How to get 18month old off the bottle?

Question

My son is now 18 months and he drinks a bottle... he needs it when he goes to sleep or he will not sleep.It is like his comfort... he also has a blanket he won't sleep without too... I am trying to get him off of the bottle but it is hard because i have a 4 month old to and when he sees her with a bottle he cries for his... I have tried to explain to him that he is a big boy now and everything and that bottles are for babies... but he still cries for it... he does also drink out of a sippy cup all the time... i just need some different ideas on how to get him off the bottle.

Answer 1

I would give him a sippy cup at night with water in it.  You shouldn't give him milk at night anyway...it will ruin his teeth because hopefully you are brushing them before he goes to bed.  If he really needs something just give him water in one of those sippy cups you wouldn't mind him going to bed with.  

Easier said than done I know....but you just have to be consistant and he'll get used to it.  If that's all you give him...he has no choice.  

Answer 2

He doesn't need a bottle to go to sleep.  If he needs milk give him a sippy cup of milk.  The only way to get him off the bottle is to not give him a bottle.

Answer 3

I have 4 children, 1 on the way.  I broke my oldest son(now 7) off the bottle by 12 months.  My trick since he was my oldest, I would hide the bottles, and he eventually would get frustrated, cry a bit, and go to sleep.  Now my daughter(almost 5) was harder, because when she was a year old - my middle son(almost 4) was born.  She actually broke herself, because we did the whole - your a big girl, you don't need a bottle.  Now when my middle son was born, she wanted it, so we would give her the bottle with my middle son's formula in it.  She would take a few sips, and spit it out and say yucky.  Then she would want juice, but we would say no - baby bottles have formula.  After a week, it worked.  Now my youngest son(10 months) is really attached, and we are starting the transition now - to a point - since I am due in Jan.  My suggestions are ... try the big boy game(big boys don't need a bottle, etc..), or reward him.  Tell him if he doesn't take his bottle to bed - maybe he can get a small reward the next day.  Or hide his bottles, and tell him if he wants a bottle, he has to have formula in it.  Hope this helps good luck.

Answer 4

Stay strong and stand firm. Would you be tempted if he was crying for candy? Just as bad..  Putting it off will only give him time to become MORE dependant on it. Hearing my kids cry tears my heart up, but you have to trust that you are doing the right thing, ESPECIALLY with getting rid of that night bottle... I hope it's only water.... not great but better than milk or juice.  The night time thing will be hard at first, but get easier with each night that passes.

Perhaps leting him choose a "super-cool" big boy cup with some cartoon on it. Something that holds more appeal than a plain bottle would?

Answer 5

Mom of 4-girls

Don't rush things ,no matter what anyone says or thinks ,he is still a baby.Plus he has a new 4mon. old sister, he will revert back a Little because of that.It is all normal.Promise by the time he is 30, bottle will be gone.Now the blanket is another story,he will prob. hold on to that until it is a little square.:)

Answer 6

Is it really that important that he doesn't have a bottle, he really is still a baby, and if the bottle is his comfort so be it, he won't want it forever.  I say, give it to him or not at all and deal with a cranky sad boy for a while.

Answer 7

AHH, tell him NO when he whines for the bottle, and give him his sippy cup. Don't give in, if you do, you won't make any progress.