While I have worked on bottle weaning as an OT with the families I service, I haven’t had to as a Momma. My kids avoided the bottle at all costs (they were breast fed for a year), which is a whole separate issue. Needless to say, getting rid of bottles in my house was no biggie. However, I know all to well that I’m in the minority. Kicking the bottle habit can be a source of stress for toddlers and their parents. I’m going to approach this two different ways. First, for those of you that are being proactive and are reading this before your baby is one year. Next, for those of you that are at your wits end because you didn’t realize it would be such a nightmare struggle with your 18 month, 2.5 year, or worse – year old. If you are in the latter situation, read it all because those core strategies will still prove useful.
When Is It Time To Wean?
The answer is very clear: By one year of age. However, it is reasonable to be working on it until 15 months of age. The most important reason for weaning by age one is tooth decay, if you want to read more about that see the American Dental Association’s explanation. In addition, toddlers should be moving on to more advanced skills like drinking from an open cup and straw, which help to strengthen the muscles for speech development.
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Weaning For Tots Under 16 Months
First things first, you need to introduce some other vehicle to get liquid out of besides a bottle, the earlier you do this the better, from 6 months up. Ideally, to start transitioning from a bottle, begin to offer your child a sippy cup of water when they eat their baby food. The point isn’t really to have them drink a lot, it’s for practice. I’m going to give you fair warning that your babe will spit it out, throw it on the floor, and do their best to try to make it leak on their tray. Unfortunately, this comes with the territory, but don’t fret about the mess, before you know it, they will be drinking like a pro. You won’t be using a sippy cup long, but cups like these are my favorite from a therapeutic standpoint because babies can easily hold on, they are short (long ones are hard for babies to manage), and they have a hard short spout.
Also, if your child seems to have trouble getting anything out of the sippy cup, only add a little water and take the valve out (the little plastic thing on the inside of the nozzle that makes the cup “no spill”). After they get the hang of it, you can put the valve back in.
Once they reach 9 months, begin to introduce a straw. Babies are capable of this skill around this time, but if they don’t pick it up right away, alternate sippy and straw cups at meals. Want to know how to make straw drinking happen or what kind of straw cup to use, click here, I have a very detailed post that covers the whole topic. When they have mastered drinking from a straw, leave the sippy cup behind for good.
9 months is also a good time to start a bedtime routine, if you haven’t already. It is important that the routine is more than just bottle feeding. Include a stories or songs. This will be important when you want to take that bottle away.
By this 9 month mark, they will also be beginning to try some table foods. Meals should start to account for more of their calories and you will see their schedule start to shift a bit as they eat more. Follow your child’s lead and move towards having them drink from a bottle after their meals except for the morning and night time bottles. By 10.5-11 months, this should definitely be the case. Take your time and do this one bottle at a time.
In the 10th-11th month, begin to pull back from one bottle during the day and add a snack so that they are getting 4 meals total throughout the day. Your child should be just about done with baby food, too. If you need more help on that, check out my posts on Transitioning Your Baby to Table Foods, Part 1 and Part 2.
At 11.5-12.5 months, all bottles but night and morning should be gone. Since they aren’t allowed to have milk yet, place cold formula in their cups. If you feel they aren’t drinking enough from the straw cup, then immediately following the meal, give formula/breast milk in a bottle.
As soon as they hit 12 months, begin to mix milk into their formula. Start with 25% milk to 75% formula/breast milk for 3-4 days, then move to 50/50 mix for another 3-4 days, lastly go to 75% milk and 25% formula/breast milk for 3-4 days. Then, you can go to straight milk. This whole process will take 1.5-2 weeks. During this time, also begin to offer breakfast within 30 minutes of them waking and no bottle. Give them their milk mixture with breakfast. If they drink enough, then skip the bottle after or finish them off with the bottle until they are drinking enough at meal time.
For more information on mealtime routine for this age group, check out our flexible toddler meal schedule.
There will be a lot of give and take during this time, and honestly, it is where I see a lot of parents get caught up. Parents worry they didn’t eat or drink enough and grab for the bottle to ease their mind. This is understandable, but I would ask you to pause before you do that, if your child is a healthy weight. They may make up those ounces in another meal or maybe they already had 12 ounces and a serving of cheese earlier that day. This may sound a little harsh but, babies and parents need to learn not to rely on the bottle so heavily. Toddlers don’t always eat great, it is part of toddler-dom. Of course, there is a caveat to this. If your child has special needs or is of low weight, you should absolutely talk to your doctor and possibly a dietitian/nutritionist first.
