Weaning from bottles to sippy cups

From Mommyplace.com WiKI Page

My Pediatrician recommended weaning my child from a bottle at Age 1. This proved to be much more difficult than we anticipated. My son did not fully move off the bottle until he was nearly 2.

Our pediatric dentist agreed with our pediatrician that we should start weaning at age 1 but also said that it was not tragic when our son was still using the bottle at nearly 2 provided that we follow a few guidelines. First, never allow him to go to sleep with a bottle in the crib (which all doctors strongly recommend against for all age babies). Second, to always brush his teeth following a bottle feed before bedtime (which you should also do after cups of milk before bed).

To wean a baby/toddler from a bottle: 1) Start introducing the sippy cup during the daytime. Babies/toddlers will often seek what’s comforting in the morning and before bed. Bottles are what has been comforting to them to this point.

2) Go Cold Turkey. Your baby/toddler will adapt. This was the approach recommended by our Pediatrician.

3) Buy Sippy Cups decorations your child is interested in. Any Sippy Cup with Thomas the Tank Engine was a big hit with our son.

4) Talk about the Sippy Cup before you make the change. Tell your child that now he/she is a big boy/girl and big boys and girls drink out of cups. If your child has an older sibling or an older friend, tell them “this is what Ryan drinks out of…do you want to be like Ryan?”