40 am »

Quote (selected)

He WILL NOT drink his milk from a sippy cup,

Quote (selected)

The times i have tried to stop the bottles i have given in after 20 mins of hysterical crying for it

These two statements really jumped out at me. First of all let me say that the first day that Ewan had no bottles he drank 3 oz of liquid and not all of it was milk and he was really crabby about it. In the end though he had a huge snack before bed (cereal and yogurt) and then it got better each day. In the end you are the mommy and you make the decisions if you dont want him to have the bottle then stop giving it to him, throw them out if you have to so you cant give it back, then if he get upset by all means comfort him but explain to him that now we use the cup for milk not the bottle. He understand way more than you give him credit for.

HTH

kirsty_167 · « **Reply #8 on:** November 02, 2006, 01:33:31 am »

Lana.....yes he does understand alot of what we sayand i know that....i just seem to find it hard when he throws these wobblies so have put off dropping the bottle becuase i just havent had the guts to do it!!

I know im the mommy and am the one who decides what he does/doesnt have but getting the courage to do this has been hard.He has had a rough winter with illness and i have waited until the warmer weather to drop it...........so i can distract him and take him outside etc.

Now i have decided it is time.I will do it i just needed to know if i went cold turkey and what to do about the tantrum he will throw over it!

Thanka again.
Kirsty

Lana · « **Reply #9 on:** November 02, 2006, 01:36:44 am »

Good luck and dont forget you have us to lean on.

I'm not saying that it wont be hard but it will only get harder the longer you wait. Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes.

{{{{HUGS}}}}

Deb_in_oz · « **Reply #10 on:** November 02, 2006, 02:24:58 am »

Kirsty

I am here with you but am building up the courage to get rid of the bottles. Liv is 20 months and still has bottles of milk at naptime and bedtime (not to go to sleep - it is just the timing of the bottles) and recently started asking for milk even more often. when i try to give it in a cup she also takes very little.

my issue is that when i tried to go cold turkey with dd1 for milk in a cup at 18-20mo (only a bedtime bottle at that point) she did not transition to the cup (flat out refused it as she associates cups with water) and to this day has NEVER had a drink of milk. as a 3yr old her only beverage is water (refused juices as well) so i don't want to lose the milk for Liv since she refuses all cheeses so yogurt is her only other dairy.

i am working up the courage to try this over the next week or so (we just got back from overseas holiday on Tuesday night so want to let the girls settle in first)

just want you to know there are other lo (even older than yours) demanding their bottles. is he spirited? i remember that he was am i right? maybe they just are too sure of what they want.

Hsmum · « **Reply #11 on:** November 02, 2006, 03:10:51 am »

I'm a bit confused as my LO (19 months) still has a bedtime bottle (the morning one has only just been dropped). Is this a bad thing then? When are they meant to stop?
Emma
Harry 24/03/05

kirsty_167 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 02, 2006, 03:36:36 am »

Thanks Debra for letting me know my son isnt the only one wanting a bottle at his age......I guess the only reason i thought i should stop was so many people comment on him having it!! Plus he is a big boy who finally loves his food ,so it is more of a comfort now,not a need as such,hence looking at stopping the morning one.

As for the night bottle i am happy for him to still have that one for a while longer.Is that wrong?

Thanks for replies
Kirstyxx

EmMUK74 · « **Reply #13 on:** November 02, 2006, 13:29:25 pm »

OK, we dropped the bottle but transferred the milk into a cup. we tried using her normal cup (for milk) but that didn't work and so we got a special milk cup (which looks different) and we did a ceremonial throwing out of bottles. it took her two days of drinking very little milk before she finally realised the bottles were gone and then she was totally happy with the new cup. she still has her milk as soon as she wakes and before she goes to bed. I would expect her to continue with this until she's about two and probably at night until maybe 3 or more. the issue of dropping the bottle is much more about getting rid of the bottle than the drink I think and although it seemed to be difficult, in the end her hunger convinced her! I couldn't imagine her not having anything before her breakfast, she would be starving whilst I washed and dressed her which I don't think she or I could deal with.

