Toddler still drinking milk from a bottle - is this a real issue or not?

[Cotherstone]

Our 25mo still drinks her morning and bedtime milk from a bottle. She's happy drinking any other drink from a beaker, cup, with a straw, you name it, just she has big bottles of milk morning and night. In the afternoon she'll have some milk from a sippy cup but not much, not as much as she'll take from a bottle. She eats really well so the amount of milk isn't affecting how much food she eats, though I'm a little worried if we drop the bottles of milk she won't make up the 10oz of fluid throughout the day by water.

I tried her with a sippy cup of milk this morning and she drank some of it but drank it really slowly. This will sound like a really silly issue but many mornings we need to get up and out to the CM quite quickly, and a big drink of milk keeps her happy until she gets to the CM and has a proper breakfast. I don't think we have time for a proper breakfast before we leave the house (well, we would if we all got up earlier, but she sleeps happily until half an hour before we leave the house so I don't really want to wake her). She wants her bottle of milk as soon as she wakes up, she always asks for it. Same with bedtime, it's a comfort thing.

We tried to swap from bottles to beakers at 1yo and she wasn't having any of it so I didn't push it. But now she's over two I'm wondering whether I should make a fuss of it, even though it's something she likes. She drinks the bottles quickly, doesn't keep the teat in her mouth for ages, and has her teeth brushed straight after.

Would anyone else try and force the issue, even if it becomes a struggle and makes mornings difficult? Would you leave it? And if you did, when would you try and drop them again?

[Goldmandra]

Some people would try to force the issue because they can't bear the thought of children not being constantly pushed to be as grown up and independent as possible.

I wouldn't try to change something that's working so well at what could be a stressful time of the day.

I know that drinking from bottles can expose the teeth to the drink more than drinking from a cup so you may want to see what your dentist thinks about it. Apart from that I say go ahead. She is clearly capable of drinking in an age appropriate way too so I see no issues.

[NinjaLeprechaun]

My daughter was doing the same at that age. I forget exactly how old she was when we did away with the bottle - 2.5 maybe? Before she was 3 anyway. She's completely normal in spite of it.
Normal being a relative term when discussing a teenager, of course.

[stepmooster]

We changed from bottle to sippy cup when dd was 19 mo, she would drink from a beaker at all other times, so each morning and night I'd offer her a cup instead of a bottle. She refused it, by day 3 she relented and drained the cup just as fast as the bottle.

I did it because her HV and paediatrician are monitoring her development, she isn't talking yet and I felt pressured into it.

I also got rid of the dummy which was only supposed to be for sleeping, but she wanted it all the time and would have tantrums. She manages at nursery without it, even for naps. So we went cold turkey, first few nights were hard. Best thing I did as she is not so emotionally attached to it and she is much happier.

[Cotherstone]

Thanks everyone, it's really good to hear. I'm torn between not changing something that works so well (it is so convenient that she takes it from a bottle in the mornings, if it was in anything open I'd have to sit with her to stop her tipping it on the floor!) and then worrying about when on earth we actually will change from bottles to cups...

I am inclined to think that two big drinks of milk a day are more important than how she gets them...

Maybe on days when we don't need to be out and about quickly I'll keep offering the sippy cup and seeing if she starts to drink from it well. The evening bottle is probably the only time I get a baby cuddle still

[googietheegg]

In France toddlers often have bottles until they're 3 or 4 (and dummies until they're 5 or 6 even out and about) and it's really not considered a mark of their development

[rumbelina]

DS has about 1/4 pint of milk in a bottle still twice a day - he is 3.5yo.

In all other aspects of life he wants to do big boy stuff but he really loves the bottle. He sometimes uses a beaker and he knows one day the bottle will break (the teat is almost hanging off). We asked the dentist who said it is not a problem as he drinks it so quickly and is not sucking on the bottle for a long period eg 15 minutes.

I have stopped worrying about it now and don't care about his age as his development in all other ways is fine.

[Cotherstone]

Really googie? I like that! The French are so much more relaxed. Anyting other than a HV berating me at DD's 1y check for not being completely off the bottles yet - like that's the single most important thing to check on.

Nice to hear a dentist said that - like your DS, rumbelina, she necks the bottle and doesn't keep it in her mouth when it's done. Never took to a dummy either so no worries about her having something in her mouth for too long. It's just that bottles seem so... babyish, I guess.

