How to Get Rid of Your Child's Baby Bottle or Pacifier
The prolonged use of a pacifier or bottle may adversely affect your child's health. Continuous sucking can cause dental problems and, according to an article published by the National Institutes of Health, using a bottle for too long may increase your child's risks of becoming obese as he consumes excess calories when he craves the comfort of sucking. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that children be weaned between 12 to 14 months. Weaning a toddler or preschooler is more difficult, but it can be done with patience and love.
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Instructions
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Limit the bottle to appropriate times and places. When your child is able to carry the bottle around the house, it is too convenient as a comfort object. Allow your child to have the bottle during meals and snack time in the kitchen.
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Take your child to the store and allow her to choose a few cups. If she chooses them herself, she may be more likely to enjoy and use them.
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Reduce bottle feedings. Replace one daily bottle feeding with a child-sized cup. Explain that big kids use cups instead of bottles. Give your child the drinks he likes best in a cup and his least-enjoyed liquids in a bottle. Exchange additional bottle feedings, first in the daytime and then at night, with a drink from a cup every few days until your child doesn't need the bottle anymore.
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Use other means to comfort your child. If he likes the bottle when he gets hurt, comfort him with hugs and kisses. A child who wants a bottle or pacifier when he's afraid or tired may transition to a teddy bear or favorite blanket. Tie a pacifier securely around the neck of a favorite stuffed animal; remove the pacifier when your child has become attached to the toy. Ensure that the pacifier is tied tightly so the cord doesn't pose a choking hazard for your child.
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Redirect your child to other activities when she wants her pacifier or bottle. Distract her with modeling clay, a walk, a snack or music. Hide a few favorite toys for a week or two. Pull out a toy when a distraction is needed; the newly found toys will engross your child.
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Give pacifiers to the "Pacifier Fairy." Tell your child that the fairy takes pacifiers that big boys and girls no longer need and gives them to little babies who need them. Ask him to place the pacifiers in a large envelope and seal it. Address the envelope, allow your child to decorate it, and place it in the mailbox. After he goes to bed, place a new toy, book or treat in a new envelope. Address it to your child, decorate it and exchange the pacifier-filled envelope with the prize. Take your child to the mailbox in the morning and show him what the "Pacifier Fairy" left for him.
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Tips & Warnings
Never give your child sugary drinks, such as juice, in a bottle at night.
References
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