All good things come to an end, and that includes using bottles, even for babies who really, really love them. Most healthcare professionals suggest thinking about transitioning babies away from bottles at around a year old, although this full transition to other cups often takes a few months past that first birthday. There are a few ways parents can work on trying to help their little ones come to terms with letting go of bottles. After all, bottles likely stopped being just another piece of dishware, and became a special and loved object.
When and why to wean
As children get older, bottle use can impact their speech patterns and teeth, which is why most doctors, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, recommend weaning babies off of the bottle when they’re between a year and 18 months old. As babies start to learn to talk, and have more teeth come in, phasing the bottle out becomes more important. Around this time, solids should be becoming a much more significant part of their diets. This is an opportunity to decrease daily milk intake overall, and to switch to new and exciting cups.
How to make the transition easier
Introducing Baby to open cups, weighted straw cups, honey bear cups or 360 cups before it’s time to start phasing bottles out can help this transition, since it gives them the chance to get familiar with new equipment before they have to figure out how to use it. Starting right around 6 months when Baby is sitting up independently and ready for solids is a great plan. Although Baby shouldn’t have unlimited amounts of water until after their first birthday, they can practice with sips when in their highchair.
The goal is to help Baby confidently drink from a cup, so that gradually substituting cups for bottle feeds goes smoothly. Babies generally do best with a gradual change, but the timing/age varies. Your baby may be great with a straw cup at 9 months, while it takes another baby until a year of age to use one expertly. But as soon as it’s a reliable method for your baby, you can start to do some bottle feeds by cup. Don’t panic if you still have a few bottle feeds lingering after Baby’s first birthday. You will get there!
If Baby is struggling to learn to drink from a cup, don’t panic. Try to keep cup practice really happy and fun. Model cup usage, play music, and keep the cups around and visible. Don’t keep bottles handy and in Baby’s sight. If you start by swapping a bottle for a cup just at breakfast, when Baby is fresh as a daisy and may not have had enough time to get cranky yet, there may be less of a chance of fireworks than starting with dinner time, when they may be hitting a low ebb for their energy for the day. You can then start whittling down until all that’s left is their most difficult feeding times. Often, this is the last feeding before bed.
The bottom line
In the end, it doesn’t really matter exactly how or when Baby lets go of the bottle, just as long as they do. The fact that the two of you are moving in the direction of a bottle-free world is the only thing that’s important.