Mum to cool dude · « **Reply #14 on:** November 02, 2006, 13:35:52 pm »

We sort of dropped the daytime bottles by accident. One day, DS decided to try milk from the kind of light cups you get from water coolers. That afternoon, we went out for coffee and I ordered him a glass of milk. From now on, he has been drinking milk from a special Thomas the tank engine cup that is only for milk

Having said that, I am TERRIFIED of dropping the night bottles, which he uses for comfort. I am trying to dilute the milk and encourage him to use his teddies for comfort at bedtime instead

I think the issue with bottles is "bottle carries" ie milk building up in the mouth at night and causing cavities. If milk does not interfere with solids and comes in something else than a cup, then I reckon it's fine

andibig · « **Reply #15 on:** November 02, 2006, 14:01:03 pm »

just reading the posts. DD still has her milk first thing in the morning and before bed in bottles. she will just not drink milk from a cup although she drink anything else from her straw cup. i personally do not have a problem with this as Tracy said that by the age of two most toddlers will drop them.
i understand about bottle caries but she is not one of these babies you still see continuously with a bottle in her mouth and her teeth are brushed twice a day.
it also doesn't affect her appetite and she is not using the btl as a comfort item.

kirsty_167 · « **Reply #16 on:** November 02, 2006, 21:01:42 pm »

Thanks again everyone

Well i did it today....no morning bottle!!! Yippeeee!!! It actually didnt go as bad as i had anticipated.He woke in a great mood and so it was much easier.I spent last night telling him that in the morning he would be having breakfast first like a big boy,no bottle.I figured he wouldnt get what i was talking about but at to prepare him anyway.So as I dressed him i made a fuss saying what a big boy he was etc.Then i took him through and put him straight in his highchair,gave him his sippy cup and a bowl of cheerios to nibble on.

This went well for about 15 mins then he got fussy and pointed to where his dummy is normally kept.(i had hoped to get rid of that too but thats another story on another day!!) He didnt want anything more to eat after only a handful of cheerios but that was okay.He got down and played for while,then i fed him some yoghurt to replace the bottle.This kept him content enough until he got to daycare where he had his proper breakfast of weetbix.

So for 1st day with no bottle he did really well.Tomorrow may be a bit harder as he will realise what is going on and may well perform....but its a done deal now....no turning back!!!! Like i said he will still get his bedtime bottle and im fine with that for now.

So yippeee for getting the courage from you guys to finally bite the bullet and remove that first bottle....he didnt need and im sure in a few days he wont even miss it!!!

Thank you so much and i will post again about how day 2 goes...fingers crossed!!

Kirsty

mari · « **Reply #17 on:** November 04, 2006, 13:03:51 pm »

i am still really confused. Alex still has a bottle morning and night, she drinks it in one full hit and it doesn't affect her eating. She won't drink her milk from a cup and I want her to have her milk so is there any other reason why I should stop her bottle??

Diegos Mama · « **Reply #18 on:** November 04, 2006, 13:12:53 pm »

Just curious as to why you feel the need to drop the bottles?

You could slowly decease how much he has over the course of a month or so and work to add that calcium intake elsewhere. Neither of my boys drink as much milk from a cup as they did from bottles, that's a lot of milk! They do however, eat many calcium rich foods and a very healthy diet, so I'm not concerned about intake from a cup.

Looking at the broader picture you might determine a.) it's not critical now to lose the bottles, but decrease them over time to achiever your goal. b.) work to make up the lost milk in other ways if you're not confident the milk will be consumed from a cup.

Probably if he's having a hard time letting go of the bottles he's not ready to do so yet and is trying to tell you with his reactions. A gradual approach, I've found in my experiences, to work much better with my boys and I also like that I'm respecting their needs when going about it gradually.

