Looking to "cut back" on the bottle

Question

my almost 2 year old LOVES the bottle. She has never used a paci or sucked a finger so for her, the bottle is also pacification. I use it to aid in getting her to sleep at nap and at bed. I have heard that I should dilute the milk with water but am not sure the difference. Most pre-schools are no bottle where I live so.... Is it best to slowly cut back or cut it out all together? If I cut it out all together, how do I get her to sleep?

Answer 1

slowly

Answer 2

Yeah, I never really understood the logic behind diluting the bottle either. It didnt work for my kids because it is the action of needing the bottle for comfort that I needed to stop, not the "getting full feeling" They didnt care what was in the bottle as long as they got it!!!

What I did with my first son was I started by cutting out one bottle feeding. (the one in the morning and replaced it with cereal) I did this for a couple of days, then I cut out another feeding. (nap time, this was a big one, but dont give in! They will eventually fall asleep) I did this for a few days and well... you get the picture! :)

I just continued cutting out feedings every few days until there wasnt any left. It worked really well. There were a couple of hard times, but actually when I got down to one feeding a day he didnt even want it. He probably figured he wasnt going to get it, so didnt even whine for it! It was great!!! With my second son we just quit cold turkey.

Answer 3

"cutting back on the bottle" means something quite a bit different in this section... may I suggest asking in Pregnancy and Parenting?

Answer 4

slowly it is better just get her used to a really nice zippy cup something she will learn to love in a while.