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How do you wean a toddler off the bottle?

My son gets 1 bottle a day at bedtime. He is 21 months old but what do I replace it with? I don't want to keep him on the bottle much longer. Do I give him dinner at 7:30 then put him to bed? I want to ensure that he still sleeps all night...hopefully.

Update:

He's been sleeping through the night since 1 month old. I just wondered if it would stop or shorten if the bottle stopped.

Update 2:

and he wasn't on the bottle at that age (1 month old).

10 Answers

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  • 1 decade ago
    Favorite Answer

    my boy is 22 months and still gets one bottle a night .

    usually about 30 mins before we put him in his bed

    What ive been doing is decreasing the amount he gets so hes going to see that its not even worth it any more .. Its working so far .. u use to get about 210 mls ( 7 oz ) and drink the whole lot .. its now down to150mls ( 5 oz ) and hes leaves about 50 mls ( 1.5 oz ) . so hes not even bothering to drink it any more .

    Ive kept up the bottle for this long because he doesnt like to drink anything else during the day .. so atleast i know hes getting some fluid in to him . But he is now drinking more during the day so im confident that he doesnt need it any more .

    Just keep his normal routine .. to much disruption may cause his sleep to be inturupted .

    i would either slowly decrease the amount he gets till he no longer wants it .. or just take it away and tell him hes abig boy so u can use a cup .

    ( PS -- dont let everryone make u feel bad because ur son still gets one bottle , many mother chose to breast feed their toddler till they are 3 or 4 yrs old , and a bottle is just a replacement for a breast )

  • 1 decade ago

    Honestly cold turkey is the way to go and throwing away every bottle is the best way to make sure you stick to your guns. It will be hard the first few nights because he will cry.. BUT the crying will help make him fall asleep. Also, if he is only getting a bottle at bedtime and not naptime then he may fuss a little when you first put him to bed without a bottle but he will probably go right to sleep. Sometimes I think as parents we dont realize how adaptive babies can be. And I am giving this advice completely from my own personal experience - when it was time to cut my son from the bottle I threw every single one away and took the trash out to the dumpster so that I could not at all be tempted to get one out if he cried... amazingly with no bottles to be found my son understood that the bottle was buh-bye and he has been sleeping soundly without one since.

    Source(s): mother of a soon-to-be 3 year old boy :o)
  • Anonymous
    1 decade ago

    My friend's idea that helped me. At 2 years old I decided to cut out the bottle. She said go to Wal-Mart and make a big deal out of getting a "new cup" for the "big girl" to use. We did and it was a BIG deal about this new pink cup, which is her fav color. We got it home and at bedtime we said okay, lets put Kaitlyn in bed with her big girl cup of milk! She went to bed a few days without problem. The third day she cried and was mad, but we insisted she keep her new big girl cup and use it. She eventually got over it and forgot about the bottles. It really was a lifesaver for us. The few nights of her upset were much better than trying to take it cold turkey.

    We changed from milk to water about 3 or 4 months ago. She just turned 3. It was hard. She was mad and didn't want water. We insisted water is good, it's better for baby's teeth. You can't have milk after you brush your teeth. She got over that too and now loves water for bed.

  • 1 decade ago

    Don't give the bottle IN BED as it represents a comfort source and deadly for dental health.

    Presume you mean cows milk and not formula which should be discontinued by now.

    Start the process by giving it before bed - for a fortnight or two reducing the milk content with water.

    Then change it to a feeder cup of warm milk or drinking chocolate etc.(to make it interesting) but not juice.

    Also never give a child milk (liquid food) during the night. Give water as its not worth waking up for.

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  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

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  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

    I dont understand who instructed you that he's only too old for a bottle. Now 3 could be too old for my section. you have got it greater sturdy to wean him now. attempt enjoying as much as the 'vast boy' eating out of a sippy cup throughout the day and supply him a bottle of water at nighttime.

  • Zuzu
    Lv 6
    1 decade ago

    My pediatrician told me that once I've brushed my child's teeth at night, NOTHING besides water should cross her lips until morning. That means no milk and no juice, etc., after the teeth brushing. So if you're giving him a bottle of milk after brushing his teeth, you should have stopped that nearly a year ago. So I'm presuming you give him a bottle of milk to drink before you brush his teeth and he's not using it to pacify himself to sleep, etc. Just switch the milk to a sippy cup or have him drink it out of a proper cup before your night time ritual, including teeth brushing. At bed time, you can give him a sippy cup of water if you fear he'll be thirsty. 7:30 pm is generally too late for a toddler to be having dinner, unless you feed him and then begin his night time ritual of bath, story time, etc. etc. where maybe he'll be going to sleep at 9-ish??

    If you think a little longer-term, a more ideal schedule would involve giving him dinner at 5 or 6 and give him milk with dinner if you feel he'll need the calories. Start your evening ritual to get him ready for bed after dinner and then just have some water available to him if he's thirsty. Set him on the potty chair after his bath and/or right before bed. That'll head get him accustomed to decreasing liquids at night (increasingly readiness for when you start potty training) and it will incorporate some potty training ritual in his life so it won't be a shock when you eventually start that process. That doesn't mean start potty training him now, it simply means start getting him used to having the potty chair around and getting used to the ritual of sitting on it.

  • honey
    Lv 7
    1 decade ago

    does he fall asleep drinking the bottle. If so that is going to be hard to break. the only thing to do is go cold turkey! i had to do it with my daugther and...it wasn't easy.

    If he just drinks a bottle...then goes to bed, try changing your routine so he doesn't have the baba on his mind. go for a walk before bedtime, play outside for a bit. play games, read stories. offer a sippy..yeah right...lol.

    good luck. if he doesn't fall asleep with the bottle, it won't be that hard.

  • Anonymous
    5 years ago

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  • 1 decade ago

    He's a bottle junkie. He should have been sleeping thru the night a year ago. I give my daughter a sippie cup of warm milk at bedtime. The bottle might have to be taken cold turkey away from him. I have also heard of people putting clogged nipples on so they cannot get anything out of them that way they get frustrated.

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