please help - 2.4y dd addicted to milk

[kitkat9]

I'm not sure if it's her bottle she's too attached to, or the milk itself, but she's going through far too much every day.

I know, it's my fault, but I need to fix it. She's never been a great eater and so a least I knew she was getting nutrition from the milk, but there are now days when she barely eats anything but begs for milk, one bottle after another.

I switched her to semi-skim or fully skimmed after she turned 2, btw. She does also drink water and occasionally watered down juice. But the milk's the thing...

Anyway, what can I do? I'm so sick of this now, she goes through far too many nappies for a child her age (potty training another issue, but one thing at a time!), most mornings her nappy is soaked through and I'm washing her bedclothes constantly. This is even when I change her before I go to bed at night.

Any advice on how to break her habit? I really can't face making her go cold turkey on it. Suggestions for weaning her off needed!

how many bottles does she have per day?

Could you move her to a sippy type cup instead? She may find that much less interesting. Could you move to just a bottle at bedtime, and a cup of milk at breakfast, and then just offer one cup on request followed by water after that? It seems like slightly regressive behaviour - has anything changed in her life that might make her want to be the baby again (I'm thinking arrival of a new baby here, but other disruptions might have a similar effect perhaps?)

What sort of weaning have you tried? Would a baby led weaning (ie lots of choice and few rules / no spoon feeding) be an option perhaps if she doesn't like being fed?

DA - if we're home all day she has about 5 bottles, if we're out and about it wil be less as I have purposely stopped taking any milk out with me. At night she has anotherone before she goes to bed, then one as dh reads her story, then maybe more as she falls asleep - and even then she wakes up crying for more! It appears to be a comfort thing.

I have been watering it down as it's costing a fortune! I also tried not filling the bottle up so she gets maybe 6oz at a time.

Nooka - she does have a new baby brother (23weeks) but tbh she's always been like this with milk. I've not had any problems with her accepting ds2, no jealousy etc, she's been fine. When it comes to food, I do give her lots of choices, finger food,letting her 'help' prepare it etc. Some days she eats pretty well, other days not so much.

I have tried every type of cup that exists! She'll take water or juice from different types of beaker, but when it's her milk it has to be her baby bottle... sigh....

We're moving from the US to the UK next week and I'm wondering how I'll get through the flight - all the milk and nappies I'm going to need....!