Just a different approach to consider -- may or may not be right for your family.

mari · « **Reply #19 on:** November 04, 2006, 13:23:48 pm »

I don't feel the need to drop the bottle, I want her to have the amount of milk that she is getting and I know that she won't drink as much from a cup. I was just wondering because of this thread. I think that she can have a bottle for as long as she wants, so long as she doesn't want to go outside with it and she doesnt use it to go to sleep on at bedtime which she doesn't so I am ok with it. I was just wondering if there was another reason why I should stop it. ie teeth etc, but her milk only lasts 10 minutes then her bottle is empty!

Diegos Mama · « **Reply #20 on:** November 04, 2006, 17:01:29 pm »

Brush teeth afterwards and no problems.

mari · « **Reply #21 on:** November 04, 2006, 17:48:55 pm »

ok thanks

TDR'smom · « **Reply #22 on:** November 04, 2006, 19:36:34 pm »

mari

alex is still young. Bottles are fine. Many dr's want babies off bottles by the time they are 1 because of tooth decay. However, DS is 17 months and still gets his night time bottle. We are not worried about it.

Judy

TDR'smom · « **Reply #23 on:** November 04, 2006, 19:38:00 pm »

Kirsty,

Great job on weaning the AM bottle. That is how we got rid of ours. We would just have DS's breakfast ready and put him right in his high chair when he woke up.

Glad it went well!

Judy

Diegos Mama · « **Reply #24 on:** November 04, 2006, 20:32:17 pm »

mari, my first post was to the original poster ... didn't mean to question you like that, apologies!

kirsty_167 · « **Reply #25 on:** November 04, 2006, 22:59:45 pm »

Quote from: Diegos Mama on November 04, 2006, 20:32:17 pm

mari, my first post was to the original poster ... didn't mean to question you like that, apologies!

Quote from: Diegos Mama on November 04, 2006, 13:12:53 pm

Just curious as to why you feel the need to drop the bottles?

Hi Laura
To answer your question...i didnt feel the need to drop the bottles but the health organisation here (plunket) made a huge deal of the fact he was still having bottles.
I personaly wasnt fussed. I looked at the big picture and decided that his daily intake was quite alot and the 2 bottles was maybe just a bit much for him.(he is already a big boy)I have no intention of taking his bedtime bottle away but with his morning intake he simply didnt need the first bottle anylonger.Bedtime bottle is our chance and time for a cuddle and i wont give that up either!

I am happy for him to have bottles but i also needed to reassess now his daily food intake had increased so much.(prior he was a very poor eater)

It is defitnely a personal choice and if anyone was offended by my posting ,I am sorry i was not meaning there was anything wrong with him having bottles....more that so many people commented on it and i too wanted to know if it was wrong or something to worry about.(i find it hard to ignore so many peoples comments)

Kirsty

mari · « **Reply #26 on:** November 06, 2006, 20:29:14 pm »

Quote (selected)

It is defitnely a personal choice and if anyone was offended by my posting ,I am sorry i was not meaning there was anything wrong with him having bottles....more that so many people commented on it and i too wanted to know if it was wrong or something to worry about.(i find it hard to ignore so many peoples comments)

I certainly wasn't offended by your post, I have the same feelings as you when I hear that mums are trying to get their children to stop the bottle, I wonder if I am doing the right thing by giving her a bottle. I have just decided now that I will allow her to keep her bottle as it doesn't affect her eating and she is average weight for her age. I can't see her getting fat, her mum only weighs 7stone 4oz and her dad, well, a bit of a darby getting around the middle, but quite lean otherwise!!!
I am glad that this post was started and I now feel that i needn't worry about it. Thanks.

Laura, no worries, didn't feel like you were questioning me rudely, it's ok!!

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Author Topic: 15 months old and still demands bottle in morning and before bed (Read 5154 times)

andibig