When should he give up the bottle?

[BoysRule]

My DS2 is 16 months and has a bottle of cows milk before bed. This is all snuggled up with me and a lovely time for both of us.

However, I know he should be drinking his milk from a sippy cup now. He has water throughout the day in a cup so this isn't a problem. I can't remember when DS1 stopped having his bedtime milk in a bottle but he stopped drinking milk before bedtime once I put it in a sippy cup. I think he only had it because he liked sitting in my lap and sucking and snuggling.

Do I have to put it in a sippy cup now and risk him not having it anymore? Or can he keep having it in a bottle for a little longer. I am getting a bit conscious of it when we stay at friends' houses!

TIA

[tiktok]

Not sure why you think he should stop the bottle?

Plenty of babies this age have a bedtime bottle. What's wrong with that closeness and comfort?

Sometimes, people are a bit twitchy about the effect on teeth, but you could overcome this concern by wiping round the inside of his mouth with a cloth....though I don't think many people do this.

[rainbowfeet]

My ds is 21 months. & still has up to 3 bottles of milk a day. I'm sure by the age of about 2 & half or 3 then it may decrease to just a bedtime one but see no problem with it being in a bottle with teat.
Dd had her bedtime bottle til about 3 & it never did her any harm.

P.s it's just squash that they don't recommend being in a bottle.

[Thurlow]

22mo still has 3 bottles a day, morning, afternoon and bedtime. She's starting to accept the afternoon milk in a sippy cup but that's turned it from having 4oz to just maybe 2oz, which isn't much of a problem at her age.

Wake up and bedtime, though? You can take that sippy cup and shove it where the sun doesn't shine. We have spent a fortune on every different type of cup and beaker out there and have come to the conclusion that as far as DD is concerned, beaker=water, bottle=milk and she isn't having it any other way.

I've decided there are bigger things in life to worry about. I clean her teeth after the bottles, she drinks them quickly, it's not the end of the world. I would rather she was having a few decent drinks of milk a day than worry about it.

But yes, it is something that other people can get a bit judgy about and I know I can get a bit defensive about it.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

I thought it was a year that they recommended giving up the bottle.

Up to parent though. Both mine were taken away at a year

[tiktok]

Giles, who are 'they'?

There is a concern, I know, that babies should be familiar and adept with a cup, so they don't rely on bottles for drinks (because they can then easily fill up with milk/liquid which is bad for nutrition and teeth). But the bedtime or occasional bottle - I can't see what the problem is, and if people are judgmental about it, well....Get A Life!!

[Gileswithachainsaw]

It's just what the HV and birth -5 books say :o

People do what they want though.

I took mine away cos I figured they would forget about it quicker. I didn't want to be stuck with a wailing 2 year old for days or be stuck waiting for my 2/3/4......year old to give it to on their own. But that was my personal choice.

[Thurlow]

I had a bit of a lecture from my HV at DD's 13m check because she was still using bottles so yes, it is something a generic 'they' are saying. But I think you have to weigh it up against your DC suddenly taking in a lot less liquid, if you think that might happen if they dropped the milk. Which I did, so I decided to stick with the bottles.

[tiktok]

Have checked Birth to 5. They do indeed talk about a year as being the time the baby should not be using teats, but it's because 'they' :) are concerned about the baby not being able to break the habit of comfort sucking.

If a baby is not comfort sucking on a bottle teat all the time (which is indeed not good for teeth or nutrition) then where's the problem?!

It's personal choice, really. No health issues, as long as the baby is not swigging a bottle all day/night.....

[5madthings]

My dd is 2.10 and still has 5ozof milk in a bottle before bed. The rest of the time she drinks water from a cup. She will give it up when she is ready.

Ds2 had a bfeed before bed until he was nearly four yes old.

Ds3 bfed until three and a half.

Ds4 had a bottle of milk before bed until he was three years four mths.


Yes if they will only drink from a bottle and asre wandering round all day with a bottle in their mouths that may be a problem, but a bottle morning and night as a toddler? Perfectly fine and perfectly normal.


Funny in many other European countries they do not have this worry over getting rid if bottles and its not unusual for a child to have a bottle up to three/four yrs old.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Maybe it's also because once a child gets around 18 months they an start to get very very fussy food wise. I think by allowing them to regulate their milk appetite with a cup rather than enjoying the comfort of sucking on a bottle and drinking more as a result could inhibit their appetite for food. Even though it was the night before.


