How to get my 2-year-old to stop drinking out of a BOTTLE!!!!!?

Question

Hi all! My 2 year old daughter is still drinking from a bottle! I tried switching her to a sippy cup when she was 12 months with no luck. I tried every kind of sippy cup on the market, she denied all of them! She will drink out of a regular cup during the day, but 9 times out of 10, she just spills it and makes a huge mess. At bed time she will scream and scream until I give her a bottle. I have 3 children, and by the time she goes to bed I'm so exhausted I just give in and let her have it. Anyone else had this problem? And how did you deal with it?

Please no negative comments, thanks!

Answer 1

Dont give her the bottle no matter how much she screams. When she has a cup supervise her as much as possible.

Answer 2

sit down with your daughter and tell her that since shes being a big girl, from now on the nipple from the bottle has to be off (so take off the nipple and just give her the bottle) tell her as a big girl everytime she does okay with drinking out of the bottle with no nipple, she gets a sticker or something. also, try putting a straw in the cup so she doesnt make a mess. good luck

Answer 3

You will probably have to let her scream for a week to really break the habit.  Offer her a small cup of water by her bed and then leave her.  She will continue to scream because you gave in  in the past.  After a few exhausting nights she will learn that she has the cup or nothing.

Friends of ours had 2 daughters (3 & 4) who always wanted the bottle at night.  One year when they were going on vacation, they told the girls "bottles aren't allowed in _______."   The kids believed it and went without the bottles.  You can try something like that.

Answer 4

Some kids just need a reason to stop. 2 year olds are quite fun, because they get interested in other people, especially babies. So, sit her down and talk to her about babies--babies need bottles, and babies need diapers, and babies need cribs, etc. Things she doesn't need anymore, etc. Then ask her if she is a baby or a big girl. If she is a big girl, then she needs to use the cups not the bottles, because babies need her bottles. Have her help you pack the bottles into a box and mail them to a baby that needs them. (Ok, so really throw them away or send them to someone who will throw them away, but pretend they are going the baby). This way, she will think she is doing something good and that she is a big girl not a baby. It puts the choice on her, and gets rid of all the bottles, so she can't use them anymore.

Answer 5

You might have to just take it away and let her fuss a little. My baby was off the bottle at six months and took sippy cups just fine after I stopped using bottles. Let her scream and scream, and she should give in. I cannot imagine the stress you have with three other children, but, She can't drink out of a bottle forever :-) I hope this works for you and good luck!!

Answer 6

When you give in to her crying, she knows that you will give her what she wants, and she will continue to cry at bedtime.

Introduce the sippy cup slowly. Let her hold it, play with it and show her how it works. Try not to distract her, and allow her to experiment with the sippy cup in a relaxed environment. Hug her and cuddle her when she finally decides to use the sippy cut. It may take days, weeks or months before she decides to use it, but do not force it. We don't want to cause more anxiety during the switch.

Another trick is to fill her bottle with something sour (water with lemon-no sugar,etc) and give it to her to drink. Then, fill her sippy cup with something sweet. Hold the cup to her lips.

http://www.bottleweaning.com/

http://www.essortment.com/all/weaningbab...

Answer 7

If you give her the option of the bottle she will always want the bottle. You just have to be done with it. She will soon understand that she has to use the bigger cups. Honestly though, if you continue to give into her, you will have a monster on your hands. My sister in law is going through a similar thing and her son is the boss, but only to her. I wouldnt want to go through it. So good luck to you!!! Are your other kids smaller or did they have the same problem?

Answer 8

I weaned my daughter off of the bottle about 2 weeks ago (she's 14 months old).  I got a lot of advice about doing it slowly, but it didn't work and we were right back to the bottle again.  i finally just did it cold turkey and gave her a sippy cup with milk in it.  She didn't even seem to notice the difference.  She didn't drink as much fluids as usual the first day, but eventually she realized that she wasn't getting a bottle.

Its kind of harsh, but if she has no other choice she will use the sippy cup.  If she's thirsty enough she will drink...she's not going to starve herself!

Answer 9

It will probably take a weekend but what You need to do is to throw all your baby's bottles away. That way you are not tempted to give her the bottle when she starts screaming and crying for it. Putting her to bed with a bottle is really bad for her teeth anyway. As for sippy cups try NUBY sippy cups. The spout is made out of silicone so it's very similar to the nipple of a bottle. Good luck and remember if she is crying then she is alive and breathing.

