the bottle

[Titan_Uranus]

I need to get my son off the bottle which the uses to drink his milk,I've taken the bottle away ,and replaced it with a drinking cup for toddlers ,but he refuses to drink the milk out of a cup ,he however has no problem drinking anything else out of the cup(he is 2 years old).

[nvsbalaam]

You're lucky, my 2 1/2 drank formula from the bottle...but won't take any kind of milk now that he's off the bottle

[sapiens]

When we wanted to move our daughter from bottle to sippy cup, we just stopped serving the milk in the bottle. She was annoyed, but she had no choice. She soon used the sippy cup. If you're worried about him not getting enough calcium during the transition, you can always substitute yogurt or other dairy for the milk.

[Grasshopper Green]

I agree with sapiens. We transitioned our son to a sippy cup and then simply took his bottle away. He didn't get it after that, and he adjusted. If your son wants his milk badly enough, he'll use the sippy cup.

[Titan_Uranus]

Thanks, I'll try anything at this stage.

[f6twister]

We slowly took our son's bottle away and it worked well. We started with giving him a sippy cup of milk with meals but bottles the rest of the time. After a few days or a week, we would replace a bottle with a sippy cup for another meal. We just continued that way until he was off bottles.

[sapiens]

Originally Posted by f6twister

We slowly took our son's bottle away and it worked well. We started with giving him a sippy cup of milk with meals but bottles the rest of the time. After a few days or a week, we would replace a bottle with a sippy cup for another meal. We just continued that way until he was off bottles.

That sounds like a good idea as well - less abrupt.

[spindles]

Thr brand of bottles we used had a "sipper" insert that replaced the teat. He seems pretty happy because he was still holding the same thing. Now I'm having the fun of introducing a normal cup (he is almost 2 and able to drink out of a normal cup, without being too messy).

[Titan_Uranus]

I've started the transition,but I'm doing it slowly,so far so good.

[ClostGoth]

Titan, do you think your son could handle small amounts of milk in a cup with no top? I noticed that my babies all do the same thing with sippy cups - throw them. Especially with milk. I finally had this brain blast and realized that they were annoyed with trying to quench thirst through the little holes. I took the top off and gave them about an inch of liquid, helping them hold it at first, of course, and voila! No more sippy cup woes. If he's recently off formula (though at 2, I don't see that being the problem) then maybe half formula and half milk would help him adjust? Or you could just ditch the bottles, like others have suggested. Instead of a transition just make them mysteriously disappear. Another idea might be to try those sports cups with straws. The kind that flick open prevent spills, but any sort will work. My 6yr old was especially attached to his bottles and two before he was willing to give them up - the straw cups helped him transition better than sippy cups did. Good luck!

[Derwood]

My friend's son just turned 2 and they had a horrible time getting him off the bottle. I think the bottle was like a pacifier for him. He had it all the time and his constant use of it was stunting his speech development and ability to eat solid foods. They've had him with a speech therapist and since going off the bottle his development has accelerated in both areas.