Down in one! - teats v. training spouts

[CER]

How easy was it to move your baby on from a teat to a training spout? I want to get my 9 month old off the bottle by a year. He already drinks water from a boots cup but only a little bit at a time.

I've tried Avent soft spouts but he doesn't take more than an ounce, although he'll drink the whole bottle if it's got a teat on.

Do you think I should just make him go cold turkey and he'll end up taking what he needs when he realises there's no alternative? Or should I introduce it gradually?

He's also got a weight gain problem so I am a bit nervous about depriving him of a good drink for too long.

Thanks for any help

CER - I'll follow this thread\ with interest as I'm in exactly the same position with my ds (12mo). The avent is ok for a little water, but first thing in the morning and bedtime he likes to guzzle away at the milk and cant seem to do that with anything but the bottle.

Sorry I'm not offering advice but at least you know your ds isnt the only one.

Thanks Art. I think that lots of people must have gone through this so maybe we'll get some help!

I just went 'cold turkey' when my DS was 8 months and I stopped b/feeding - went straight to beakers - maybe I was lucky but it was never a problem - perhaps because I didn't confuse him with a choice of beaker or bottle. Both water & milk from a beaker (I've mentioned this before but beware - no beaker is leakproof!!)

CER - moveing from bottle to beaker - Avent variety was difficult for about a week, whereby he only took a very small amount. However, I think that thirst and hunger and his love of milk overcame that. It was slightly worrying as I thought he might not get any sustinance at all but we go through it.

oops moving not moveving!

I think I'll be doing that next time round Lindy but a bit late for this ds. Hindsight is a wonderful thing!

Thanks Charliesmummy. I could just about psyc myself up to go cold turkey hoping that it would only be for about a week.

Not sure about 'cold turkey'. Ds has very low calorie diet due to milk allergy so cant really afford to miss his formula feeds. Its also 27deg so Ill be worrying about dehydration. At 12m tho' I think he needs to get out of the bottle habit.

I'll also have to try and get dh to agree as he does half the feeds while I'm working.

Thanks for the advice everyone, CER let me know how it goes!

Hi Art. Have decided to stick with the teat for a bit longer as just taken ds off wheat and yeast to see if it helps with his eczema. Feel that if I go cold turkey now he may not end up having any kind of nutritional intake at all!

Will let you know when I do try it though.

Well we had a fortnight of measles type virus since last posting so anything but the comfort of the bottle was out of the question. I've also just discovered that ds can drink from a straw (having just grabbed and guzzled half my carton of juice) so might try skipping the spout altogether - at breakfast and lunch anyway.