Answer 10

Buy a farmers almanac. When the sign is below the waist take the bottle away. She will cry for a couple of nights and then she will be fine... My oldest loved his bottle at night. We did this when the sign was in the feet. He cried for 2 nights on the 3rd it was like magic....Totally quiet and he never asked for a bottle again! Even if he was around a smaller baby that had one! Good luck!

I do think that putting something hot on it is mean! I wouldn't do that!~

Answer 11

Try giving her only water in the bottle and only milk or juice in a cup. That way the bottle will seem less appealing to her. Have you tried the gerber sip n smile soft spout cups? They helped my daughter transition from bottle to cup since their spouts are closer to a nipple .

Answer 12

When i was 2 i was addicted to my pacifier so my dad put a choc. chip in it and told me it was a bug. I never wanted it again. Maybe it would work. For my daughter im planning to just stop cold turkey, she'll cry a few nights  but the longer you give in the longer she'll fight you.

Answer 13

The chili answer makes me laugh...my daughter likes chili...she is half mexican...lol. I let my 2 yo daughter have a bottle only when she is going to bed. In the day she has to use a tippy...I too am wondering what I should do to get her out of the habit. First for me, is to get her sleeping in her own bed again (hubby let her get used to sleeping with us), before baby #2 comes.

Answer 14

take it away cold turkey and throw it away that is what i did.. does she have any teeth decay from the bottle and when does she turn 3?

Answer 15

Get up one morning before she does, throw all the bottles in the trash and then take out the trash. Yes she might scream and cry for a couple days but it won't last too long and you'll be rid of the bottle. Your other option is to dilute the milk with water. Slowly change it too more water than milk, until eventually its just water and if your lucky she'll lose interest.  And as far as the regular cups go, I would go with a Dixie cup instead so you have a smaller mess when she spills it or don't fill the cup all the way.

I went with throwing the bottles in the trash. She was upset for a couple days, but got over it. And now she sleeps all night. The reason the bottles went in the trash was so I wouldn't cave in and give the bottle back.

Answer 16

I had a similar problem with my daughter when she was 2 as well...we did what one poster said and went on vacation to my mothers house and "accidently" left it behind.  it wasn't there she couldn't have it.  it was a hard few first nights but i just rubbed her back until she fell asleep letting her know that i was there for her and it worked.  you just need to be calm.  I wish you the best of luck!

Answer 17

i know this sounds mean but it worked for my sister when we were little and for me w/ a pacifier my parents would jsut put a little chili on the tip of the bottle/pacifier and it would be to hot for us then they would give us something else to drink out of untill we stopped. good luck!

Answer 18

I didn't have this problem with my son. We took him off the bottle at 12 months and he did okay. But I would sit your daughter down and explain to her that you are getting rid of the bottles because she is a big girl now and big girls use sippy cups.  What I'd do is get rid of all the bottles. Seriously. Get them gone. Do not have them in the house.  That way you can not give in and she can not find one to latch onto.  It may be very hard at first, but that's what we did with my sons paci.  Gone. "Remember? They're all gone"  We never explained where they were, they were just gone.

Answer 19

let her scream or whatever but do not give in to her. Some kids will try you.

Answer 20

There is no harm in an occassional bottle.  If it relaxes her for bed, it's no more harmful than breastfeeding. (Which is to say, not at all.)  Just be sure that you are brushing her teeth regularly, and that she doesn't suck on the bottle all night. (And let her drink from a regular cup during the day. WIth practice she will spill less.)

If you are determined to wean competely  -- just throw away the bottles and don't let her have one -- and deal with the tantrums for a couple of days.  I guarantee she won't go to the store and buy more.

Answer 21

You are the parent.  Make a rule.  She can only have water in the bottle.  Then you don't have to worry about tooth decay at night, or problems of washing out juice etc.  

You make it a reward thing.  "Yes, you can have a bottle, for water."  (Hey, even I have a bottle for water....)   But if you want milk, or juice, you must use a sippy cup for them."   Toss out all but one bottle, so that now and then you have a built in excuse "Oh, that bottle is dirty, and it's in the dishwasher.  You can use this sippy cup tonight, and the bottle will be clean tomorrow...."

Then you let it be their choice - empowering them to grow up.  If they choose the bottle, they drink only water.  If they want some juice with lunch, they get a sippy cup.  Sooner or later, they will stop using the bottle, and use only the sippy cup, but as long as you keep your rule intact, this should work.  There is no trauma of all her bottles being gone overnight, and they WILL lose interest as time goes on.