Babies caloric needs go down around 12 months, and they no longer need 20+ ounces of milk everyday, although it is okay if they drink that much for a time as long as they are eating well too. By one year, they only need 16 ounces of milk and less if they are getting dairy/calcium from other sources such as cheese and yogurt. The year between one and two is a transition and by two, most doctors don’t want kids drinking more than 16 ounces a day. Click here for a specific nutritional guide.
The last bottle you will get rid of is the nighttime bottle. If you are worried they will wake up hungry, you can give a bedtime snack. This is where your bedtime routine comes in handy because you’ll want to emphasize the story, song, and/or favorite blanket, not the bottle. You can also try to change some part of the routine up. Maybe Dad does bedtime instead of mom and tries skipping the bottle. They may surprise you and let it go that easily. If they don’t start to, put less and less milk into bottle every 5-7 days and keep an emphasis on the other parts of your routine.
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Extra Tips:
- Try Different Cups – sometimes the novelty of a new cup with a favorite character on it or one they picked out in the store can be enough to win them over. However, the goal isn’t to replace the bottle feedings with a cup feeding. Meaning, if your kid takes a sippy cup before bed, then that’s defeating the purpose.
- Milk is for Mealtime – Only allow milk to be drank at meals, otherwise, it will fill them up and make for a poor appetite at the next meal. You can give water in between. Early on, it is a good idea to use different cups for milk and water so your child isn’t confused.
- Use Different Liquids – If your child is really lacking motivation in drinking from a cup, try putting juice, flavored water, milkshakes (these are harder to get through a straw), or strawberry milk in their cup (try blending fresh strawberries into milk). It may be the hook they need. This should be only temporary strategy. Then, slowly move to them being able to drink plain milk or plain water.
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- Never put any other liquid but formula or milk into a bottle. This sends the message that the bottle is here to stay.
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Weaning for Tots Over 16 Months Old
Follow the above steps and tailor them as they make sense to your child’s age. Also, pay close attention to the above “extra tips”. They can really go a long way with older children. Here are a few strategies for the older tots:
1. Systematically remove all bottles until you are down to one. As I mentioned before, begin with the middle of the day bottle first. Use distraction when they ask for their bottle during the day, give them a “special drink” and/or give them a favorite blanket/stuffed animal for comfort. If they don’t have one, begin to encourage it, so they have something else besides the bottle for comfort. Try to keep them on a feeding schedule so you know that they have eaten enough, the schedule is really important!
2. Go cold turkey. Of course, I would still encourage you to remove all but one bottle before doing this, so it isn’t too much of a shock. Also, start to talk about it a few days ahead of time, don’t make it a surprise. This isn’t for everyone, but it is a valid option.
3. Have a bottle fairy visit your house. Believe it or not, this has worked for quite a few of the families I work with. Your child probably needs to be 2+ to grasp this concept, but you can collect all the bottles together and put them in a box or basket with your child. Have your child say goodbye to the bottle because they are a big boy/girl and they don’t need them anymore. Remind them often in the days leading up to this event and especially the day of. When, they go to sleep that night, they disappear. If they ask for the bottle, calmly and briefly remind them the fairy took them.
If you have more questions or a strategy that worked please share! And, if you’re looking for trying to get rid of the binky too, check out Everything You Need to Know About Pacifier Weaning.
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Alisha Grogan is a licensed occupational therapist and founder of Your Kid’s Table. She has over 14 years experience with expertise in sensory processing and feeding development in babies, toddlers, and children. Alisha also has 3 boys of her own at home. Learn more about her here.
I’ve really enjoyed reading your input about toddler feeding. I think it is the most outlined and real breakdown of baby’s eating timeline that I have found! My 13 month old is a pro at using the open cup (Munchkin 360). I started introducing it to him during mealtime with water in it. However, now I cannot get him to drink milk/formula from it. He will start daycare in 4 weeks, and they want him already weaned from the bottle. What advice do you have for me? Thanks!
You may need to use another cup that’s just for milk, even though sippy cups aren’t my favorite. They do mimic a bottle and could be a great way to transition him, from there, you could get him onto a straw cup!
Hi Alisha,
What are your thoughts on the munchkin 360 cup? Do you recommend ever using this or solely have them drink from a straw cup? My baby isn’t 8.5 months and I have been introducing the Avent sippy cup trainers and munchkin 360 trainers at meals. I just ordered a straw cup though after reading your post. Thanks!
Meant to say he IS 8.5 months*
Yes, I like that cup. It’s good to have them drink from a sippy cup and from a straw.
