Weaning off the bottle cold turkey

[uisage]

So we finally decided to take the plunge and get 20mo DS off his bedtime bottle 🙈. He doesn't need it to go to sleep, and has increasingly been taking smaller amounts of milk so we think he's frustrated with it. We tried a few times with his beaker before, but he didn't take it so we took a bottle up instead.

This time, I'm determined to ditch the bottle. However, it's been a week and he's still refusing the beaker! He points at the door like daddy is going to come in with a bottle (he is definitely not, he is at work). So I put the beaker aside and move onto brushing teeth/reading a story.

He gets tonnes of dairy (cheese and yogurt addict) so I'm not that worried about the drop in milk intake and it doesn't seem to be impacting his sleep. DH is starting the get worried about his fluid intake, especially with this hot weather, but I think I'm doing a good job getting water into him through the day.

I tried an open cup tonight (he often enjoys drinking out of it), but he wouldn't take that either. I'm not up for buying lots of different cups to try, we did that when he first started taking water from a cup at 6 months and now the one he uses is the first one we had.

Do I keep offering the milk from a cup? DH wants to go back to a bottle, but I feel that's a huge step backwards and is just teaching DS to be stubborn. Or my other option is to not bother offering milk as part of his bedtime routine since he doesn't seem to need it. Then I could brush his teeth in the bathroom and make his bedtime routine a bit simpler.

Anyone else had the same issues with stubborn toddlers? Did it go away over time?

Why does he need either just stop giving milk before bed? My daughter hasn’t taken a bedtime drink since 18 months. We were on holiday and she wasn’t a fan of the milk so refused a bottle then as she didn’t really take it from the cup either when we returned we just didn’t offer it. Never bothered her sleep nor has she seemed to want it. I’ve just made sure I give her extra calcium during the day.

@mrs2468 that's what I was kind of thinking. It seems a waste of milk! He is looking for something though, since he keeps on pointing at the door.

Try giving him milk in a beaker at another time. See if it's the beaker or the situation. Give him porridge before bed then he's had that milk

When I weaned my first off breastfeeding, he initially wouldn't drink milk at all. And he was only 13m at that stage. But HV didn't seem too concerned, she just said make sure he gets lots of dairy based foods (yoghurt, cheese, porridge made with milk etc) and access to sippy cup of water all day for hydration. I usually gave him porridge for supper and offered water at bedtime (although he didn't take much usually). If he's a good eater, you can probably get enough calcium and calories into him during the day.

@forrestgreen and @TooMinty he drinks out of his beaker no bother during the day, both for milk and water, and has done since he was a year old (water from 6 months). Sometimes he uses an open cup as well. It's just getting rid of this final bottle that's not happening!

My DD was like this; I spent a fortune on different cups and bottles in an attempt to get her interest. In the end she started drinking milk again after about a week or so when it was in one of my water bottles. We just had to go cold turkey on the bottle; I think I pretended i couldn’t find it. I wouldn’t go back as then next time you try it will take even longer. I’d keep offering milk but don’t stress if he won’t take it.

Have you tried offering water at bedtime?

I'd just ditch the bottle then. Maybe buy him a new cuddly toy to cuddle while you read to him and take to bed? Sounds like he'll get enough hydration/calcium in during the day. Maybe give a decent supper so he doesn't wake up hungry.

Ds hasn't had milk at bedtime since a year when he started taking less milk in his bottle. As long as your ds gets plenty of dairy (or other sources of calcium like dark leafy greens) hell be grand.