Toddler bottle breaking?

Question

my 2 yr old still takes a bottle (when he goes to sleep)....he cries and gets mad if he doesnt have it....he still wakes up(once) really late at night, and if he doesnt get a bottle, he will cry and throw a fit. i even have family members on my butt to get rid of the bottle...i know it should be easy to just take it from him and tell him all gone, but i dont know. i dont know if its the crying i dont want to hear...or if its b/cuz i think im doing something wrong....wont he just break himself maybe? ADVICE?!!

Answer 1

You just have to take it away and let him cry...re-direct him to something else and let him throw his fits...just don't give in :) Good Luck

Answer 2

It's normal to feel a little guilty about trying to wean a child off the bottle.  To them sucking is a big comfort, especially when it comes to going to sleep.  

Maybe you could try only giving him water in the bottle (maybe he'll lose interest?) and perhaps letting him have it for shorter periods of time?

Good luck!

Answer 3

No, it's not easy. Some babies are easier than others, but my first baby was a nightmare to go through when I took his "baba". I thought that I was going to pull my hair out! It just takes going through it, even letting him cry himself to sleep...but it does end after just a little while (1-2 weeks?), but it is time for him to break the "baba" habit.

I feel for you, believe me! But it will all work out.

Good Luck!

Answer 4

I had the same problem at around 20 months. What you have to do is prepare him for it and follow through. I think the problem is a lot of parents don't follow through and it causes problems.

First you prepare him. Say ok we have one more night with your bottle. Tomorrow we will drink it all a half hour before bedtime. Then the next night you say "ok no baba for night night time, so drink it all now". Then put him to bed and follow through.

He will scream the first night, then it will get better. You just have to set the rules and not "cave in" I think. It will go 2 ways at this point. Either he will understand that you mean business and comply, or he will learn that if he screams long enough he can get his way eventually. The other side of this coin is that you have to encourage him when he does stuff right. The next day say "all night without a baba, wow that's a big boy!" Sorry we still call it baba and not bottle, hehe.

My child at this age wears his emotions on his sleeve for everyone to see. Just let him throw a fit and ignore him and he will learn that's not the way to get what he wants.

Good luck to you! I'm finding this the most challenging age so far. But also the most rewarding. Ours finally used the "big potty" last night at 26 months and mom and I cheered him on. You'll do fine. :)

Also for encouragement, I would do some research online about keeping a bottle that long. There are some health issues you should be aware of. Namely letting him drink that close to bedtime and using a bottle that late in life.

Answer 5

move him from bottles to sippy cups works like a charm.. at first he wont like but he wont cry he will get used to.. good luck email me if needed.

Answer 6

Tell your child that he is a big boy know and big boys like his daddy don't use bottles. Advise him that he will not get a bottle any more. Then tell him that ies need his bottles. Have him pack his bottles in a box or bag. Then take the bottles to the mailbox.(later throw them away,if there aren't any bottles u can't give in) Then go back into the house and tell him if he feels sad he can always give you a hug.At bedtime read him a book,and say good nite big boy.If he crys and asks for the bottle remind him that he gave them to the babies because he is a big boy and reassure him that he will be o.k.He may recooperate faster than you think.Good Luck!

Answer 7

It's never good for a baby to go to sleep with a bottle anyway. Bad for his teeth and some doctors think even leads to more frequent ear infections. That said, you can ease your toddler into it by starting a new bedtime routine that doesn't include a bottle. A warm bath, story time, wrapping him up and cuddling until he's almost asleep, then laying him down without the bottle.  Come up with your own solution and routine, just exclude the bottle.  Both of my boys graduated from bottles to MagMags - it's a system that starts with a little cup with handles and a nipple on top. Then you switch the top to a sippy cup lid, and before long he's using a straw, then just using the cup. It was a breeze. We traveled a great deal when our boys were little and the MagMag was a lifesaver. There are many similar systems that you can find at Toys R Us and other places. It's a great way to ease a toddler through changes without all of the crying and contests of wills. Happy mom and happy baby! Here's a link to MagMag

Answer 8

you should just let him cry or he will learn that crying will get him anything. believe me you do not want him to  become spoiled, my nephew will cry over anything just to get his way. i have custody of him now, so he has learned from me that crying isn't going to help.  

Answer 9

I would give him a sippy cup during the day with milk and or juice so he can get used to the cup and only give him a bottle at night it will take some time for him to get used to not having a bottle. you have to be patient if he see's you getting frustrated he will get more upset. as far as him waking up in the middle of the night I would try a later bed time.

Answer 10

You are just going to have to take it from him and deal with a night or two of him crying!  Your baby is growing up Mom, let go and get rid of that bottle!

Answer 11

In order to break him from the bottle, you will have to deal with some crying and whining.  He's comfortable with the bottle, so he doesn't want to get rid of it.  Try using a sippy cup.  Have him get used to it during the day so he'll take it at night.  He should be okay using a sippy cup for a year or two.  And I'd just give him water at night -- prevent those cavities!  :)

Answer 12

Oh well, he's mad.  Too bad.  He'll get over it.  YOU will have to suck up the week or two of him freaking out at night - YOU created the problem by never allowing him to learn how to self-soothe.  But it too will pass.  Drop the bottle, deal with the interim screaming and move on...

Answer 13

what i did was slowly cut out the bottle like i would say that hes a big boy now and he only needs one bottle a night . so when he goes to sleep give him one but if he wakes up wanting one then you ignore him and put him back to bed. At first he will scream and scream believe me but once hes used to this new routine he will be fine then once he can go the night without it just give him a cool cup with like straws and pictures on it..( its best if he chooses as your getting him involved) and give him that before bed and if he scream just put him straight to bed.

Just needs persistence on this one :) x

Answer 14

I had the hardest time breaking my oldest son of the bottle. he was 3 when I finally did it. He only drank his milk from a bottle so that was the hard part. I've tried numerous times to no avail because I couldn't stand his constant scream for it.  I finally told him one night when he was going to bed that that was his LAST bottle. When he got up in the morning I gave him a sippy of milk and he threw it. He whined for the first 2 days but i just dealt with it. I figured when he was thirsty enough for his milk he'll drink it from the sippy & he finally caved.

Sometimes you just have to take it away and stand your ground. Don't let the whining get to you, just ignore it and keep handing the sippy to him.

I'm not going through this again---my youngest will be done with bottles at 18 months max.

Answer 15

horrible! You should have introduced the sippy cup a long time ago! MY son and daughter both were off the bottle and onto a sippy cup at ten months old! You need to just do it cold turkey now that he is so old!  

Answer 16

What worked for me was making sure I put something in the bottle that my kids hated, like tomato juice.. I put the yummy stuff in a cup. That way the kids thought it was their idea to get rid of the bottles.