What age did your LO give up bed time bottle?

[Ganners10]

Hi. When did your LO give up there bed time milk? Did they give it up themselves or did you wean them off it? My Lo is 22 months and has his morning milk 3 meals and plenty of snacks inbetween and still has his milk at bed time. Not sure if he will give this up of his own accord when hes ready or if i should wean him off it and when?

[Sludge78]

I would say fine to keep giving him a drink of milk as long as he wants it (normal milk) as long as its no longer in a bottle.

Think we took it off our daughter at about 18mths (she started weaning at 4mths and was a good eater by that stage) though she had been getting her drinks from a bickie cup instead of a bottle for some time.

[aPixieInMyCaramelLatte]

Ds1 Still has a cup of milk before bed whilst reading a story before having his teeth brushed. He's 21months.

I will continue to give him milk for as long as he wants it. He still has 3 cups a day at the moment.

He hasn't had a bottle since about 1yr old though.

[StrikeUpTheBand]

I remember lots of guidance that you should ideally wean from the bottle by 12 months. I think the reason is mostly because of teeth though? If you are cleaning their teeth after the bottle it isn't so bad, but apparently milk left on the teeth before sleeping can cause decay or something?

DS was premature and also late getting teeth. When he was about 14 months I started giving him a full cup of milk before bed, but I still offered the bottle when we went upstairs. That way, when he refused it because he'd already had enough of milk it would seem like his idea (tricky me!). Anyhow, I expected to take a week or so but on the 3rd night he just batted the bottle away because he was tired and that was the end of it. DD is now 1 and since starting cow's milk will often bat the bottle away because she's tired and will then be happy to go to sleep. I have had to start giving plenty of milk in the day to make up for this!

I would at your DS's age wean by maybe slowly changing the bedtime routine to incorporate a cup of milk and a snack instead of a bottle, and then brush teeth and bed? But you know your DS best - depends what he will tolerate and how quickly he will accept changes .

[Ganners10]

He still has his milk from a bottle at the mo so think i will change it to a cup and see how he gets on with that. He might then decide to give it up?

[MoonUnitAlpha]

So long as you brush his teeth after the milk, is there any reason to drop the milk entirely?

[LooL00]

My eldest is 6y tomorrow and he still has milk before bed,out of a mug. He's never seemed to want to stop and I've never thought he should. Why do you want him to give it up?

[Ganners10]

Not sure why i want him to give it up? Just thought thats what happens? I think i will just change the way i do it? Normally he has his bottle laying down in his bed. I sit there with him until he has finished it, then i leave him to go to sleep. He does not use the milk as a sleep aid as he is still awake whe i leave the room. Maybe instead of cleaning his teeth after his bath i will try sitting him on my lap in his room to have his milk then brush his teeth then put him into bed? My other children are 9 and 10 so its been a while and cant remember how i done it with them.

[Northernrose]

Hi, just nosy as am pondering over the same things with my dd, who is 11 months and not keen at all on a sippy cup but I am hoping to encourage her off her bottles around 12months as per advice etc etc. I think really its the bottles and not the milk that is the concern of health professionals, dentists etc. If teeth are brushed after milk and it's from a cup I don't think anyone thinks they shouldn't have milk before bedtime.

I like strike's idea about using a cup first and then offering a bottle when they are full so they don't really want it - might try that myself, thanks! I think changing bedtime routine is the route we'll go down too, so that theres other changes not just taking away the bottle, although your ds might well drink happily from a cup unlike my dd!

Also - this thread made me think of my dh who still (and always has, since a teeny tot) had a mug of milk, and a bowl of cereal before bed, every night!! Hasn't done him any harm!!

[Ganners10]

Just brought a Tommee Tippee free flow cup to try tonight.He's tried drinking his juice out of it at lunch time as he wanted to use it coz it was new. At the moment he has the explorer one with a valve so it doesnt spill! First thing he did with the new one is walk around with juice trailing behind him! Think i will keep it to bed times only for the moment! hoping tonight goes well!!

[WhereTheWildThingsWere]

Dd (2) and ds (6) both have milk at bedtime, I can't see them ever stopping.

I still take a Horlicks to bed and I am 35.

[Ganners10]

I used to love horlicks when i was a kid but for some strange reason i dont like it now! Wierd!

[notremotelyintofootie]

My ds is 11 and still has a mug of warm milk before bed, moved from bottle to cup at around 18 months... Dd is 13 months and has become quite aggressive to get her bedtime bf so not seeing her stop soon....

[fizzpops]

I started to give my daughter her bedtime milk a bit earlier as soon as she stopped wearing nappies at night-time (about 2.5) because I didn't want to risk any accidents in the night. As it is she generally gulps down loads of water just before bed anyway.

It did set the ball rolling for making an effort to give her cold milk rather than warm and more during the day and not at set times, the change just gradually happened.

She was ready though as it didn't bother her or affect her routine as far as I could see.

[fizzpops]

Sorry - she was getting her milk from a cup not a bittle!

Stopped with bottles at about 1 year old.

[fizzpops]

Oops bottle obviously.