Eating & Nutrition Suri's Baby-Bottle Backlash by Betsy Goldberg April 16, 2010

With Suri Cruise about to turn four, photos of her sipping a bottle this week have had people buzzing. We sympathize with Katie and Tom. Getting your kid off the bottle is tough! We asked LA-based pediatrician JJ Levenstein, M.D., cofounder of MD Moms, for tips on how to do it. Try them on your kid, or share your own bottle-weaning wisdom with us in the comments below. The ground rules: “Commit to getting rid of bottles everywhere, not just at home—daycare, grandma’s, anywhere else,” Dr. Levenstein says. “Don’t substitute a pacifier for the bottle if it was never used before, and when you praise her for being successful, avoid terms like ‘grown up’ and ‘big girl'; they can be overwhelming if she wants to still feel like your baby.” And for pregnant moms: “Get moving on this well in advance of the baby’s arrival, especially if you’re planning to give your newborn a bottle those first few months." Here, Dr. Levenstein's top tips:

1. Have a conversation. Tell her that drinking milk out of the bottle may make her mouth and teeth sick, and that mom and dad want her to be as healthy as possible by saying goodbye to her bottle. A dental visit piggybacked on this conversation

2. Appeal to her empathic side. Explain that there are many babies out there who need bottles to drink from, and that if older kids hold onto their bottles, the babies may not have anything to drink from. You can ask if she’d like to volunteer her bottles to help make these babies happy, and have her hand them over to your pediatrician.

3. Make a trade. For my son, we put a “date of surrender” on the calendar. We went to the local toy store and he picked out a Tonka truck. It was understood that when he gave over his bottles, the truck became his. Every day during the “week of surrender” I would get him excited about the truck, which we’d take down from the shelf when his bottles went into the garbage truck. He hand-delivered them to our garbage guy and dove into play with his new treasure; at naptime and bedtime that day, all it took were a few extra cuddles and stories to soothe him.

4. Don’t fear the consequences. If you’re afraid the bottle is the only way your child will drink milk, realize that dairy protein, calcium and vitamin D come in many forms, including cheese, yogurt, figs, hummus and milk added to cereal. She won’t be undernourished if she refuses to drink milk from a cup.

5. Consider a (slight) trick. Try diluting the milk in the bottle with water, and offering full-strength milk in a sippy or straw cup. Give the diluted milk first; when it’s rejected, offer the cup of full-strength milk, saying, “This is how milk tastes in a cup. The bottle is old, so the milk is starting to taste different.” Giving this choice can work especially well with older children.