Bottle Weaning with Distraction and Play

By MiShaun Taylor

There may be times when during the weaning process you may need to distract your child from thinking about and wanting the bottle. There are games and activities you can do with your child to make this emotional transaction easier on both of you.

Games

During mealtimes and snack times when the bottle was used most often or you are witnessing your little one having the most difficult time adjusting to the cup instead of the bottle; is a good time to have a game basket ready. Make up a basket of card games, coloring books/crayons, puzzles, and board games. When the snack or mealtime is done or is turning into fussy time, reach for the basket to get your child's mind off the bottle. Use this time for some bonding between you and your child.

You can also play games with the cup. These are “reward games”. One really fun game is the animal game. Every time your child takes a sip, out of the blue, you make a noise that an animal would make. Your child will look at you and then take a sip to see if you will repeat. You may even have to give them more juice or milk in their cup because hearing you make animal noises may turn out to be very entertaining, depending on how good your are at it. Another cup game is “I spy”. You play just like you normally would play this game except to take your turn you have to take a sip from your cup first. The entire family can play this game. Another reward game is to buy a plastic cup and use non-toxic paint (check with your arts and crafts store to be sure you are using the correct paint) to put a favorite animal, smiley face or other favorite object on the inside bottom of the cup. Tell your child when they are done drinking there is a special surprise for them at the bottom of the cup. You may wish to purchase several cups and paint several different surprises for them. Mealtimes and snack times will be fun guessing game times at your house. What fun animal or object will be in the cup tonight?

Events

Have a bottle weaning party to celebrate the transaction from bottle to cup. This party can be with your child’s friends, playgroup or family and neighbors.

A special shopping trip can be planned with the purpose of buying a special cup or more than one special cup to be used by your child when weaning from the bottle.

Find a craft store in the area that you can sit down with your child and decorate a special drinking cup for them to use.

Say goodbye to bottle. When bottle is broke, or the nipple is worn have your child say goodbye to the bottle and hello to a new cup. Make the cup really special to him. Make sure your child understands that the bottle is no good and is going away. Let him know that the cup is fun to use and is just for him/her to use. Have a tea party with toys and stuffed animals and say at the party that the bottle was broke and had to go, but the cup is good and is fun to use. Let all the toys and stuffed animals have a turn at “using” the cup and have them say how good it is and how fun it is to use it.