Thinking of weaning DD out of a bottle.

[SurprisEs]

She only uses it for milk but she is already 2.1 years old.
I'm not stressing too much about it so I'd prefer a gentle approach but all suggestions are welcome anyway :)

She drinks LOADS of milk. One bottle in the morning, one at nap time and an average of 2 in the evening/night. She mainly uses it for comfort and to fall asleep.

The reason why I prefer a gentle approach is because she never took to a dummy, blanket, teddy or any other comforter and became very attached to the bottle when I stopped breastfeeding at 13 months. The removal of the bottle will be the removal of the comforter. Not sure what to replace it with, or even if I should replace it with anything.

Her teeth have been well kept, so I'm not even worried about that, I just feel like it's time to start moving on.

I had exactly the same dilemma with my DD (who is now 9). She had no other comforter and only drank milk am, nap time, and pm, from a bottle. I tried her with beakers and cups etc, but she said the milk never tasted the same. I wanted her to have milk so I have to admit, she continued with a bottle until she was 5 (reducing its use to just bedtime). At that point she said "I'm a big girl now I don't need a bottle anymore". And that was it! No more bottle ever. I think she will move on when SHE is ready - why push it! Good luck x

How about you choose a 'special big girls cup' with her and ask her if she wants her milk in it , first at the time she least needs the comfort aspect.

LaMujer I had that approach to co-sleeping and truth is she moved on when she was ready and easily. But the nursery are beginning to put pressure and I'd rather do it gently then take their quick and harsh approach. I'm worried one day they'll be taking it appon themselves and just start weaning her without telling me. I'd be furious!

GrimmaTheNome the morning would probably be the best time. She has so many beakers, cups, but do you think I should take her out especially to choose one for the occasion? Kinda like when you buy a potty?

Bizarrely my DD WOULD drink her milk at nursery from a beaker (?!) but only from a bottle at home. I think even at a young age, peer pressure will kick in and she won't want to be the odd one out, but in her own home she has more of a say. If you can accept that she may go to a beaker at Nursery (which is kind of what you are thinking of achieving anyway!) it should all pan out anyway. At the end of the day, it is what works best for your dd and we all know that if they don't want to do something, they won't - whether Nursery tell them to or not!!!!!

LaMujer you're right. Just me worrying about nothing.
I would very much like to reduce the evening/night bottles to just one as it means she sometimes refuses dinner. That's the one I'd really like to tackle.

You're not worrying about nothing - it's your baby! Can you not give her her dinner earlier, before her bottle, and give her bottle a little bit later nearer bedtime? I'm sure whatever you do, she will be happy, and you will work it out between you.
x

Thanks for the reassurance. She asks for the bottle as soon as we get in but I'll try and put it off before dinner.

OP - my DS has recently started to go to nap time and bedtime with a bottle for comfort. He only takes about 3oz as I think it's more the sucking that he likes than actually needing the milk.

He's only 18 months old though, so I'm not too worried atm.

One small question I have is: does having this bottle at sleep time interfere with the child's toilet training??

Sorry if this is a bit of a hijack, but it's something I'm thinking forward to for when I start to potty train DS over the next year or so.

TIA

My daughter has been toilet trained since 22 months. But at night time she still uses a nappy as she can't hold it. Nap time she goes without a nappy though (she naps between 1 and 2 hours). So I don't know the answer to your question.