Successful Bottle Weaning: What's it all About?

By MiShaun Taylor

Weaning from the bottle is one of the first processes your child will encounter in life; being born was the first! Life is all about growing and growing is all about change. Our bodies grow from 7lbs and 21" to 20 1/2 lbs and 28 3/4" (on average) by the first birthday. The changes in that first year are amazing. Babies learn to make noises and expect adult responses, they learn they can move around and also feel pain, comfort, warmth and wetness. They experience security and love. They experience what it is like to laugh, cry, smile and babble. They learn who mom and dad and siblings are as well as furry family pals. The bottle has become a central part of their existence as they learn that it feels good to suck on it, drink and feel full again. Now you want them to grow some more and learn how to be without this comfort item - this, their favorite object in their little world - their bottle! Convincing your little one that doing without their bottle is going to be ok may seem like a daunting task at first, but take heart, you can do this successfully. How do you successfully wean your child from bottle-feeding without reducing them or you to tears?

The process of weaning a child, takes them from getting nourishment and satisfaction from a bottle to receiving the same from a cup or a sippy cup. The bottle served many purposes: nourishment, security, thirst-quencher, and comfort object. Weaning allows you to show your child that he/she can transfer those same needs onto a different object. Your child needs to be ready to accomplish this process. Your child will be ready to begin this process sometime around the first birthday celebration.

There are many ways your child may show you that he/she is ready to begin this weaning process. Ways your child may show they are ready to wean from a bottle are:

1) Showing interest in self-feeding in the form of picking up cheerios or other finger foods from a tray, table or your hand.

2) Curiosity about your glass or cup that you are drinking from.

3) You notice your baby has grasped the concept of hand eye coordination.

The process is best initiated with the morning bottle, then the afternoon bottle and last to change should be the bedtime bottle. There are many ways to initiate the process of weaning that can include: making a special cup/sippy a “big girl” or “big boy” item to have that is their own special item. The cup or sippy cup can become part of a mealtime game or fun part of the meal where you use special “catch phrases” that you child will delight in.

Choose a first cup that will make the process easy on you and your child. If you choose a character cup, buy more than one, as you do not want to gain success only to lose the cup and have your child be traumatized. Cups with two handles encourage coordination success. Cups with flat, broad bottoms will tip less easily and allow your child to place it down with minimal disappointment.