Kicking the Habit

re: Kicking the Habit

Emma — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 11:27:41 GMT

I'm a bit late, but just to add: with my first I was so determined to get him onto a sippy cup ASAP, because that's what my (Australian) baby book told me to do and all my Aussie friends had their kids on cups. The kids at his (Swiss) daycare all had bottles for water, and while I wasn't disapproving, I didn't think it was right, and I didn't want it for him. So I brought a sippy cup to his daycare, and they laughed, and said "all the English mothers insist on cups". So actually, I think the Australian/American aversion to bottles is entirely cultural and not actually a "real" problem (apart from letting kids fall asleep with a bottle because of the rotting teeth issue). My Swiss nieces and nephews had a bottle of milk a day for YEARS, like at least until they were 4, and I honestly can't say that they are suffering from it. I know you've already tired with the sippy cup for milk... but if it did stop him from sleeping again in the morning, I'd be offering a bottle again - I would find the extra sleep too precious to destroy for the sake of teat versus beak, especially when he's already using a sippy cup just fine during the day.

Sorry for the essay...

re: Kicking the Habit

knockedup — Sat, 20 Dec 2008 15:21:30 GMT

Thanks for all your advice! I tried the sippy cup last night - the soft spout BornFree that's still sort of bottle-like - and Axel was just fine. This morning, he didn't want milk from any source, sippy or bottle. If things continue to go as smoothly as they did yesterday, this transition will be easy.

I know, we are very, very lucky that Axel is now sleeping in so late. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it lasts.

re: Kicking the Habit

AdrienneM — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 22:50:28 GMT

I know this may be crazy, but I had a bottle nearby in case Mateo revolted. The first couple of nights we needed the back-up; now it's all sippy all the time.

re: Kicking the Habit

mamatulip — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:45:26 GMT

Oh god, it's happened. I always said I'd remember EVERY DAMN THING about my kids, but here I am racking my brain to remember when my kids ditched their bottles. I really should have kept up their baby books...

re: Kicking the Habit

s.a. — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 21:45:07 GMT

An important point is that Axel has teeth now and they should be brushed before bed, after the bottle, regardless.

Some kids have a really hard time with the bottle, others don't. If Axel is really routine oriented right now with regard to the bottle I will say that it is MORE likely that he will become harder to wean than easier, though you really never can tell. Considering the fact that you are expecting, that 90 minutes is pretty important, I wouldn't really worry about the bottle thing too much.

re: Kicking the Habit

Mildred — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 20:28:19 GMT

The Nuby sippy cups are the best ever. They don't spill and they are great for night time milk drinking. My nieces both used them to transition from the bottle. With my daughter it's more difficult b/c she suffered from reflux so I needed to put cereal in all her bottles and she still wants it even though she doesn't need it anymore. If I give her milk without cereal she cries hysterically and won't drink it and I don't have the heart to force her to stop. So, at 19 months, she is still drinking from a bottle at night. But during the day it's all sippy cups so I don't feel bad about it.

re: Kicking the Habit

Chrissy — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:56:42 GMT

My son just turned 12 months last week and a friend had mentioned that I should take away anything out of habit that I didn't want forever (or a hell of a time taking away) before he turned a year. So the day before - no more bottle. Only sippy. He was fine! No problem whatsoever. And this is a kid that likes his routine. I was shocked at how easy it was. The way I figure it, it's gotta go at some point. Why not now?

re: Kicking the Habit

Melissa — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:47:02 GMT

Just wanted to add: From the posts, it seems like most of the kids are not the ones objecting to the sippy. :-) Very few said their babies were refusing the sippy at night. I think we're just trying to keep them babies a little longer. I totally understand the feeling. Just like at daycare it's the moms who bring the kids in with the pacis dangling. The teachers take them away and the kids are just fine all day.

Personally I wanted Michael off the bottles, but I don't think it will harm them either way. Only it may be harder to get them off if they're 2 years old than if it's done earlier.

Full disclosure in a similar vein: Michael sucks his thumb and I'm in no rush to stop him from doing that. Maybe that's why he didn't care about the bottle.

Sorry for the super long posts.

re: Kicking the Habit

Melissa — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:34:37 GMT

I started giving Michael a sippy cup at about 6 months old. A lot of these cups aren't much different from a bottle in terms of sucking anyway. So he was doing both at a young age. I used to give him those Nuby sippy bottles when he was still on formula, but then he ended up biting through the nipples. I don't remember when I stopped giving him bottles alltogether, but it might have been before a year old. He never seemed to care. He'd probably still drink from a bottle if I gave it to him.

I think we spend too much time thinking about this stuff. Some kids really do have a preference, but I think most wouldn't think twice if we took the bottle away earlier. I say the sooner the better. Why not give him his last "bottle" in a sippy cup and see if he cares? (Or have you already tried that?)

re: Kicking the Habit

rockzee — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 19:03:50 GMT

First of all, YOU'RE PREGNANT?! I've been so out of touch lately. Congratulations!

As always with you, my son is at the exact same stage. He used to do that same wake at 5am thing, but recently stopped and now sleeps until 6:30 or 7 without it. Although he does still occasionally need the random one in the middle of the night. And he is still on 3 bottles of milk a day. I tried to wean him but he just loves his bottle. They are working with him at daycare to get him more used to his sippy, and that is working. This morning actually I tried to give him a sippy instead of his morning bottle and he was none too happy with that. So, I say, what the hell? My BFF has three kids and each of them had a bottle until they were two. When he's ready, he'll give it up. I remember it being that easy with my daughter, who weaned earlier, but boys are more needy I think. I've learned to use the Whatever Works Method of parenting.