My son is turning 4.5 with ASD and is getting most of his nutrition from a toddler formula in a bottle. He refuses to drink his formula from a cup and drinks very little water. He used to eat at least 5 more other foods but has now limited in self to just crackers and his formula since he’s had his last bout of stomach flu about 6 weeks ago. I want him to try to eat more food variety and felt like then formula is keeping him from doing so. Because of his age, I’ve decided to go cold turkey and watered his formula down which of course he refused to drink. We are on day 2 and he still haven’t eaten much since yesterday and it’s making me feel really bad. He mostly just plays with the food I offer during meals or smells it but doesn’t try it. I offer a preferred food which is crackers during the meal as well. What do you think about this? I’m afraid my child will starve or get dehydrated. Is this too harsh? Thanks for your help and for this wonderful site.
It’s hard to say, in most cases I don’t recommend cold turkey, but I also tell parents to trust their instincts! So don’t feel badly, you’re trying to make progress. Instead, I’d try to pair his bottle feedings at the end of a meal. Also, have you seen my free picky eating workshop? I think it will be really helpful for you. You can sign up here if you’re interested.
I understand the feeling! My Little man is 3.5 y.o with Autism and he still drink from a hard spout sippy. I have no clue what to do with him. Any cup I give him he won’t use. And he will only drink watered down Apple juice 😣 also a super picky eater and has sensory issue so it’s difficult to get him to eat most foods!
Hi Alisha,
This post could not have come a better time. My LO is 16 months and we have tried weaning her from the bottle. She was only taking 2, 8oz bottles a day before one in the morning before breakfast and one around 3pm. She has refused to drink milk before bed since 10 months. We are on day 6 of her using a soft spout sippy cup and she is not drinking enough milk. The most I can get her to drink is 3-4ozs and that is only if I hold it in her mouth for her. Her dad cannot get the spout even in her mouth so today she drank 0ozs of milk. We are still warming the whole milk as we did before. This is the sippy cup that she used with water from 5 months until we transitioned water to straw cup awhile back. We have also tried the straw cup and that had less luck than the soft spout cup. She is going to daycare in September and I know they will not put up with bottle feeding her. I am so tempted to go back to the bottle just because she was actually taking the milk. She has always been on the small side and could really use the calories.
These transitions can be so hard. It sounds like you all are doing a great job. Do you think she’s having a hard time drinking from the sippy? Have you tried a straw (which is a little harder, but doesn’t need tipped back)? If she seems to be having a hard time, you may want to get a feeding eval for her, that may not be necessary, but wanted to mention.
So, we have tried from a straw and she straight up refuses that because she thinks it will be water. She can definitely drink from the sippy cup because she did take some both times I tried on Wednesday. Yesterday she took 0oz I think because my husband is less aggressive than I am. She does have an upper lip tie that we elected not to get fixed which does make transitions hard for her. This morning she had a slight fever from teething and my husband gave her a bottle for the first time all week, she still only took 4 oz. I told him we can try again when she is not teething so bad in a couple of weeks. Thank you for responding so quickly. My sister is a speech therapist and is actually the one who helped her drink from a straw. Maybe when we do try again in a couple of weeks I will get a different straw cup that we can designate just for milk and try it that way.
UPDATE. We tried buying a new cup just for milk. The nuk learner cup. After some women in my mother’s group recommended it. The cupsis a soft spout that pours out slower than the size 4 nipple we were using and when I immediately poured it into a straw but she refused that too. How long do we keep trying with her taking no milk? Should we keep trying with the nuk soft spout or just try with the straw?
Well, I’d keep trying, but maybe with water throughout the day. It sounds like she needs her milk and I’d put your priority on what’s most important.
Is there anything wrong with using a soft spouted sippy for milk and a hard spout for water? 10 months. Trying to teach lo a straw sippy for water.
It’s not the end of the world, but there are some advantages to using a hard spout. I’d check out this post on straw drinking– I give a full answer there!
Thanks Alisha. Yes I have read your straw drinking post but I only see benefits of using a straw cup over a hard spouted sippy. Not anything about a soft spouted cup. I’m trying to find the right cup for milk as he only sips water out of the hard spouted cup.
I usually avoid the soft spouted cup because it’s so similar to the bottle and doesn’t advance their skills at all. But many children handle it just fine. It’s a personal choice.
