my two year old is addicted to bottles - how do i get them off him??what do other people know that i don't?

[oranges]

he will not drink from a cup - at most he takes a few sips of water, before asking for a bottle. and my dh is hopeless at being strict - just caves in when he asks for a bottle, and dithers about him being dehydrated. and my mum just backs him up. i keep thinking he wont at least be drinking out of a bottle when he's 16, but at this rate i'm not sure. Help!

[KnickersOnMaHead]

Message withdrawn

[belgo]

take him to a shop and let him choose a sippy cup.

They aren't much different to suck from as bottles, but for some reason aren't frowned upon nearly as much as bottles.

Personally though I wouldn't worry about him drinking from a bottle, especially if it's just water.

[oranges]

i tried sippy cups bu he hates them - he's actually more likely to drink out of a normal cup but that happens once in a blue moon. is it really okay to stop worrying? I'd like to as im sure he'll outgrow it, but just not sure if it will affect his teeth.

[Mimsy2000]

yeah, personally i don't htink it's that big of a deal. my 26 month old uses bottles, sippy cups and regular cups. i don't know but maybe if you ignore the bottle issue for a bit but also encourage the sippy cup thing he will give the bottle up on his own. belgo's tip on taking him shopping for a sippy cup is good.

[TrinityRhino]

I wouldn't worry about it to be honest
one day he will just not be bothered anymore and you will wonder why you worried
I though dd2 was going to be going to school with a bottle hanging out of her mouth but she just didn't seem to care about them at about 2.8

[belgo]

Regarding his teeth - it depends what he drinks and how often he drinks. If it's just water, you have no reason to worry.

Milk is fine too as long as it's at set times of the day.

Juices and fizzy drinks are bad.

Don't let him have a bottle constantly day or night.

Teeth problems occur when a child near constantly drinks milk/juice/fizzy drinks out of a bottle.

[Mimsy2000]

oh yeah, buxton does little bottles of water that my lo likes....that might be another option. i really woudn't sweat it, tbh. i think the issue with bottles being problematic is if they are taking in lots of sugary drinks [oh yeah, and it gives experts something else to tell you that you are doing a crap job]

[SilkCutMama]

try giving him a straw - the novelty value might work wonders

[oranges]

thank you for all the responses - feel calmer now about leaving him. He never drinks juice out of the bottle, but does have milk from one. I try giving him the milk in a cup and he sobs as if I am denying him all food and water.
I did try giving him a cup of milk alongside his bottle today and that seemed to work, he drank from the cup, and only picked up the bottle once he'd dropped the cup.