Question about moving from formula/bottle at age one - is it essential?

[workingtitle]

DS is about to hit one. He only has one bottle a day, after his afternoon nap. I don't think he really needs it, but he enjoys it and it's a nice quiet time for him/whoever is giving it to him.
I'm wondering if I really need to drop this? The NHS advice seems to be very much 'no bottles and no formula after one'. He drinks happily from a cup at all other times, and has lots of dairy in his diet.

[Pobblewhohasnotoes]

My DS is 2 and still likes a bottle of milk (not formula), first thing in the morning and at night.

There's lots of talk about it being bad for their teeth etc, but pwe clean his teeth and he doesn't walk around with it in his mouth or have it in his bed, it's more habit and a comfort than anything and it doesn't bother me. It's nice sitting having a story whilst he drinks it.

At one year they need three portions of dairy a day (according to the dietician we see) so as long as he's getting those then no he won't need a bottle, but if he's happy with it then it's up to you whether you stop it or not. And no you don't need formula, you can switch to cows milk if you want.

[AdorableAbbie]

You should not drop it if you see that he still enjoys it, but if he can already drinks in a cup much better.

[workingtitle]

Thank you - glad it's alright to carry on, I'd like to and he's definitely meeting dairy requirements, Pobble.
I might keep him on formula at nursery for now as we'll need to send him in with it ready, which might be difficult with milk.

[wheresthelight]

My dd is 13 months and still has between 2 and 4 bottles of formula a day. she will drink normal milk but it never seems to settle her like formula does. I tried moving her over just before she was 1 and she went from sleeping through the night to up every 2-3 hours so I moved her back to formula and she went back to sleeping through.

do what suits you and your ds and balls to the hv!! mine goes nuts that I give dd the valved drinks cups and the ones with straws. dd hates the hard plastic drink cups and refuses to drink out of them but will drain 3-4 of the nuby flexi straw cups

[kiki0202]

Mine is 2.7 and still has a bottle at bedtime and in the morning of semi skimmed cows milk he doesn't nap during the day but on the occasions he is very tired during the day will sit on the sofa with a bottle. He has no dummy or comforter his bottle is the only thing he is attached to so i'm leaving him with it until he is 3 he drinks from either sippy cups or adult cups otherwise. It don't think it does much harm if their teeth are cared for and they are not grazing on it all day.

My HV once told me the NHS guidelines are made to be idiot proof and she expects parents to know the guidelines and the reasons behind them and make an informed decision from there so I go with that.

[ireallydontlikemonday]

We kept a bed time bottle until past two - DTs did not want to give them up. Spoke to dentist who said as long as you brush teeth after bottle and not before and they are not falling asleep with it in their mouths then not a problem.

[workingtitle]

This is reassuring, I'd really like to just carry on with the one bottle for DS. Will see about replacing it with cows milk but won't rush that. Thank you!