Weaning a toddler off a bottle

My toddler son is 33 months old and is still taking milk from the
bottle in the morning and before bed.

We have tried (not very hard) in the past year to get him to take milk
from the same cup from which he takes his juice. But when he sees that
the cup contains milk, he will not touch the cup. He seems to be
unwilling to take milk from anything but his trusted bottle. We have
also changed the teat on the bottle to the sip attachment, with the
same result.

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how. I am also
not sure if there may be potential psychological problems with him
continuing to take milk like this.

Another question - how much milk should a toddler of 33 months be
taking? My son takes 5 ounces and in the evening 12 before bed (soya
milk, as cow's milk made him constipated, as do other dairy products).

Thanks.

"Mark Griffiths" wrote in message
om...
My toddler son is 33 months old and is still taking milk from the
bottle in the morning and before bed.

We have tried (not very hard) in the past year to get him to take milk
from the same cup from which he takes his juice. But when he sees that
the cup contains milk, he will not touch the cup. He seems to be
unwilling to take milk from anything but his trusted bottle. We have
also changed the teat on the bottle to the sip attachment, with the
same result.

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how. I am also
not sure if there may be potential psychological problems with him
continuing to take milk like this.

Another question - how much milk should a toddler of 33 months be
taking? My son takes 5 ounces and in the evening 12 before bed (soya
milk, as cow's milk made him constipated, as do other dairy products).

Thanks.

I never tried it, but I've heard that progressively watering down the milk
or juice until it becomes less desireable works. Only offer the "full
strength" stuff in a cup.

Leigh in raLeigh

Mark Griffiths wrote:

My toddler son is 33 months old and is still taking milk from the
bottle in the morning and before bed.

We have tried (not very hard) in the past year to get him to take milk
from the same cup from which he takes his juice. But when he sees that
the cup contains milk, he will not touch the cup. He seems to be
unwilling to take milk from anything but his trusted bottle. We have
also changed the teat on the bottle to the sip attachment, with the
same result.

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how. I am also
not sure if there may be potential psychological problems with him
continuing to take milk like this.


I doubt it's a psychological problem. I think he's
just got a comfort habit, and those are darned hard to break.
I would suggest helping him develop *other* comfort habits
as a backup (blanky? other lovey? some other ritual?).
If he doesn't have a backup, ripping away his current
comfort habit is likely to be met with great resistance.
This tends to be a longish process, where you pair the
two things for a while (e.g., he has *both* the bottle
*and* the blanky for a while until he associates the
two, and then you can start taking away the bottle).
Next, you can do things that make the bottle
less attrac For instance, as someone else mentioned,
you can start watering down the milk.
Finally, you can disrupt his routines. This
often provides an opportunity for change that is
difficult to accomplish with the status quo. Go on
vacation. Visit the grandparents sans bottles. Invite
the whole extended family over for the holidays.


Another question - how much milk should a toddler of 33 months be
taking? My son takes 5 ounces and in the evening 12 before bed (soya
milk, as cow's milk made him constipated, as do other dairy products).


He doesn't need *any* milk. He just needs the
calcium and protein it provides. As part of shaking up
his routine, you could actually go *without* milk for
a while, rather than trying to replace his bottle with
something else. Once he's used to going without,
it will be much easier to reintroduce milk in a cup.
Meanwhile, just make sure he has alternate sources of
calcium and protein. Oh, and as part of shaking up
the routine, you could offer him something else he
*really* likes morning and evening--maybe even something
like a cookie. Just don't do the same thing every
day unless you want it to become the new routine.


Good luck,
Ericka

(Mark Griffiths) wrote in message . com...

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how. I am also
not sure if there may be potential psychological problems with him
continuing to take milk like this.

Continuous use of a bottle after the teeth have come in would affect
teeth alignment. But he's only having two bottles per day. The few
minutes he spends sucking down a couple of bottles of soy milk aren't
going to harm his teeth or his speech.

Psychological problems? Let me ask you this - do you think you'd be
scarred for life if you sucked down two cokes a day with a straw?
Plenty of adults do, and aren't scarred by it. The only psychological
problems that might occur is if you turn this into a power struggle.
Don't worry about it - he'll give it up when he's ready.

Cathy Weeks
Mommy to Kivi Alexis 12/01

But when he sees that
the cup contains milk, he will not touch the cup.

This is how my 17m old daughter is. She will drink ONLY water from a sippy cup,
and ONLY her formula from a bottle. I am also trying to get her off the bottle.
I feel for you.. i really do.

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how.

I understand your concerns. My 3yr old was weaned off the bottle at a year, but
*still* has a pacifier. I have tried very hard to get her off of it. I suppose
the fact that my 17m old is still using hers, doesn't help. Her teeth are
becoming affected by it. She now has an "open bite"~~ often seen in thumb
suckers. Her back teeth align, but her front teeth don't touch. I have seen
this a lot( I worked in the dental field many years). Her speech has not been
affected. I would discuss your concerns with your pedi.

Good luck to you.

Jolinda

(Cathy Weeks) wrote in message om...
(Mark Griffiths) wrote in message . com...

This is worrying me. I have concerned that continuous use of the
bottle may affect his teeth alignment, and I have also read somewhere
that this may also affect his speech, but I am not sure how. I am also
not sure if there may be potential psychological problems with him
continuing to take milk like this.

Continuous use of a bottle after the teeth have come in would affect
teeth alignment. But he's only having two bottles per day. The few
minutes he spends sucking down a couple of bottles of soy milk aren't
going to harm his teeth or his speech.

Psychological problems? Let me ask you this - do you think you'd be
scarred for life if you sucked down two cokes a day with a straw?
Plenty of adults do, and aren't scarred by it. The only psychological
problems that might occur is if you turn this into a power struggle.
Don't worry about it - he'll give it up when he's ready.

My son's a lot younger, but older than the magic 12 months when
current advice says to lose the bottles, and still getting two
bottles a day. I agree with Cathy Weeks; I think the tooth
alignment/decay problems happen in kids who are carrying around
a bottle and sucking on it all the time. I can't believe that
if a child spends twenty minutes a day using a bottle that it's
going to cause some sort of permanent harm, either physical or
mental, so I'm not making any effort to get my son to give them
up.

Beth