How to break baby from the bottle

Method for switching baby to cup

I remember when my son (my oldest child) was just at the right age to try to break him of the bottle and move on to a sippy cup. We used sippy cups during the day, so why did he need a bottle at night? He looked forward to his bottle every night before bedtime, so I knew this would not be easy. I felt pretty horrible.

One night I had the bright idea to simply put water in the bottle. I knew he would object, but that was the idea. I filled the bottle with tepid water and handed it to him. His face was priceless. He chucked the bottle on the floor. I stared at him, and he stared right back at me. He wasn’t pleased and actually, he was downright pissed off.

That night was a really long one, and one I will never forget. But I kept reminding myself that if whatever was in the bottle wasn’t appealing, he wouldn’t want the bottle. The next morning I gave him a sippy cup with milk, and he guzzled it down with gusto. There may have even been a big “ahhhh” when he was done.

The same nighttime routine with the bottle of water continued for several nights, as he was still asking for his bottle. At first he would refuse the sippy cup of milk I offered instead, but then I brought him a cup of milk one night and we sat up and he drank it with no problem. We didn’t have a problem after that. He was officially broken from his bottle.

When my daughter came along, I used the same method when it was time to break her of the bottle. It worked like magic.

This may not work for everyone, but I hope it will help you. When it is time to switch from a bottle to a cup, but they don’t want to give up the bottle, tell them the only thing they can have in a bottle is water. It gets boring VERY quickly