When is it time to stop the bottles?

[mellongoose]

My DC will be 2 in Oct. FTM. We still give a bottle in the morning and one before bed. Is this normal or should I be looking to take away one/both?

Eating is good and sleeps through so I have been thinking 'if it ain't broke, don't try to fix it', but surely they have to go some time!

Thanks for your help

[uhoh2016]

I find they drop them in their own time usually around 2 or 3. You'll find everyone coming along soon to say they shouldn't have a bottle by now for teeth/speech reasons blah blah blah but imo do what works for you its highly unlikely that your dc will still want a bottle when they are at school.. You could try offering milk in a sippy cup he/she might be happy to take it that way they may not just switch back to a bottle and try again in a few months

[wobblywonderwoman]

Mine are nearly two and nearly three and we've cut them for nearly three year old as he used to have one before bed but is toilet trained now.

They still both love a bottle but I try to resist. Usually give one if we are on a long journey in the car. Or if they are overtired.

[WellErrr]

Yes, mine dropped between 2 and 3.

It's a nice comfort for them and as long as it's fast flow and you do lots of teeth cleaning I don't see the problem.

[Pengweng]

One of mine stopped at 15 months one i took it from her at around 2 as she would always fall asleep drinking it at bedtime and then was a pain when i had to wake her to brush her teeth. I think if they are ok drinking it and then having teeth cleaned 30 mins later then it's fine to continue, though i would prob stop the morning one. To be honest once the one who had it the longest stopped having a bottle she stopped having milk whereas the one who stopped having it earlier still drinks milk before bed (from a mug) at nearly 4.

[notthe1Parrot]

Stop them when the child wants to! As long as teeth cleaned afterwards, does it really matter? Last grandchild still has one at bedtime and he's 5, older ones didn't want one after about 3.

Not something to get stressed about, in my opinion!

[mellongoose]

Thanks all. Appreciate your help and experience. Will relax for a while yet

[jellycat1]

Glad you started this thread. Similar problem here - DS1 is 2 in September and loves his bottle in bed. Aptamil. He has his teeth brushed after his bath and it's never easy but we insist! So by the time he's in his cot having his milk he's falling asleep. Do I take a toothbrush into his room and try and brush them quickly after his bottle in his cot? It's not going to go down well but I don't want to risk his teeth and I don't want to get him up again. Or shall I try and convince him to have it with stories before bed? He won't like that I don't think.

[notthe1Parrot]

I do a story (or sometimes a bit of TV if under pressure) downstairs, while he's drinking the bottle, then up to do teeth and toilet, then into bed and a short story.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

We went from warm milk in bottle to warm milk in sippy cup, to cool milk in sippy cup, to cool milk in non sippy beaker, to cool milk in glass - that process started probably about 2ish and teenages stil have glass of milk before bed :o

Reckon we got to glasses about age 5/ though.