[Dawn R]

My little girl is 23 months old and she still has a bottle in the morning and at bedtime. I have tried several times to take it away and give it to her in a cup, but she won't drink it, she'll just keep saying all done till I take it away. At this point she won't drink anything but water in a cup, she doesn't like juice or other favors of milk. She does not drink from a sippy cup, but from one of those cups that has a straw (and only water). I don't know what to do because I know how important calcium is for bones and teeth, and if I don't give her a bottle she won't drink milk. Can anyone help me?

[Fire Rule]

hmm i guess you can just keep trying. my son was on a bottle for along time i think even after 24 months

[KG = Lucky Duck!]

I had/have the same problem. My son was on the bottle until he was 2. My daughter, who is 14 months won't even drink regular milk at all. So, we gave our son other sources of calcium. He loved yogurt, cheese, and calium fortified oj. We are doing the same with our daughter. Now our son eats a chewable calcium supplement. They may have a liquid calcium supplement you can add to her water. Good luck.

[Amanda!!]

My daughter has only just stopped using her bottle in the last month. She is 2 and a half. She used to want it for comfort but I just got rid of it and give her milk in a different kind of bottle, those pop-top ones. Her milk intake really has decreased since stopping using the bottle though so I would suggest adding extra calcium in the form of cheese or yogurt to her diet to compensate.I also agree with Laura D, it's not a crime to let a kid have a bottle. In my case though my daughter isn't toilet trained yet and still sucks a dummy so I figured something had to go

[Cathy L]

Why not try a sippy cup? I had wonderful success when introducing any new item to my boy by making it a FUN experience. "big boy now deserves a big boy cup""special cup""only for you""bottle is for little baby" etc in a positive, joyful manner only, nothing negative. This works for potty training, etc, too. Anyway, don't give up and keep your sense of humour. Perhaps next week your child will want the big girl cup!

[bobcatlady2u]

Try weaning her from the bottle by only putting water in it. MIlk should be in the cup from now on and if you are worried about calcium cheese will supplement the lack of milk.

[Nanny A]

Try getting her to drink from a cup with a lid & straw in it. Let her feel like only big girls drink from these special cups.

[laura d]

My daughter is the same way. She was 2 in March, but she wont drink milk unless in a bottle. She has to have one to go to bed every night. I know a lot of parents on here who think they know everything will give me a thumbs down, but I dont care. On the other hand, my daughter can sing her ABCs clearly, count to 12, and speak in full sentences. Oh, and she is also potty trained. So, when people say" shes too big for that bottle take it away from her" i just want to smack them. It is nearly impossible right now, I have tried everything, and the way I look at it is, if its the only bad thing she is doing, then so be it. Im sure there are many parents who have children in the hospital or worse who wouldnt mind having that problem. Dont worry about it for now, let her drink milk any way she wants it, I can assure you she will not take it to senior prom.

[mterry85]

When both of my children turned a year old, I took the bottle from them b/c it can cause tooth decay. My daughter I had a hard time with b/c she also would not drink milk from the sippy cup. We worked on it for weeks and she drank from the sippy cup. At first she also would drink from a straw cup. Just introduce the sippy cup serveral times a day, it will not happen over night. Good luck

[LeeBee]

take her shopping for a "big girl cup" and let her pick it out within reason. We have a collection of different cups, cups with lids, cups without lids, the cool new aluminum ones, cups with their names, cups with straws and tops. I bought without them, but I find if I let them pick it gets a lot more use. Maybe tell her that the bottles have to go to another baby now and so she can't use them anymore.