What should I use instead of bottles?

[Snailsetssail]

My 16 month old is still having a bottle of formula first thing in a morning and before bed. She sometimes asks for one in the day after her nap too.

I’m aware she shouldn’t really have bottles at her age so what should I replace them with? I like her having the milk as it’s got vitamins in and she still eats well.

My older DC dropped milk altogether at about 1 as he breastfed and didn’t take to a bottle at all. DD combi feed throughout and I dropped the breastfeeding at 9 months.

We liked cups with soft spouts to move them over.
One of mine liked this one
www.amazon.co.uk/Philips-Avent-Easy-Spout-Handle/dp/B00N3P9F28?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

The other one preferred this

www.amazon.co.uk/NUK-Active-Toddler-Silicone-Leak-Proof/dp/B01N4GI7E7?tag=mumsnetforu03-21

@drspouse thank you. Do you know in what way are these better than bottles?

They are similar to bottles but they are a good transition step to a harder spout like this.

(Also, at 16 months she can have whole cow's milk for drinking, cheaper at least than formula!)

Free flow cups are the best option, in terms of oral hygiene (which is why they don't recommend bottles), something like the tommee tippee hard spout ones.

The soft spout and any that require sucking incur the same issues as a bottle.

We found that our DCs refused hard spouts at first but these bridged the way.
So, if your DC will take a hard spout like the one I linked, brilliant, but ours would only take the soft spout at first and then moved on to the hard one.

Thank you.

I know she can have cows milk, but I like that the formula has the vitamins in so have kept her on it for now.

She usually uses a straw type water bottle for water, she has a Tommie tippee and a Camelbak and is happy with both. She will also use the 360 type ones too.

I will look for something with a hard spout for milk thanks.