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I am wondering if any parents have some advice for us...  
In the last couple weeks, we have been weaning our baby off of the bottle. This is the first couple days without it completely, and he, at times has been refusing to drink from anything else. We add a little bit of juice or sometimes honey to his water so he'll actually drink something. I feel like we have gone through every sippy cup there is, and he doesn't like any of them. He was drinking from them when he knew he was going to get a bottle at bedtime still, but now he doesn't like them at all.  
 
Also, he doesn't want to sleep through the night anymore, up once or twice. We don't know if we should just let him cry it out (we feel terrible and give in) or go right to him. But without a bottle we rock him, offer him something to drink and put him down... well that does nothing as he continues just to cry himself to sleep.  
 
Any good suggestions out there?!

I had same issues with my daughter there is a nuk sippy cup it's same size as a bottle and the sippy part is the same material as a bottle nipple but it makes them drink like from a sippy have you tried that one?

Try a regular cup. Obviously this won't help independence but worth a shot. Or a straw?

Like Bluebell says, try a regular cup or a cup with a straw.  
 
You could also try a water bottle. My kids will drink from that when nothing else will do. The kind with the sippy spout thing seems to work best.  
 
What are you offering? Just water? What was he drinking from before weaning? If he's not even getting water from a sippy cup prior to weaning, it will be a hard transition now. You might need to go back to the bottle for a bit while you work on him drinking water or other stuff from a sippy or a regular cup. Make a gradual reduction in the amount of formula you're giving him.  
 
Are you offering cow's milk then? What are you offering it in? Will he drink that from a bottle (is it the cup or the contents he's rejecting)? Some of my kids LOVED cow's milk and some hated it.  
 
Can you offer other things with lots of water content? Likes like fruit, applesauce, etc? Not the same as drinking but will keep from getting too dehydrated while you figure it out.  
 
Was he cuddling with you when he had a bottle, or did he do it more or less independently? If you normally cuddled him, maybe it's the cuddling he's missing and he's associating the cup with a lack of parental snuggles? I know weaning from breastfeeding at that age that is sometimes the issue more than anything else.  
 
Is his output okay? Is he peeing/pooping enough? Maybe he actually doesn't need to drink as much as you think?  
 
And finally, it's possible that he's not psychologically ready to give up the bottle. Most doctors/people never talk about it, but there is an emotional/psychological component to weaning. It could be that he's simply not ready from that perspective. I'm not suggesting let him keep using a bottle indefinately or constantly, but you might need to wait a week, a month, or just gently and gradually reduce the frequency especially if it's associated with cuddling. All children wean eventually.  
 
I'm not entirely sure of the logic of weaning from a bottle by 12 months when they continue to need the fats from milk until age 2 or beyond, and the recommended age for breastfeeding according to WHO is 2+ years. As long as they're not consuming excess calories and you practice good dental hygiene, I'm not sure it's a big deal at this age.

If he was getting a bottle right before bed, he might be waking up hungry. He's not used to an empty-ish tummy at night. Water won't fill him up the same way as the big fat proteins and the fats in formula or milk.  
 
It could also be coincidental too that he's waking, cutting teeth, etc. Changing up the routine at this point is just making him harder to settle, but not responsible for him waking.  
 
I breastfed my kids, and I actually found weaning eventually made a non-sleeping child sleep through the night.

He does drink from a straw but he usually only takes 1 sip then pushes it away. Prior to weaning, he was drinking water and cows mild from a sippy cup and a straw. I stopped breast feeding at 8 months. He can't have much milk however because he gets constipated from it, so we always had him drinking lots of water so it would help him.  
We are trying to take him off now because the doctor said he needed to be off by 14 months. I guess it has to do with his teeth at that point.  
 
We have always cuddled before bed and still do, or try to, but he just pushes his milk away now and wants to go busy himself elsewhere.  
 
When we put him to bed the last couple weeks we have been reducing the milk more and more and adding more water so he would get use to just having water. Maybe we should just keep trying that for a little longer. He is only getting the bottle at bedtime now, or was. But its just frustrating he doesn't want to drink anything else now.  
 
I will definitely go take a look for that NUK cup and see if he will like that one.  
 
Thanks everyone!

