To let DS continue to have a bottle?

[persan]

DS is 4, almost 5 and he still has a bottle. I know I'm going to get judged for this.

I tried to get rid of them when he was around 2, but he refused to drink out of a sippy cup and I was worried he would become dehydrated so I gave in.

He has a bottle of milk in the morning before school, I put a carton of fruit juice or a water bottle with water in his lunchbox but he very rarely drinks this.

When he gets home he asks for squash in his bottle and he drinks that and he then has a bottle of milk before bed. When he's at home at weekends or during holidays he will drink cartons throughout the day.

His teeth are fine but my partners mum (not DS’ nan) has noticed DS with a bottle and said he's too old and I should get rid of it but I'm not sure how to as he might refuse to drink again.

WIBU to let DS have a bottle for as long as he wants as surely once he's a bit older he won't always want a bottle?

In usual fashion some MN'ers are quick to jump the gun without knowing the facts. It could be OP's DS might have some developmental issues or lack of understanding. It might be that OP's DS uses the bottle as a comfort after a traumatic event OR it could be something else entirely, but OP shouldn't feel obliged to divulge in such personal information. Shame on you.

@persan In ordinary circumstances I would say that your DS continuing to use a bottle is not ideal, both for his own sake and his teeth. Have you a HV that could help you look at strategies to help you reduce the bottle and wean DS off of it? I don't know you or your DS, but I can only sympathise with you as, up until a few months back, I was having the same issue with my youngest DD (2). I had spent so much money on various different sippy cups/mugs/ you name it, she would have none of it. HV was aware and provided active support. In my DD's case it was a comfort thing as she's many traumatic events throughout her life so far (surgeries and assessments due to her medical diagnoses) and this was one thing she could control, in effect it was part of a trauma response. One day a few months back though, I decided to try her with one of the sippy cups we had bought her, and to my delight she took to it straight away and we haven't looked back!

In usual fashion some MN'ers are quick to jump the gun without knowing the facts. It could be OP's DS might have some developmental issues or lack of understanding. It might be that OP's DS uses the bottle as a comfort after a traumatic event OR it could be something else entirely, but OP shouldn't feel obliged to divulge in such personal information. Shame on you.

Well if she wants informed opinions on the question she's chosen to ask on a busy, open forum then she should feel obliged to divulge the relevant information.

I'm afraid I agree with everyone else - 5 is too old, and whilst his teeth might seem ok now, there is a significant risk that they won't be in the long term, both in terms of orthodontics and decay.
It's pointless telling you that you should have ditched them sooner though - you didn't and you've got to move on from where you are now. Personally, I think going "cold turkey" would be a bit harsh. Your DS obviously derives comfort from his bottles and to me, it would feel like you were kind of punishing him for a decision that you made, if you just stopped in one fell swoop?
He does need to stop, and that is for his own good, but I woukd do it gradually. I imagine the night time milk bottle is the most comforting so I would probably leave that til last, and try to phase out the squash in bottles during the day first. That's likely to be the most damaging dentally I would think (though I'm no expert) and the easiest to replace.
I would try a sports bottle as stepping stone, and then try normal cups maybe with a straw - I can't see that he should need a sippy cup at this stage. Once you've got him off bottles during the day you can tackle his night routine - I think it would be hard to do it all at once.
You must be spending a fortune on cartons too, and they generate a lot of waste, so it would be positive all round if you could get him into different drinking habits. Good luck.

Ditch the bottles. Also those cartons have huge amounts of sugar. Could you try dilute squash instead?

Squash in a bottle?? Are you trying to ruin his teeth??
Best to sit him down and tell him that he won't be getting that in a bottle anymore, as from now, that it'll be water in the bottle only, and that then once he's 5, he'll be a big boy and so all the baby bottles will be throw away and he will have a big boy water bottle. And then do it.
Prepare him, make sure he knows you are serious, and then do it. Make a big thing out of collecting all the bottles, and disposing of them.
If he wants squash/juice, he can have it out of a normal cup, but really it's not good for him to be drinking that stuff except as a treat. I wouldn't encourage it, and can say from experience that it's much better to get children into good habits while they are young, it's much more difficult to persuade a teen who has pocket money/allowance/Saturday job to do the right thing as far as sweet things are concerned. You have final say now, but there will come a time when you don't.