My 15 months old girl still takes a bottle right after she wakes up. She drinks about 8oz of milk. Then she has her yogurt daily and often has cheese. I tried different straw cups, a miracle cup and even an open cup to get her drink milk from them. It just hasn’t worked. I do not want to use other sippy cups (like hard spout) because I understand that they are not that great anyway. I also tried to give her breakfast as soon as she wakes up but since I work, it’s not as easy. I want to go cold turkey and just cut that bottle but then, she won’t drink milk. So, at this point, I am ready to give up and just give her that one bottle… I mean, how bad it could be, just to have one bottle a day. and I take it away as soon as she finishes it. She does drink water all day through a straw cup….. I am tired!!
Hi Alisha, I have a 15 months old baby girl. She is drinking 5 oz of milk from bottle after having an afternoon nap. I tried many times different types of sippy cups. But she is refusing all sippy cups for milk. But she is drinking water from the sippy cup since she was 6 months old. But she prefers her bottles for milk and sippy cup for water only. She prefers to drink 7 oz of milk before bedtime and again at 2am about 3 oz of milk. And again she drinks 4 oz of milk in the morning. I really want to stop her night time feedings. I want to wean her from bottles as well. She is starting to go to daycare now. Should I start weaning bottles now while she is trying to adjust a daycare? Should I wait till she gets comfortable at daycare? Please advise.
Hi Shreya, I know this can be a little tricky. Every situation and child is unique. You might want to check with your doctor to see what they recommend as to when the best time would be to start this.
It was either here or your sample schedule that you mention to wean one bottle at a time, first from one of the midday bottles and putting it into the meal in cup form. For the ones that are not weaned yet, do you keep them at their regular times, and not limit the amount of milk for those? Also, how many days of weaning one bottle do you wean the next bottle and so on?
That’s exactly right Lisa! How often you wean to the next bottle depends on her, if she’s adjusted quickly it could just be a couple of days, for some kids it could take a couple of weeks:)
So….. a sippy cup with milk while eating. Do you use a different sippy cup for water in between meals or the same one as the milk (e.g. hard spout with milk, straw with water)? This question is doing my head in!
Ha ha, I do use different cups, it’s not absolutely necessary, but young kids will start to associate which is which.
And, I love straws there’s a lot of developmental benefits, but a sippy cup can be fine too!
Hi,
I am a first time mom and my son just turned 1. I am finding all the transitioning stressful and appreciate having your blog as a resource.
I am still struggling with something though and was wondering if you could offer any advice. My son is actually doing well with using a sippy cup during the day has been 100% on table food for about a month. However, he is still waking up in the middle of the night (between 10:30 – Midnight and again between 3-5 in the morning) and is inconsolable crying and smacking his lips until I give him a bottle.
I have tried holding out, but just feel so horrible when he is crying that hard and figure he must be hungry. Are this nighttime bottles going to mess with his feeding schedule? I’d like to wean him from these as well, but don’t know where to start. Help.
Not necessarily! I’d definitely ask your dr as they can check his growth, but you could also try giving him less and less in his bottle. He may be looking for it for soothing not for calories?
My daughter is the exact same. Just turned 1, all table foods and no bottles during the day, but wakes up twice at night and cries and cries until I give in and give her the bottle. She eats a ton during the day, and she’s gaining a lot of weight recently so I’m a little concerned.
Is there a good way to wean from these night bottles altogether?
I like to let them cry as long as I can take it OR start decreasing how much is in this bottles 🙂
Alisha, Thank you so much for having these post available online. I stumbled across your page when I was googling feeding/bottle weaning. I have twins that were born on 12/5/2016. They were 9 weeks early. So technically they will not be a year old (adjusted) until 2/5/2018. They eat amazing. I am just having trouble with weaning from the bottle/formula. (morning time right when they wake up is the only time they get formula now) They get 4oz of whole milk after they eat their lunch, snack, and dinner. They get water with their breakfast 2 hours after their bottle in the am. I have tried taking the morning bottle away and going straight into breakfast after they wake up and it is a nightmare they scream the worst scream ever and refuse to eat and will not stop screaming/crying. The night time bottle is that way as well. We give the milk after they eat dinner at 6:30ish and then we do our bedtime routine and we put them to bed with no bottle and it is a nightmare. The morning is way worse than the evening time. I can probably handle sticking it out at night (although it is horrible because they scream and cry until they go to sleep) but the morning time is the absolute worst and I don’t know how much of it I cant handle! I am trying so hard to do everything right because I want them to be on track since they were early. I don’t even know what kind of sippy cup to get to help them drink milk out of a cup instead of a bottle. I’ve been putting water in a sippy cup and they just spit it all out all over them. I have tried SEVERAL different ones. Do I just keep at it or give them more time because they were premature? I never know what to go by. Sigh…Help, I am defeated.