Who knows.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

That made sense not

What I meant was, thy drink more from a bottle than a cup and in many children it fills them up too much and they won't eat much in the morning.

[Figgygal]

DS 22mo still had bottles up to a couple months ago I decided to try and move him to a cup and miraculously after many failed attempts previously he just took to it very easily. Unfortunately after a few days he started saying yuck when ever he had milk and hasn't drank milk since regardless of whether offered in cup, bottle or beaker. I should have just left him to it in hindsight but was conscious of the advice "they" give out about it being bad for their teeth.

He has got some of his teeth coming through squint but I think he has inherited those particular ones from me rather than it being related to the bottle.......am sure the dentist will disagree.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

You don't know he wouldn't have stopped any way it may have nothing to do with the switch.

I reflected milk as soon as I could talk. Hate hate hate the stuff have never drunk it since it was a baby.

[Thurlow]

You're right, giles, if there is any indication at all that the DC is filling up on milk then it is definitely worth looking at their milk consumption and dropping the bottle. My gannet still wants 5oz right before bed and 5oz the moment she wakes up, but if she goes off breakfast than I'll start cutting out the bedtime bottle.

[Gileswithachainsaw]

A lot of my friends had children who could drink milk all day long and still eat :o

I was always having to choose between a packet of raisins or the meal. Dd1 especially wouldn't eat if filled up on drinks.

[sebsmummy1]

Gosh I'm actually trying to introduce a bottle at 12 months, not lose it.

DS has been primarily breast fed and drinks water from a cup during meals. I am trying to replace boob with bottle with varying degrees of success. He absolutely won't use a soppy cup, doesn't understand the concept, will take milk from the cup but doesn't seem very soothing somehow. Any advice?

[Gileswithachainsaw]

Maybe he just doesn't like milk?? Cup with a straw?

What about expressed milk?

Or you could just give the milk in cooking/porridge/smoothies
And in the form of yogurt ,cheese etc.

[Locketjuice]

My sons 2 in January and refuses anything else not in a bottle, I don't want the battle so he still has it

[stickysausages]

Ds gave up his bedtime bottle when he was ready, must have been well past two... we went on holiday & forgot it, which broke the habit. No harm done & as above, I didn't want the battle

[Minnieheehee]

Happy mum, happy baby. My DS has a bottle of milk much like yours boysrule, it's a lovely part of the day. Try to ignore those wearing judgy pants (not that there seems to be anyone like that on the thread!)

[Gobbolinothewitchscat]

The "recommendation" is to try and get rid if bottles at 1 and drink from an open brimmed cup

My DH is a dentist and has merrily been giving this advice out for years. However, now we have an 11 month old DS, he realises this is easier said than done! I have had some success with a doidy cup - none with beakers. But DS, obviously, has to be really closely monitored with the cup me holding and hasn't fully got the hang of drinking from it - it can be very hit or miss. I don't see this changing before he is one so there's no way I'll be getting rid of bottles before then

DS is still on 3 or 4 bottles a day. He eats 3 good meals and is enormous - in height and weight - off the centile for height and on 93rd for weight. The HV was nagging me to try and get him to give up two bottles for "snacks". However, my view is that milk is an excellent snack so I'm in no rush too - the amount f milk DS is having doesnt seem to preclude him from eating. I only offer water or milk for drinks so I'm happy to keep with the milk for that reason too.

We've got no teeth here yet but one thing I do want to check with DH is what we'll do when teeth come in vis a vis the night time bottle -I.e will we need to give bottle then clean teeth etc.

[tiktok]

One of my cousins had bottles until he was almost 5 - I mean bottles for everything. His mother cut the top off the teat and put everything, pureed and/or mashed, in the bottle and he'd run around swigging his lunch. He was never made to sit at the table. These days we'd say there were 'boundary issues'

My mother was horribly judgy about it, and we kids used to be utterly shocked at how naughty he was :)

I wish I could say he grew up perfectly healthy and happy, but he didn't, not really. Disastrous marriage, difficulties with all sorts of relationships.

Not that I think swigging from a bottle caused any of that :) But the inability of his mother to get him off the baby stuff, and the terrible rows his parents had about how to 'discipline' him, maybe....

[tiktok]

Just to make it crystal clear: swigging pureed sausage and mash from a bottle and gravy from a bottle at age 4 is not the same as a toddler enjoying a snuggly bedtime bottle. One is to be avoided, the other is perfectly fine, IMO :)

[Gobbolinothewitchscat]

tiktok

[5madthings]

pureed saus and mash in a bottle... boak.