[Goldmandra]

It's just that bottles seem so... babyish, I guess.

It OK for a two year old to be babyish sometimes. They are still very little.

You're not holding her back. Even much older children like to revert a little now and then. It doesn't do any harm.

[Cotherstone]

I know - isn't it funny how you find off things to suddenly focus on and worry about? For some reason this has been bugging me for a few days! I'll leave her be for now. Maybe one day she'll tell me that she wants a big girl cup and leave the bottles herself.

[LittleMilla]

My nearly 3yo stopped his bottles at about 2.5. He had a small drink of milk at bedtime from a cup for a while but he soon lost interest in that.

I remember being anxious about it but unless your lo is wanting every drink from a bottle I see no problem. In fact I think it's one of the more peculiar 'rules' but expect it aimed more at ppl that feed their LOs coke in a bottle

[Cotherstone]

True, Milla. I had a disaster a while ago and the alarm didn't go off so poor DD was in her pyjamas, in her pushchair, drinking her bottle of the milk as a sprinted to the CMs, and all I could think about was - "^what" will other people think?!"

[PeterParkerSays]

My HV mentioned that it's to do with chewing / talking - the BF suck is more like chewing and is good for muscle development for talking, but sucking from a bottle detracts from this.

[maillotjaune]

My 3 all refused to drink milk out of anything but a bottle until they were, oh, 3 or nearly there. I'm a bit vague about it because even though DS3 is only 4.4 I can't remember when he stopped.

I am generally of the opinion that they do these things in their own time and can't get worked up about late bottle/nappy/buggy use in the way some people on mn manage

[HaveToWearHeels]

OP I wouldn't worry. DD had a bottle of milk at bedtime until she was nearly 4. She refused milk from anything else, only reason she stopped was because she went on holiday with grandparents and I forgot the to pack the bottle. To this day she doesn't drink milk.

[Cotherstone]

See, have, that would be my worry - I know milk isn't the be all and end all when they are eating solids but it just seems so nutritious, I'd much rather she had that 10oz+ a day!

I wonder whether the suck on a sippy cup, say those Tommee Tippee trainer cups which are very free-flow, is the same as sucking from a bottle? That was my concern this morning, DD seemed to have to really suck hard on the sippy cup to get the milk out in a way she doesn't with bottles, but then we do use cheap pound shop bottles now with a massive hole.

It's so reassuring to hear other people's DC went so long with bottles, everyone else I know dropped them ages ago!

[Gooseysgirl]

My dd has just turned two and has a 4oz bottle first thing in the morning and just before bed. She usually drains it in under two mins so I don't think it's having any negative effect! I really don't see the problem with it... it's one battle I'm choosing not to have

[maillotjaune]

"everyone else I know dropped them ages ago"

Bet they didn't all drop them. I'd wager some of their toddlers still have a bottle if milk at night but they don't mention it for fear of disapproval.

The number of times I've been told a child is completely potty trained at 2.0 and then they come to your house and need reminding about the toilet every 15 minutes in between the two 'unheard of' accidents...

[Cotherstone]

maillot

[GwendolineMaryLacey]

I wouldn't worry. My dd2 is 2.2 and is happy having her milk out of beakers. However, dd1 wouldn't entertain anything but bottles. She ditched them overnight of her own free will at 3.5 years. No hassle, no stress and everyone is happy. I can't see any reason for it to be an issue.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

I would say she doesn't NEED two big bottles of milk now.

She also would take in enough fluids if she didn't get them.

I would move to a cup for her teeth.

But wouldn't worry about trying to do it because you think it's babyish to have a bottle.

[fanjoforthemammaries7850]

(My DD is 7 and has sippy cup. Horses for courses)

[K8Middleton]

Don't worry about it. It won't do any harm and the teeth thing is only really a problem if you don't brush between bottle and bed not that we ever did that! Mine had a bottle at bedtime until he was about 4. Dh gave one to him when he was about 18 months having been weaned off it

He's perfectly fine and it wasn't a big deal when it eventually went. Don't worry about it :)

[MewlingQuim]

DD (2y) is still having a bottle of milk usually once a day but sometimes twice. She is starting to lose interest in it herself though, she wants the bottle but then plays with it, drops it, forgets about it.

I expect she will give it up soon on her own I don't see the point of making a big issue about it.

DH, however, is getting stressed that she still wants it, but he is an old fusspot and I will continue to ignore him !