I think it might just be a battle of wills. He's trying to get what he wants by trying to drive you nuts!! It will just take time. Seems cruel but might be best to just let him cry it out without going to him, once you do that, in his mind he won. We did the same mistake with our daughter and it took forever to get it worked out.

kevlar said "I think it might just be a battle of wills. He's trying to get what he wants by trying to drive you nuts!! It will just take time. Seems cruel but might be best to just let him cry it out without going to him, once you do that, in his mind he won. We did the same mistake with our daughter and it took forever to get it worked out. "

the night wakings might be because hes Hungary, try a snake before bed, otherwise it seems like a battle of wills, he knows how to drink from what you gave him yet he refuses and goes pouts instead of having cuddles, hard as hell to win that battle with your precious little guy but it sounds like thats what it is imo tho take that opion with a grain of salt because i was never able to win lol, i am a big softy and i couldnt do it, mine is now a teen and you know, there is no bottle or sippy cup and hes generally well adjusted so its not the end of the world if you lose lol but i do notice a few lingering personality issues that i had a chance to fix when he was young, i just didnt know any better or have the will power if i did, way easier to look back on it now haha :D

I'm on my third kid, so I've been through this a couple times.  
 
So I'll give advice completely unrelated to anything anyone else is saying:  
 
At that age, they have trouble communicating what they want. They know what they need but can't ask for it. Honestly what saved us a lot of tantrums is teaching them baby sign language. Just teach them a few signs like "milk", "water", maybe something for "hug" so that they can tell you why they're waking up and what they need to get back to sleep.  
 
Also, a bit of regression is natural during a big "life change" for them. It's different and new, and they tend to regress to their last stage until they feel comfortable tackling things again. patience and lots of hugs.

traveller said "    kevlar said "I think it might just be a battle of wills. He's trying to get what he wants by trying to drive you nuts!! It will just take time. Seems cruel but might be best to just let him cry it out without going to him, once you do that, in his mind he won. We did the same mistake with our daughter and it took forever to get it worked out. " the night wakings might be because hes Hungary, try a snake before bed, otherwise it seems like a battle of wills, he knows how to drink from what you gave him yet he refuses and goes pouts instead of having cuddles, hard as hell to win that battle with your precious little guy but it sounds like thats what it is imo tho take that opion with a grain of salt because i was never able to win lol, i am a big softy and i couldnt do it, mine is now a teen and you know, there is no bottle or sippy cup and hes generally well adjusted so its not the end of the world if you lose lol but i do notice a few lingering personality issues that i had a chance to fix when he was young, i just didnt know any better or have the will power if i did, way easier to look back on it now haha :D "

"try a snake before bed"!!!! That seems a little harsh!!! lol

kevlar said "    traveller said "    kevlar said "I think it might just be a battle of wills. He's trying to get what he wants by trying to drive you nuts!! It will just take time. Seems cruel but might be best to just let him cry it out without going to him, once you do that, in his mind he won. We did the same mistake with our daughter and it took forever to get it worked out. " the night wakings might be because hes Hungary, try a snake before bed, otherwise it seems like a battle of wills, he knows how to drink from what you gave him yet he refuses and goes pouts instead of having cuddles, hard as hell to win that battle with your precious little guy but it sounds like thats what it is imo tho take that opion with a grain of salt because i was never able to win lol, i am a big softy and i couldnt do it, mine is now a teen and you know, there is no bottle or sippy cup and hes generally well adjusted so its not the end of the world if you lose lol but i do notice a few lingering personality issues that i had a chance to fix when he was young, i just didnt know any better or have the will power if i did, way easier to look back on it now haha :D " "try a snake before bed"!!!! That seems a little harsh!!! lol "

haha it might work

My daughter couldn''t have cow milk when she was little. It would make her sssooo sick, constipated, cranky, bloated.  
I used to use goat milk. 1/3 goat milk,2/3 water because goat milk is super high in fat.  
I used to be able to get fresh goat milk at superstore and canned goat milk at Co-op. I would use it in everything that was suposed to have cow milk. Even fed her goat milk feta cheese from Superstore. (Sheep milk/cheese also works.)  
Worth a shot.  
 
Just to note, it would take about 2 weeks for my daughter to recover from a cow milk exposure. But would notice lots of improvement after 3 days.  
She had troubles with cow milk (and beef products) almost to the age of 5. After that she was fine. She is twelve now.  
 
Edited by AndreaD., 2017-01-21 09:33:06