Advice please re going from bottle to cup

[Taler]

My DD is 18 months and has 2 milk feeds a day, both of which are still in bottles. And yes I know ideally she should ditch the bottle. I am trying!

When she's at nursery she has cold milk in a sippy cup. Sometimes she'll refuse it, sometimes she'll have 3-5oz.

We started BF her at around 4 weeks and used the Tommee Tippee Perfect Prep machine which gets it to the 'perfect' temperature (ie body temperature), which was great but meant she got used 2 that so didn't especially like cold milk. Nursery seem to be doing fairly well with it though.

Moving to a cup though at the morning and bedtime bottle is proving difficult. She just doesn't wanna know. I bought her a brand new cup so that there would be no association with it. Ie she has 2 other sippy cups that she associates with water whereas this one is new and bigger (ie bottle size and has no handles - like a bottle).

Any suggestions people???

[ruth4321]

my DS has a bottle at night still at 22 months. I dropped the morning one and tried him with it in a cup but he wouldn't take it even when warmed up so I just give him porridge when he wakes up and he gets plenty of calcium in his diet too so I don't worry too much about him not taking milk out a cup.

[Taler]

What do you plan to do about the bedtime bottle though?

[ruth4321]

I'm planning to just wait till all his teeth are through and then just stopping it and replace it with cereal or toast. Im not in any rush to stop it he's not going to be going to school with it :) well I hope not anyway!

[NessaWH123]

Sorry to butt in but im in the same positionsnd my little one is 2.3 years. He still has a bottle morning and night. Ive tried othet bottles and cups but he just has s meltdown. I have tried cutting out the morning bottle but he becomes so upset. I think it is just habit with the milk bottles but he us struggling to swsp or cut out. Infact he has refused his dvening meal for over a month now just asking constsntly for milk but we mske him wait until bedtimd in the hope he realised he has to eat his meal first but he doesn't care! Any advise? X

[makeminea6x]

It always seems so harsh to me that bottle fed babies have to grow up suddenly with respect to this - bf babies can carry on for years! I don't have any experience really but I would probably carry on the bottle if it isn't causing problems and then one day explain it's for babies and ceremonially throw them away somehow, like people do with dummies.

In the case where it is causing problems, is it the volume? Maybe gradually give less, or gradually dilute it with water? My DD (3) has milk mid afternoon instead of bedtime now and it seems ok. She still eats well at tea. We changed because of wet beds but it could help your little one Nessa

[DaysAreWhereWeLive]

I just chucked the bottles in the bin and handed them a cup. Now I feel like I missed something!

[NessaWH123]

Thanks makeminea6x yep ot isnt a teal problem for now so maybe ill keep going until he understsnd more to talk to. And the reduction in milk we have tried to cut down but he gets sooo upset whenbwe try to cut it back but with him substituting milk for a meal i really guess i have to keep perservering we haven't started potty training so wet beds arent an issue yet but im sure they will soon be!;) x

[Picklesauage]

The biggest tantrum of my DD's younger life was over swapping bottle for cup. We told her it would happen, then did it. It was a night if lots of raging and screaming. She finally took it after nearly an hour. Next night was fine.
Cold turkey is hard, but it worked. She was 2 btw.

I am always comforted during those raging tantrums of something Dr Tanya Byron always said about how important it is to allow children to feel anger and rage and then come down from it. It make for healthier children who have better understanding of themselves and their emotions. You obviously continue to stand firm and calm and caring. Then discuss with them after they calm down. Tell them to name if the emotion and how to deal with it.

[KW89]

My son is 21 months now. We started giving him open top cups with weak squash at around 16 months so that he could get use to a cup, just with meals (he has his sippy cup with water available all day).
Once he had mastered this skill (took a couple of weeks as to begin he would lift the cup too fast and spill, but he got there!) we thought we would switch bedtime bottle for a cup.....he had already dropped morning bottle. Had previously tried to swap bottle for beaker at around a year but he completely refused, and was a fussy eater at the time so we went back to bottle so we could ensure he was getting some milk!
Were keen for it to work this time as I'm pregnant so thought it would be easier ditching bottle now rather than when baby is here drinking from them too!
We made a big thing of him being a big boy and having milk and a biscuit with Mummy and Daddy before bed. Worked a treat from the first night, and haven't looked back since! He sits at his little chair and we sit on the floor next to him at his little craft table each with a cup of milk and a biscuit :) he loves it and likes to share out the biscuits and put the coasters out for our milk, I think it helped that Mummy and Daddy have milk and biscuit with him too, so he feels like a grown up!