Suggestions for Getting My 3 Year Old to Stop the Bottle

Go Cold Turkey

• Remove all the bottles from the home all at once. In advance, however, explain to your child that he or she officially gets to become a "big kid" and have a big kid party to celebrate. Explain that a big kid gets to play at the park, watch big kid videos, eat big kid foods and drink big kid drinks, which babies cannot do. Tell your child that to be a big kid, he or she can no longer do baby things, like drink from a bottle. Set a date for the official big kid celebration and get your child excited about it. Set out an official "bye-bye box" for your child's bottles to be packed up on the big day. However, place the "bye-bye box" out ahead of time and praise your child for every big kid action he or she does, especially if they place a bottle in the box before the big day.

Less Milk, More Water

• Gradually begin replacing your child's milk or juice with water over the course of a week. Karen Sokal-Gutierrez, MD, MPH, a professor at the University of California Berkeley/University of California San Francisco Joint Medical Program who also provides advice on Fisher-Price's panel of experts, states a child will find a bottle less of a comfort when only water fills it.

Offer Milk in a Cup

• If you decide to wean your child from the bottle gradually, consistently begin offering them a cup of juice or milk before the bottle is given. Do not immediately give the child the beverage in the bottle if they refuse to drink from the cup. Instead, set the cup out on a nearby coffee table for 15 to 30 minutes to see if your child drinks from it.

Go Shopping for New Cups

• Take your child shopping one day and tell them you are going on a special shopping trip because you need new cups. Tell them this is a special trip for them as well, and they get to pick out brand new cups so they can drink like a big kid---like their friend (insert name). You telling your child you think their friend is a "big kid" will spark their interest because they want to be called a "big kid" too. Place a condition on the big kid cup shopping: for every cup your child picks out, the child has to give up, for example, two bottles.