Now I have to go back and read about you being pregnant. That's so awesome. Mine are 18 months apart, which is wonderful in so many ways.

re: Kicking the Habit

MidLifeMama — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:31:34 GMT

Cooper never had the pre bed bottle. I am not sure why, but we just didn't do that. I never wanted him dependent on it to sleep I guess. But even if you do give him something to drink right before bed, why can't it be in a sippy cup rather than a bottle? Cooper switched over to sippy cups with no difficulty at all. I think he liked being in control more. I don't know why, but it seemed to please him to use the cup. Now he wants to drink from a regular cup all the time, and loves using a straw. He still makes a mess though, so he will be using a sippy cup for a long time!

re: Kicking the Habit

Em — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 18:06:14 GMT

My son will be a year in two weeks, and we're trying to phase the bottle out. He only takes a bottle twice a day, and has never been a big fan, so we thought it'd be no problem. He takes juice out of a sippy cup fine, but gets really PO'd if we try to put his milk in a sippy. It's driving me crazy.

Like Axel, Eddie is on the small side, so I don't want to be to hard-line about it and tell him "sippy or nothing," so we'll see if the pediatrician has any brilliant ideas at his next appointment.

re: Kicking the Habit

Toni — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:25:24 GMT

With my daughter (who now is 5) I took away the bottle the day after her birthday and she asked for it a could times but it wasn't that bad. My son (who is 20months) is still breastfeeding and I am letting him self wean and drinks from a sippy. There are sippy cups that have a soft drinking spout and are more bottle like that may help with the transition. Good luck!

re: Kicking the Habit

EG — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:11:29 GMT

Our doctor told us by 15 months, too. We were travelling cross-country when he was 15 months, so I decided we'd deal with the bottle weaning after that.

Actually he pretty much did it himself. I just relized one day that he didn't really need the bottle. He didn't complain.

He's been sleeping through the night, with few exceptions, since he was 4 months. At some point between 12 and 15 months he started waking up hungry at 4:00. I upped his protein and cut out Cheerios (and other cracker-like substances) for a few days and that nipped that in the bud.

However, we still have the pacifier. Naptime only (and sometimes in public when we have to be still for a while), but liking the Nuk might have softened the blow of the bottle.

re: Kicking the Habit

LauraLaura — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 17:01:01 GMT

I'm confused by this too, mostly because "weaning to the cup" advice never tells you what KIND of cup they're supposed to wean to.

What sort of sippy cup does Axel use? Flann loves BornFree sippies with the soft rubber spout, and I really can't tell the difference between them and bottles. Supposedly bottles, especially at night, allow milk to pool around their teeth and decay can set in, which is why they tell you to wean off the bottle. But he dislikes hard-spouted sippies.

SO envious that Axel is doing a sleep-in till 6:30 or 7 now. (Flanny gets up at five, gets hauled into bed with us, kicks us and yabbles for a while, then insists on a BornFree. Please let this phase end soon....)

re: Kicking the Habit

AJ — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:54:13 GMT

I resisted giving up the late-night bottle too. What I've found, however, is that we can still have that snuggly time with a sippy cup. He lays in my arms, just like when he was tiny, and drinks his last milk from a sippy cup. It doesn't leak or anything. Maybe try that.

re: Kicking the Habit

Amber — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 16:01:47 GMT

Every child has a window. If you miss that window, it makes it tough. That said, it doesn't mean you need to go cold turkey now...just watch the signs. Both of my kids were surprisingly easy to wean from the bottle at 12 months. But it was the pacifier that was a veritable nightmare for my daughter. As in a little cocaine addict going into withdrawls kind of nightmare. And why? We missed the window!

re: Kicking the Habit

Diana — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:48:27 GMT

I also have to admit that my Lexi drank a bottle until she was 23 months old, and only because my mom made me take it away from her. She did pretty well, and now a month later she doesn't even ask for it.

re: Kicking the Habit

Lisa — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:36:46 GMT

Both my kids were done with the bottle by about 13 months- their choice, not mine. I desperately wanted to keep the bedtime snuggle bottle! I say let him give up the bottle on his own time. No one ever goes off to college with a baby bottle or a pacifier, so why sweat it? In the grand scheme of things, they have such a very short time to be little.

re: Kicking the Habit

Hillary — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:35:11 GMT

The Boy didn't get a night-time bottle, but he did, like Axel, take an early morning bottle and nap. We switched him last month over to sippy cups and we're still getting that nap, most days. Good luck, whatever you decide.

re: Kicking the Habit

Heather — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:34:34 GMT

My friend kept a similar bottle schedule for her son until 22 mos. At 22 mos. baby brother was born and big brother decided that bottles were only for babies. Maybe the same thing will happen for Axel.

My son is 15 mos. and sometimes does the 5 a.m bottle thing too. No way are we giving that up. Especially since you're pregnant, you need your sleep. I say do what works now!

re: Kicking the Habit

amanda — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 15:30:35 GMT

I have to admit that Jane is still on a bottle right before bed (she's 16 months). She's sippy the rest of the day too. I don't want to give it up, lest it screw up her sleep!