Weaning your little one from the bottle
Weaning a child from the bottle can be a traumatic time for mommy…oh yeah and the baby too! Many times the bottle has become so much more than a drink of milk or juice, it is their comfort zone. It’s what puts them to sleep at naptime or bedtime
and what comforts them when they are upset and crying. Imagine having what comforts you the most just snatched away from you one day. For some of us if we couldn’t have that morning cup of coffee our world would come crumbling down around us. For me life without any melted cheese sandwiches would require me to obtain some extensive therapy! Bottles have been a constant in our toddlers life, something they can count on when everything in this big world is changing daily right before their eyes. What a wonderfully confusing time it must be for them. So when you think about it, it is easy to understand how the bottle could have become an attachment. Great, so now that we understand it, what are we going to do about it?
Well ladies, the good news about this is that most toddlers can be persuaded to give up the bottle if you offer something in its place. This should be a gradual process, as for some children it can be very upsetting. Start by decreasing the number of bottles you offer a day. Take your toddler with you to the store to buy sippy cups and let him choose ones with fun cartoon characters. Allow them to take ownership which will increase their desire to drink out of the cup. Begin by offering your toddler a cup a lunch time instead of the bottle. Lunch time can be a fun time of eating and sharing with your child. Talk about how happy you are to see your big girl/boy using the cup. Toddlers love praise and reinforcement when they have done something right. After a couple of days of offering the bottle at lunch, try offering it at dinner time too.
As you replace the bottle for each meal, do remember to allow days in between. Each time you replace the bottle with a cup you should allow time for more hugging and cuddling. Your toddler is reaching a huge milestone and needs to continue to feel secure even though his comforter (the bottle) will no longer be there.
When you finally are down to the last bottle of the day begin to put less and less milk in the bottle so your toddler spends less time drinking. Replace this with extra hugging and if your toddler is still thirsty offer the cup.
Now I know you are saying “this is all fine and dandy, but it just may not go that smoothly” Definitely all toddlers are different and while this may work for many, it will not work for all. Use your mommy radar; is it really time for your child to give up the bottle? If you are finding you child to be extremely disturbed by you taking away the bottle maybe it is not yet time. Talk with your pediatrician about the timing and about the health of your child’s gums and teeth. Maybe you will want to put water in your child’s bottle instead of milk as a lot of toddlers of really attached to “comfort sucking” and not what is actually in the bottle. Try different things, one mother talked about how she discussed with her child regularly that soon it would be time for the bottle fairy to come and take away all the bottles and they would need to by her a big girl sippy cup so she could still have something to drink out of. She said this worked perfectly for her and in a couple of weeks she took her toddler to the store and said I think the bottle fairy may be coming tonight we better find the perfect sippy cup for you today. Her and her daughter spent twenty minutes in the store finding the right sippy cup and that night her toddler went to bed with her sippy cup and never looked back. Because this mom was so excited about how well this worked for her she told a good friend of hers who was having the same problem with her son. Her friend then shared with her son how the bottle fairy would be coming to take away his bottles soon and they would need to go to the store and buy him a big boy cup. Her two year old son looked up wide eyed and said. Fairy take away ba-ba? Mom replied “yes dear but mommy will take you to the store and buy you a brand new sippy cup so you can have something to drink out of.” Unfortunately to her dismay he said “No mommy buy new bah bah!”
This story goes to show you that all kids are different and we just have to keep trying and keep looking for new ideas that work for your little one. Good Luck!
and what comforts them when they are upset and crying. Imagine having what comforts you the most just snatched away from you one day. For some of us if we couldn’t have that morning cup of coffee our world would come crumbling down around us. For me life without any melted cheese sandwiches would require me to obtain some extensive therapy! Bottles have been a constant in our toddlers life, something they can count on when everything in this big world is changing daily right before their eyes. What a wonderfully confusing time it must be for them. So when you think about it, it is easy to understand how the bottle could have become an attachment. Great, so now that we understand it, what are we going to do about it?
Well ladies, the good news about this is that most toddlers can be persuaded to give up the bottle if you offer something in its place. This should be a gradual process, as for some children it can be very upsetting. Start by decreasing the number of bottles you offer a day. Take your toddler with you to the store to buy sippy cups and let him choose ones with fun cartoon characters. Allow them to take ownership which will increase their desire to drink out of the cup. Begin by offering your toddler a cup a lunch time instead of the bottle. Lunch time can be a fun time of eating and sharing with your child. Talk about how happy you are to see your big girl/boy using the cup. Toddlers love praise and reinforcement when they have done something right. After a couple of days of offering the bottle at lunch, try offering it at dinner time too.
As you replace the bottle for each meal, do remember to allow days in between. Each time you replace the bottle with a cup you should allow time for more hugging and cuddling. Your toddler is reaching a huge milestone and needs to continue to feel secure even though his comforter (the bottle) will no longer be there.
When you finally are down to the last bottle of the day begin to put less and less milk in the bottle so your toddler spends less time drinking. Replace this with extra hugging and if your toddler is still thirsty offer the cup.
Now I know you are saying “this is all fine and dandy, but it just may not go that smoothly” Definitely all toddlers are different and while this may work for many, it will not work for all. Use your mommy radar; is it really time for your child to give up the bottle? If you are finding you child to be extremely disturbed by you taking away the bottle maybe it is not yet time. Talk with your pediatrician about the timing and about the health of your child’s gums and teeth. Maybe you will want to put water in your child’s bottle instead of milk as a lot of toddlers of really attached to “comfort sucking” and not what is actually in the bottle. Try different things, one mother talked about how she discussed with her child regularly that soon it would be time for the bottle fairy to come and take away all the bottles and they would need to by her a big girl sippy cup so she could still have something to drink out of. She said this worked perfectly for her and in a couple of weeks she took her toddler to the store and said I think the bottle fairy may be coming tonight we better find the perfect sippy cup for you today. Her and her daughter spent twenty minutes in the store finding the right sippy cup and that night her toddler went to bed with her sippy cup and never looked back. Because this mom was so excited about how well this worked for her she told a good friend of hers who was having the same problem with her son. Her friend then shared with her son how the bottle fairy would be coming to take away his bottles soon and they would need to go to the store and buy him a big boy cup. Her two year old son looked up wide eyed and said. Fairy take away ba-ba? Mom replied “yes dear but mommy will take you to the store and buy you a brand new sippy cup so you can have something to drink out of.” Unfortunately to her dismay he said “No mommy buy new bah bah!”
This story goes to show you that all kids are different and we just have to keep trying and keep looking for new ideas that work for your little one. Good Luck!
Posts
LEAVE A COMMENT