12 mo old... Bottle weaning...

Any advice on bottle weaning?  Her doc wants her off completely within the month.

Not to mention completely on whole milk now. 

Seems extreme!

And what do you think?  It does seem "extreme".  I hate docs that are so "absolute".

I don't find it extreme. But then with the 3 kids I have weaned, I had no issues. I just gave them the sippy cup, put all the bottles away and out of sight. And it was done. It didn't take very long doing it that way. And if they don't see a bottle on the counter or in the cupboard, they forget about it quickly.

I did this with all 3 kiddos and will do the same with Jantzen next April.

It's like with anything you try to break kids of, you have to "just do it", allowing it occasionally only prolongs the process.

Just my personal experience.

I think you may be on to something.  I think I am a wuss.  So maybe the question is, how does a wuss wean their baby?  LOL.

I should say that the baby threw the sippy cup w/ milk across the floor...  I guess if she gets it no other way she'll break down?

Exactly..........My boys just drank from it. They loved milk and didn't care how they got it.

My daughter.....she was a tougher cookie. But after a few hours of handing her the cup back. And not getting mad, or breaking out a bottle. She took it. And that was it.

It's hard to tough up sometimes. But kids will get attached to things at times that the need to progress from. So we have to stick to our guns. You can do it.

With DS#1, he was really sick around his 16 month birthday, so we chose that time to stop the bottles and had no problems.  I don't believe it's as black and white as taking the bottle away the day they turn 12 months old.  I did it cold turkey and packed them all away.  He never asked for one after that.

With DD, it was a bit harder as she was very attached.  We had a "moving up" party.  I bought several new sippie cups and wrapped them in beautiful paper and shiny bows.   I had her "hand" me the empty bottles so we could put them all in a large bag and then I showed her how I put them in the attic (out of sight out of mind theory).  Then we got out the bag of all the new sippies and she opened each one while I cheered and made a big deal.  That night she got to drink out of whichever one she wanted and we put a birthday hat on and gave her a balloon to celebrate the Moving Up day.  Yeah, it's a lot of effort, but she did great and couldn't wait for her new sippe the next day.  Honestly, we waited until she was about 14 months. 

Good luck!

Hugs,

Thanks for this info.  I have such a happy baby so I don't want to do any unnecessary trauma but also don't want to coddle her forever!

If she isn't fond of a sippy cup, try a cup with a straw. Josiah plays with the sippy cup more then he drinks form it - but he LOVES the cup with the straw. He got it on the 1st try...

She likes both and I heard the straw is good for speech development.  :)

Problem is she won't take milk in the cup.

I am realizing I am going to have to just have a few hard days.  I'll wait til the weekend when hubby can help.  LOL.

With Savannah we did it cold turkey at 11 months old.  With Skyler I think it will be right at 12 months.  She's more stubborn.  No telling how this boy will be....lol

Ash :)