Weaning last bottle.... HELP!

Sadie, first of all, I am soooo sorry about your DH. Second of all, the fact that you are brushing his teeth seems to me to alleviate a lot of concerns about the nighttime bottle. You both have had to deal with so much, if it is a comfort to him, I wouldn't be so quick to wean him off. If you are going to wean him off, maybe use one of those NUBY sippy cups at first? and then just start heading towards the sippy cups/cups. As my SIL always said (with her late weaner), she's not going to be bringing a bottle to kindergarten! (My DD is a thumbsucker, e.g., I haven't even ATTEMPTED to wean her off that (she's 2.5 also)).

With my daughter, we told her she could have the bottle if she wanted, but it would be filled with water, not milk. (And absolutely no refills.) If she wanted milk, of course she could have some! ... In a cup. (I like dthe Nuby sippy cups, too.) She was upset about the changes, but it went okay. As long as you don't give in, even once, after you make your plan and announce it to him, it should be fine. But as loveajax said, do it when teh time is right for you and him - not just because he's 2 1/2 and 2 1/2 year olds need to be weaned... My kids were off by then, but they were fine with it. Our struggle was the binky. My daughter LOVED that thing!! Not was used to it, or addicted to it, or liked it a lot, but LOVED it!! She delighted in it, she cuddled with it! (And she only had it in bed - since birth - never anywhere/anytime else.) That was hard. And we DID have to go cold turkey with that one. It was hard on both of us. She cried for a day and a half. - It was a LONG day and a half, but then she was fine. It was hard to see her so sad - but she was 2 1/2, and we felt it was time for the binky to go. Good luck!

My son will be 2 this month and still has a morning bottle. At first, he would wake up early, then take a bottle and go back to sleep, so I didn't want to stop. THen we moved, then I had surgery and we stayed with my parents for 3 weeks. Now we have been home for 2 weeks and I am in the same boat.Your "excuse" is a really good reason. I am so sorry for your loss. I agree with everyone that you will find the right time. I'm not sure how, but that's what I am hoping.For what it's worth, my brother had his bottle until he was 5. He had some early trauma also- my mother was very sick, he stayed with my grandparents, etc, etc. He is now married, has 3 kids and is a doctor. So, I don't think you (we) are doing irreparable harm.

So sorry for your loss. My little one is 26 months and still takes a morning, evening, and after daycare comfort bottle. I have tried milk in his sippy cups, but he has figured out how to twist the lids off. Now however, he is chewing the tops off the nipples, so I think I'm going to be forced into a showdown.

First off ((((((((((((((((hugs)))))))))))))) to you... you have had some many things going on and so much loss that I hope you aren't being too hard on yourself for this. DD had her last bottle the night before her 3rd birthday. She was down to drinking only 2 oz while we read stories at night but it was something we weren't willing to force her to let go of during a longterm stretch of many changes in her life. As you said, one thing after another can do that to you. We were fortunate enough to have a child who could be reasoned with and we just told her that "3yos don't drink from bottles". So that night, she drank, we made sure she knew it was her last one, and every night after that, she got her milk in a cup instead, always repeating to us "I'm 3. I don't get a bottle". So would you be able to talk to him about it, or offer some other comfort while you work on weaning him? It has to be hard on you too. Please take care of you...

My DD is three and still gets a bottle in the morning. We just gave up the binky last week so maybe the bottle is next. She really won't drink milk (other than a sip) unless its in the bottle. She also doesn't eat much cheese or yogurt so I am conflicted about giving it up. Maybe after the holidays for us. So NO, you are not the only one, let me know how it goes!

I think you need to do what is best for you. Kelcee still takes a morning bottle of 4oz and a bedtime bottle of 8oz. If she wants more she doesn't get it though. This is the only way she will drink milk. Everything else is out of a cup. I finally let it go and when she is ready she will let it go. I am extremely sorry for your loss. We'll be sending lots of prayers your way that your life gets a little more peace.

((((((((Hugs))))) It is really up to you and your child. Each child is so different. I did not do the cold turkey....I made less and less in his bottle until there was nothing. For him it was more of something to have in his mouth and to cuddle not really a need to drink. We tried to give him other things to sleep with such as stuffed animal, or blanket. I was really concerned it would be a rough time but it really turned out really good. You take care!

wasn't even planning on weaning from the bottle when it happened for us, it just happened. Spent a weekend at grandparents' house, by the time it was bedtime bottle time I was too tired to get it and dd was too tired to ask for it. Then we made it a point to hit the ground running the next morning and she didn't ask for it then either. didn't make a big deal of it, just let it not happen. now about that bedtime nuk....

My 3 year old needs to sip on something to help him sleep. So, in place of a bottle, we use a sippy cup filled with water. He prefers an ice cube or two clanking around in there for the noise effect. He ususally only does one or two sips and then he's out.

I am with the posters that suggested Sippy Cups. With so many changes you really do not want to do anything too extreme. Where he sits in a chair to drink, it sounds more like a ritual type thing as opposed to layng down sucking on the bottle to comfort him and fall asleep. Again, I wouuld go slow with it. Maybe let him pick out a sippy cup in the store and make a big deal of it telling him it is special big boy cup. this way he will look forward to the change. Sometimes letting the kids make little decisions gives them a sense of control and also making him feel like it will be a fun thing EZ

We're supposed to WEAN them??!! :eek:(((((hugs)))) With all the Major events in your life I personally would stop and contemplate how important this is RIGHT NOW. Take a week and think about it. Then have a plan and put it into place. Have a goal, and then make an incremental plan to implement. Children who've had major life changes within the last 6 months to a year often need to transition to non-vital changes over a longer period of time. ('Non-vital' means anything that is not required to sustain life.) Slow changes still accomplish the end goal, just take longer. For us we did the Diminishing Milk process. We still put 8 oz in the bottle, but only 7 oz of milk, 1 oz of water. Then on to 6 and 2, 5 and 3, 4 and 4, etc. etc. We allowed a couple of weeks between diminishments. This seemed to help but takes a bit of time to get to the all water part. (I had to keep reminding myself that we weren't in a race, so the time it took wasn't an issue.)I had one who did the sippies filled with water at night, and who still has a sports bottle on his night stand every night. I have another who HAS TO HAVE a sippy of milk before bed. He just HAS to. Major big deal. And he's six. It was a big huge hairy deal to get him off the bottle (at 3 years 10 months of age) so I'm ok with a sippy before bed. I've noticed that my boys have tended to "need" their bottles/special blankies more than my girls. Don't get me wrong, the girls have their special blankies and loved drinking from their bottles, but just not to the same intensity that my boys have. We cuddle, read books, sing songs, etc., and have with both the genders to the same extent, but for some reason the boys just seem to need their "lovies" with a different intensity than the girls. (Again, the Dd's have their lovies and are very attached to them, but the Ds's...o h. m y. w o r d.)I feel super guilty for offering advice, though, since ol' Big Talker here still has two kids on the bottle. Ds is 3 years 2 months and Dd is 2 years 2 months, and neither is all that invested in giving up their bottle. Ds is violently, roaringly, vehemently opposed. Dd is willing to make do with a sippy...most of the time. :D