weaning 18 mo from teat - not going well

[Mmmmcheese]

DS is 18 mo and we've had some problems with him putting on weight so dietician said fine for him to continue drinking milk from teated bottles as it was the only way he would drink it.

Now his weight is much better and trying to wean him onto soft spouts. Bought those avent soft spouts but he won't go near them. Really wants his milk but gets very angry when he sees the spout instead of the teat and totally refuses to go near it. It's been 2 days now with no milk, do I just continue to offer the spout? I worry that if I go back to the teat he'll never move on.

He drinks water etc. from a sippy cup or open cup but won't drink milk from it.

Silly question, but does it matter if he takes water from an open cup? I only ask because DS, 22 months, is breastfed and that is his main source of milk. Water etc - fine from a cup.

No advice I'm afraid but hope someone else does as we have the same problem with DS (17 months). He'll happily drink water from a sippy cup, and has done since about 11 months, but he completely refuses to drink milk from his cup. We've given up trying at the moment, as it just gets stressful for everyone.

I really wouldn't worry about it to much as long as he isn't walking around with a bottle hanging out of his mouth!

DS had a bottle when he woke and at bedtime until he was 18 months and then he all of a sudden stopped drinking from a bottle and wanted his milk in a cup.

He is still only little so if that means he gets his milk for now personally I wouldn't worry to much!

Can anyone explain to me then why there is so much pressure to move them off the bottle? I've been told it affects their teeth but I can't see how a spout is different to a teat in that respect, and that it can affect speech. Does anyone know? DS also still has a dummy during the night and for his nap. I'm not planning on taking that away until he is 3ish.

DD was still very much attached to her night time bottles at 18mo. Still had bedtime one, at least 1 overnight and one in the morning! I gently suggested alternatives a couple of times but she was having none of it.

In the end, I waited until we moved her into a bed, and her bedtime routine therefore changed a bit.

I got her some of the soft spout cups, made a big thing about her special new cups for milk now she was in a grown up bed, and we haven't looked back. She was just about to turn 2.

So I'd say give it time.

Well. We went cold turkey on the bottles last week with DS. Granted he was only having one at bedtime but he was quite attached to it.

He has become v interested in our mugs we drink tea from so I just gave him warm milk in one of those before bed. It's been about 10 days now and sometimes he drinks loads, sometimes just one sip. He sleeps through so as far as I'm concerned it's mission accomplished.

He had no weight issues tho & has always slept well and eats a good variety in the day.

I decided to stop the bottle now before he could ask for it IYSWIM?

Good luck

DD was just like your DS - excellent drinking water from a sippy cup, but refused milk.

However, she LOVES animals, so I bought some dog cups from Ikea - they are a bit rubbish and leak if dropped, maybe I shouldn't have put them in the dishwasher - but anyway she thought it was ace and went for it straight away.

I then retrieved a previously rejected cow cup from the back of the cupboard, got a plastic cow out and showed DD - she was chuffed as anything and it's a great non spill non leak cup. Plus 'moo milk' sounds much better than 'dog milk'

If he's not an animal fan is it worth trying to find a themed cup he will get excited about?

When DD was 16 months old (2 months ago) we switched from bottles to nuby straws, the first three days involved her getting very upset and refusing to drink milk, but by day 5 she was happily drinking out of the straw (she had managed to do this previously with water so we knew she could physically do it). I think perhaps its a case of you've started so perhaps you should finish rather than having caused him upset for no reason.

That's what I'm wondering - do I keep going and he goes without milk for a while or give in and risk that next time we try he'll remember that we gave in eventually!

Problem is, he's never been a very hungry baby but is very strong willed so my money is on him refusing it for a long long time.

How much milk does he normally drink a day? If its one of his main sources of nutrition I think he will give in, if it was only once a day maybe he would think he could do without it. How was he last night?

He has quite a lot of milk, about 8oz in the morning, 3-6oz after his lunch nap and 6-8oz in the evening. That's why I'm so worried about him not having any!

I've actually just spoken to his dietician and she said to persevere and that it would be a bad thing to go back to the teats as then he'll never come off them. So I have to keep trying. Will buy some different cups and see if that helps.

I'm so stressed out about it though! I hate seeing him unhappy and upset and worry that he is going to lose weight, which he really can't afford to.

My DC3 is dairy free and really not keen on drinking soya milk so he rarely has any. You can get the calcium from other sources in there diet. No need for loads of milk.

I stopped BF him at 20 months and since then he has a drink of milk every 2 or 3 days - the rest of the time he has yoghurts (soya), baked beans, sardines and other good sources of calcium.

BTW it really won't hurt him to go without milk for a few days or you may find he cuts down a lot on his milk and increases his food intake to make up for it.

Oh yes and forgot to add my DC3 prefers drinking his milk through a straw! Especially those little cartons of milk (soya in his case) that you can buy.

That was similar to my DD, her milk intake went down for a few weeks after the switch (although she made up for it for once with actual food) but now manages to take in as much milk as she did with bottles. How's it going now as ou are almost at the 5 day mark?