bottles and toddlers (tell me the truth!)

[beforesunrise]

i know i was supposed to wean dd1 off bottles at one or something like this. well i didn't, she's 2y8m, still has a bottle at bedtime (we brush her teeth afterwards, obviously), she loves it and i have no intention of taking it away from her. we have only recently got into a place where she doesnt scream her head off everytime she goes to bed, she actually finally wants to go to bed and i am scared that by removing one piece of the bedtime jigsaw i will ruin it all.

but i know i am wrong. although i forgot why bottles are so bad.

can you tell me honestly at what age your dcs gave up their bottles???

(i guess the fact that dd2, 5m, completely refuses a bottle is punishment for my crimes... [goes off to meditate on her sins])

[lizandlulu]

my dd is 3 in 2 weeks and still has a bedtime bottle, although she has been poorley for the last 2 days and has refused it, which is odd as it usually comforts her.

if i were you, and you and your dd are happy then carry on.

like you said, you dont want to risk upsetting your new bedtime routine ust to feel you are doing the 'right' tihng if you see what i mean.

wait till she is more established with her good bedtimes befroe you do anything about it, if you do want to do anything anyway. i was just going to leave my dd with the bottle till she decides she doesnt want it.

[UmMwahahahaaaaa]

Hey, dd is 2.5 and still has a bottle for bedtime (and we brush teeth first ). And in same boat as my 3m ds refuses a bottle too!!

So I had just bought a cup that her bottle-refuser friend uses (NUK training cup) for ds to try - with some success. Well, her other friend came to stay on the weekend and used her bottle and so dd used the NUK cup - and has used it since . That was always gonna be my plan - choose a special, bedtime cup together and then get rid of bottles...

[DLI]

my ds had no choice but to give up his bottle at eight months because of medical reasons. have you thought about having a cup of tea or warm milk when she has her bottle to see if she wants yours? out of a cup! curiosity always gets the better of them in the end! it would then be her decision and not yours

[UmMwahahahaaaaa]

Oh, though dd loves going to bed... so yes, I can see that you don't want to upset it yet.

[LadyOfRoffle]

As long as her teeth are brushed afterwards I see no reason to stop. It's only 1 bottle at night... I stopped DSs (was using bottles from 10 months) at 12 months on the dot and moved to cups before he really knew to ask for bottle etc.

[uptomyeyes]

DS3 is 2y6 and still has a bedtime bottle.DS2 had one until well over 3 and only gave up when the nanny told him only babies have bottles - he stopped drinking milk from that point onwards. DS1 was never really bottle oriented

[DontKillMeBaby]

DD was over 3, can't remember how much over 3. Once she got past 1 still having a bottle I figured we'd leave it until she was much older and more rational, but in the end it only stopped cos she went to stay the night with my parents and we forgot to pack a bottle.

[Seona1973]

dd was off hers at 14 months and ds was off them at 10 1/2 months. They both took milk from a lidded cup and we still used it as part of the bedtime routine for a while. DS(2) doesnt have milk at bedtime now but still demands a cup of milk when we bring him through in the morning.

[thehairybabysmum]

My DS was forced to stop his night bottle at 18 mths because i forgot to take it away when we had a weekend away. I was more upset than him as with a cup he doesnt have a cuddle whilst drinking from it.

He has never drunk the same quantity of milk out of a cup though so i think its no bad thing if it goes on longer....at the end of the day its only 1 bottle a day, you clean teeth after so i really dont see the harm.

[beforesunrise]

thanks. i am feeling much better now ;-)

[LadySanders]

there was a thread on this not so long ago, and i was massively reassured to discover that there were TONS of 6 year olds still having a bottle of bedtime milk (as my ds1 did! and we didn't even brush his teeth afterwards as far as i remember... he's just lost his first one at 7.5 so it obviously wasn't so terrible)

[MrsNormanMaine]

My DS is 3.3 and has a bottle to go to sleep - and AFTER brushing his teeth. He doesn't have it all night - just until he's gone off. DD1 weaned herself off - can't even remember how it happened or when (!). DD2 has a bottle to go to sleep but turns away to do her final settling without it so imagine she will be weaned from that before her big brother. He feels happy. I ask him if he would still have a bottle when he was as big as his uncle and he told me he would have one until he was 47.

So that's fine then.

[mybabywakesupsinging]

One bottle a day with teeth brushed afterwards sounds OK...
Ds1 (3) still uses a lidded cup at bedtime so he can curl up on the sofa with his stories and not have to be careful about spilling...
is there much of a difference?