Toddler still has a bottle...help!

[Richtea67]

So my nearly 2 year old is very attached to her bottle. She has a bottle of milk before bed, a small amount of water in a bottle during the night (will not entertain a cup), and most days a small bottle of milk in the afternoon. Other times she will happily drink water from a sippy cup. She does ask for it at other times for a bottle but can be distracted. However if we try to distract or offer a cup at the other times mentioned she goes nuclear...and is very strong willed! On the 3 days at nursery she doesn't have a bottle during the day.

Is there any other way of getting her off a bottle, other than cold turkey? Ideally I'd like a gentler approach. She still uses a newborn teat...would changing to a fast flow one make it less comforting? Or is there a cup that's more similar to a bottle? Or should be just rip off the band aid?? Or wait until she's older so can be more reasoned with (sticker chart etc). She does also still have dummy...not sure if that's relevant. Thank you for any advice 🙏

Unfortunately it's cold turkey time.

Whip up some excitement about the bottle fairy coming with a surprise! Put the bottles out st night - little one can help.

Then in the morning... A CUP! A LOVELY CUP and a packet of chocolate buttons.

The munchkin "non spill" cups might be helpful or you could buy a normal but lovely little cup

I found these great for transition from teat to sippy cup
amzn.eu/d/7gos0Q1

Just a few ideas. Phase the removal, she doesn’t have a bottle at nursery in the day so remove that first. Talk to her and say she is a big girl and so can have milk in a big girl cup instead. Go to the shop and let her chose a cup. At bedtime, start to reduce the volume in the bottle, then replace it with water. Then take it away. She can have milk in her big girl cup down stairs before bed and talk to her all about it - do a count down chart to the day she doesn’t have a bottle anymore. Throw the bottle in the bin together and say bye bye, tell her what a wonderful big girl she is.
Does she sleep with a dummy? If so, can you tell her she can’t have dummy and bottle in bed at night - can you replace the bottle with a new teddy perhaps? I know people are against rewards, but I think for big changes they do help. Alongside a lot of conversation beforehand and positive praise.

One of my DC had a dummy, they were nearly 3 when we took it away. We used the dummy fairy, and had a book we read about it. The fairy took all the dummies and left a new teddy. Worked a treat! Tackle the bottle first, see if there are books/programmes you can watch. Good luck!

My daughter was 4, we were due to go to Disney World and I explained that children who still had baby bottles couldn’t go on the rides, worked a treat 🤗

Let her choose a cup. Or buy one she can decorate with stickers etc.

I let both of mine have a bottle until they were about 5 they both enjoyed their bottles so much and it was such a source of comfort. It honestly didn't do them any harm and once they decided they didn't want it anymore they didn't drink as much milk. They are only little for such a small amount of time.

DD is nearing 2.5 and last week I just told her the bottle had broken and she needs to have a beaker from now. Job done. She still has a dummy and I’m gonna wait until she can comprehend the dummy fairy. No big deal. Make it easy for you and your kid and wait until they can understand, then whip the bandaid off and just do it one way or another. Worked fine for my older kid too.

My dd2 had a bottle of cold milk at bedtime until she was three. Her older siblings didn't have bottles.
She left it under a sofa i a hose we were staying in for the cat who lived there.
The owners were delighted when they worked out what was causing the smell in the living room.
Dd2 never looked for it again.

Ditch the dummy at the same time, they are both "baby fags". My toddler became so much more alert after we went cold turkey. They yelled for maybe half an hour in bed - we closed the doors and ignored - then went to sleep and never mentioned it again.

The dummy is a much bigger problem than the bottle IMO

Dummy is in the mouth for hours and their face can shape around it. Whereas a toddler will drink a bottle of milk in a few minutes. Plus the milk is good for them; they may not want it from a cup.

I think prioritise ditching the dummy and brush their teeth

My almost 3yo still has bottles of milk (except at nursery) she has one on a morning and one before bed and one in her bed which he drinks during the night. She's my fourth and last and they're not little for very long so she can have her bot bot for aslong as she wants. It's unlikely they're gonna be 10 still having bottles so I don't see the issue while they're so young. Pick your battles was the best advice I've ever been given.

My ds had a bottle at bedtime up to being nearly 5, he was a very bad sleeper & having a bottle used to help him calm down to go to sleep. He never had a bottle during the day from being about 18 months, but that bottle at bedtime as part of his bedtime routine saved my sanity so I thought it was well worth it, the same for a dummy, he kept his dummy until around the same age. He has no problems with his teeth, they are perfect, I always made sure he brushed his teeth before bed anyway & he had a feeder cup of water if he needed a drink overnight.

She’s ONE !

I wouldnt say a bottle was a problem yet

Christ!

Mine were about 5 when they gave theirs up. Why do you want your child to stop? It’s a great source of comfort for a lot of kids.

I got this cup for DD at 18 mo when she was still really attached to her bottle she drank from it for a couple of nights and then just stopped asking for it, I guess it wasn't as comforting as her bottle. I would get it in a supermarket I think I paid a lot less than on Amazon.
https://amzn.eu/d/iz0Xp08
Make sure to bin or hide all the bottles and just say that her other bottles are broken or something, when you first introduce the new cup.
To me it seemed a lot more scary beforehand than it actually was.
The only problem I have now is that she doesn't drink much milk now.

My children and granddaughter gave their bottles and dummies to air crew for babies to use on plane. .

Does it really matter if your daughter still enjoys a bottle at times? My daughter still had a bottle of milk at night until she was four. I couldn't see the point in making a fuss about it if she found it comforting at night. I told her she would get teased for using a bottle just before she was due to start school, and she stopped. I think most children do things like stopping a bottle, using a potty etc when they are ready, and there's no need to pressure them into stopping sooner unless there's a really good reason for it.

Meh

I'd leave it

She's only 2

As long as it's only at bedtime

Thanks all, some great advice and lots to consider...it seems a lot of people think that it's a bit early to worry about it anyway. I thought the advice was to ditch it for dental reasons (more harmful for tooth enamel drinking from a bottle). Luckily it's only water overnight, but that was a long process of gradually warering down the milk. I think we'll try one of those transition bottles to loosen the comfort association. Then maybe when she's nearer to 2.5 we'll be able to reason with her ( a bit!) and do something like the dummy fairy .

With DD1 when she got to 2.5 we made a big fuss of being in a big girls bed and having a big girls cup, and it worked really well. DD2 just turned 2 and loves her bottle and hoping that we'll be able to do the same, although not convinced lol I'm not worried though, we'll work it out she has one in the morning and one before bed