Oh Amy, I feel your pain, and this transition is hard! I think you do need to give them some more time AND to keep trying. Both will be really important. This is fairly normal for this age. Did you see the links above for drinking from a straw- that would be helpful too. You’re going to get there. Small changes a couple days at a time!
I have a 14 month old boy and we are struggling to lean him off the bottle. He eats regular breakfast in the morning and at naptime he drinks 6 oz but bedtime is where I’m not sure what to do. He drinks about 11 ounces and passes out for the night. He hates the other bottles we have like a soppy come cup, he’ll just play with it. Don’t know how to wean him off of it without him being super cranky without it.
Hi Alisha, i know this post dates back to 2015 but I am hoping you will check in every now and then, as I can do with some advice from an expert.
I fell upon your blog as I was googling on feeding schedule for my nearly 13-month-old, who is allergic to eggs, dairy, cashew and pistachios and possibly wheat. She’s been on the hypoallergenic formula Neocate since 3.5 months because of severe eczema (which is now under control), as of Sunday she was taking 4x7oz bottles and I felt that it was a bit too much, and I also wanted to start weaning her off from using bottles for milk, so yesterday I experimented with serving her formula in a straw cup alongside her lunch. After a few bites of her food she took a sip from the cup and grimaced. After a second try she spit the milk out. I gave up and moved back to the bottle immediately after lunch, which she flatly refused and started fussing, I was a bit frustrated so put her into the floor to fuss, but gave her water as usual. She took her next bottle without ado, but refused her bedtime bottle last night. Took her 1st bottle, but has been refusing the next two.
I know it’s been a day but I am concerned as Neocate is her main source of nutrition, and her diet is mostly vegan at the moment (I am working on varying it but need to do it slowly to check for any new allergens). She seems to have realised how foul tasting her formula is! But what can I do to get her back on it as she needs to keep growing? I worry that being a bit forceful and frustrated might have contributed to her refusing the bottle.
Thanks so much for any advice.
Hi Amanda, you have good thoughts on all of this, but she may be weaning herself as well. I’d check in with your pediatrician on her total number of ounces and look into early intervention, they’ll come and do some feeding therapy to help her get onto table foods: yourkidstable.com/feeding-therapy
In the mean time you can also try to make the environment really pleasant and fun for her when its time to take the bottle.
Hi Alisha –
I am a mother of 11 month old baby girl. I love your blog for all the details that you shared. We learnt drinking from straw by using methods that you mentioned and it worked. So thank you!
My LO is on formula and we are trying to wean her off the bottle. She still takes 5-6 bottles(4oz). We tried sippy cups but she doesn’t want to drink sitting up and always lying down like with bottle. It defies the purpose i think. When you say wean off the bottle does it mean by one year they should not drink milk multiple times a day and only mornings and nights.
We have another problem she won’t go to sleep without bottle even though she would eat, regardless of the quantity. I admit she has not been a good eater so i think bottle would make up for that and hence not trying too hard to not give that bedtime bottle. What should i do?
For some they start weaning at 11 months, but you can definitely wait until her first birthday. If you check back in the article you’ll find some tips for the bedtime bottle:)
This post was so helpful. Thank you! My son is 10 months old and wakes up once a night to bottle feed. In the morning I go straight to breakfast, so his first bottle of the day is right before his first nap. I’m trying to wean him off bottles before naps. I don’t mind keeping bottles for after naps, but I don’t want him to be reliant on the bottles for naps, even though it seems like that’s already the case. Any advice? He has a difficult time sleeping, and the bottle seems to soothe him a lot.
It can be challenging at this age and you’ll probably go through a transition. I’d focus on trying to do something different in your routine. Also, make sure he’s eaten and isn’t really hungry close enough to that time. I give some examples of changing up the routine in the post that might be helpful:)
Hello,
I loved this article. My 2 year old is in love with her baba! We went to the Drs today and he tried to give me some advice on how to get rid of it. Well it failed. If I give her milk in any other cup she gags. My 4 year old is the same way and will only drink milk from a soft spout sippy cup. They drink all other drinks from cups. How can I get this bottle away. She wakes up screaming in the middle of the night for it and won’t calm down until she gets it. We took her pacifier away from her and she did great! I cut those down. I do have a baby but he nurses and when I put I have been putting his milk in a sippy cup not bottle. Please any advice?!! Thank you
Hey Kayte, you know I’d try decreasing the amount or watering it down, like I talked about in the article, that’s a great start and can get you moving in the right direction. You can also try sending her to bed with a sippy cup with water in it. Show her where it is, tell her about it before bed, and offer as soon as you go in there. It will take some time and tears, but that’s a quicker option!