Getting my 18 month old off the bottle for milk

Toddler
#1

Hi there,

I am aware that babies should be weaned off the bottle by 12-18 months. My 1.5yr old drinks water out of a straw cup and enjoys it. He can drink out of an open cup with a little bit of help and is still mastering that but he wants to drink his whole milk out of bottles. He drinks milk 4 times a day (4 oz each) and while it isn’t what puts him to sleep, he enjoys it before sleeping (we brush his teeth after his night milk). I have tried different cups and he takes a few sips but doesn’t really want to drink milk from them and won’t drink more unless it’s in his bottle. Any advice? Should I just give him milk with his meals and ignore it if he doesn’t drink his 16oz? All the strategies I’ve seen online are to help get them to get off bottles with water and assume the milk part will come with it but I haven’t found it to be the case.

Thanks in advance for your help.

#2

Hey mama-I’ll be honest, my kids drank milk from a bottle until they were about 3. It’s what soothed then-same as your situation. They drank other drinks out of cups, but milk was only from a bottle. I know some parents are 100% in on giving the bottle up, but I wasn’t. I don’t think it had to be all or nothing. That was my personal preference-my kids all adjusted well when I did finally take it away and 2 of them gave up milk fully when they bottle was gone, the other two were ok with cups.

You can check in with your pediatrician on how much the milk is important to your toddlers development-but there’s no one right answer-do what’s best for you and your child :relaxed:

1 Like
#3

Make getting rid of the bottles an event. Like a “ bye bye bottles” moment or party or something. Once they go away, they’re gone.

Give milk at meal time or when he asks in a straw cup. Don’t worry about the amount for the initial time being while he’s transitioning.

Also, make the milk icy cold (with ice cubes or whatever) in the straw cup.

Give less water and only offer milk at times.

#4

Have you tried the weighted munchkin cups? Two of my children refused to drink milk out of every single cup I tried except for the weighted cups.

1 Like
#5

Thanks Allison! Makes me feel a lot better knowing I am not the only one who faced this.

#6

@hulagirlt Thanks for your suggestions. Will try them out!

#7

@Kalapegg - Unfortunately I have tried them :frowning: He has no issues using them for water. He’ll drink a sip or two of milk but wants his bottle for that.

#8

You are absolutely not alone!! Take it in stride. Nothing will happen if your toddler drinks milk from a bottle a little while longer. As long as he’s able and willing to drink from a cup with other drinks, you’re good-at least from my experience :heart:

1 Like