How to Wean Your Child off the Bottle and Pacifier

Weaning your child off the bottle is very simple but you must be determined to stick to a plan. I‘ve put together a few tips below and these tips did work for me.

It’s important however to remember that children are different and they react to situations in different ways. They also have different temperament just as adults. The good news is, you know your child more than anyone else, and so when you read advice on issues that concerns your child; make sure you consider your child’s emotional state and personality. This will help you make decisions and map out plans that will enable you to achieve milestones such as weaning as painlessly as possible.

To wean your child off the bottle you can:

• Gradually reduce the number of bottles your baby takes per day. Sometimes this may prove difficult when you have many things to do all at once and the baby is crying for a bottle. You’ll be tempted to give a bottle to calm the baby down. Try offering a spill-proof cup instead. Your baby may refuse this at first, don’t give up. Try again next time or the next day.
• Give water instead of milk at night. Again, make this a gradual process. For example, if your baby usually wakes up twice during the night for a bottle, you may give one bottle of milk then a cup of water for a few days, and later withdraw the bottle completely. Some babies may not take kindly to this, so be prepared for a few sleepless nights.

Note of advice: Consider your child’s personality, and map out your own strategy using these tips as guidelines. For instance, some children will kick against being told what to do but will eagerly give in, if given the opportunity to make important decisions on their own.

This is not as easy as weaning a child off the bottle. However, you have to be strong, determination on the part of the parent is very important. There are many ways to wean your child off the pacifier, but the two major ways below sort of sums them up. You can:

• Let your child know about it beforehand. Call a family meeting and decide it's time for the pacifier to go. Let your child decide which day of the week and time to let go of the pacifier. This should be within a period of time you have suggested. You may let your child decide to give the pacifier away and to whom to give it - you should make a few suggestions.
• You can go “Cold turkey”. Get rid of the pacifier and tell your child a story about why the pacifier has to go and never come back. You can buy your child a new toy and include the toy in the story. This may help distract the child from thinking too much about the lost pacifier.

The reason why some methods of weaning don’t work is because parents try to bring about change in their children without considering individual personalities. No matter the age, children tend to develop their own individual characteristics very early in life.

Note of advice: Knowing your child will help you device ways of weaning your child with minimal effort. Don’t give up, be determined - know when to move and when to push the breaks and sooner than you know, you would have achieved your aim!

Good luck.