Honestly you need to get rid of it.

I thought that you were going to say that he was 2.

Take him to the shops and let him choose a nice character water bottle? Bribe him, rewards chart with a prize for drinking from a cup.

Juice should only be with meals too.

I would only give him water in the bottle if he wa to the use it for Comfort fine but if he wants a child's drink he needs utl use a different cup,/beaker. Bet he drops the bottle quickly.

With kindness, you definitely need to get shut of the bottles. When was the last time he saw a dentist?

I know it's hard with comfort items, but it will be affecting the shape of his palate and potentially pulling his front teeth forward too.

He won't thank you if he has to have braces as a teenager because he was allowed a baby bottle at 5.

I understand the fear of dehydration thing. I don't think the OP is doing it simply to make her life easier? If her child won't drink from a carton, he won't do it. Two points: maybe try a reward system (stickers which lead to choice of dinner, day out etc) to encourage him to use a cup? And my DH used a bottle until 5. At one point she just became embarrassed herself and stopped. Good luck.

Sorry should have said DSis!!

Squash in a bottle is ready bad for teeth, they might be ok now.. I’d just tell him he’s a big boy now and the bottle has to go, and let him choose a big boys cup. He won’t dehydrate

That's ridiculous at his age and will ruin his teeth.

Plus his friends at school/nursery will eventually start to tease him about it.

He won't dehydrate to death, he'll drink when he's thirsty. Try a sports bottle to start with then upgrade to a straw then a bottle with a small opening etc

What a bed you made. Highly unlikely your child would have never have drunk out of a sippy cup, get child to throw bottle on the bin themselves, reward them with a big child’s cup, one with their name on

Could you compromise to start with and say that he can have water from his bottle but if he wants squash he needs to have it from a cup? If you explain to him that it is to protect his teeth and that you know it will be hard then you can be in it together rather than battling him over it.

Our 4 year old DD was obsessed with milk in a bottle. Obsessed. It was useful to us as she wouldn’t take medication like calpol so we could hide it in milk in a bottle.
At 4 we decided it was too much. We created the idea of a ‘bottle fairy’, like the tooth fairy, who would come and take her bottles away and leave a present. We built up to this for a month or so so that she was prepared. And actually it was a totally easy transition. Could help?

Thanks pretty lazy parenting. He's 4 years too old for a bottle!

Aren't you embarrassed? Isn't he? What happens when he has friends round?

I’d go with a PP’s suggestion of only water in the baby bottles.

Juice or milk in cool new cups with straws.

Ignore any tantrums.

At 5 you should simply be able to say "oh we're stopping that now, if you want some milk here's a mug".

My DS is same age and not long ago started refusing various toddler beakers etc because they are "baby cups".

This is school kid we are talking about here. If you want him to have milk,can he have the school milk? He'll probably drink if from the carton if friends are.

At 5 even if it's a comfort thing he's old enough to talk about his feelings and also accept comfort in non-oral ways - a snuggley hug etc

You need to step up and parent !
Get rid of the bottle!

Throw away the bottles then you won’t be tempted to give in. He will tantrum and it will be hell for the first couple of days but short term pain, long term gain and all that. Kids are smart and if he finds a way to get what he wants, he will employ it over and over until lit doesn’t.

Parenting out of fear or guilt benefits no one. Make the decision to stop and stick to it, the tsunami of emotional guilt tripping will be a moment (in the grand scheme of things and it will pass.

Get in the habit of watering down squash heavily and avoid cartons which are not watered down enough.

Get rid of all the bottles. Take him shopping for a big boy flask. Then just give him lots of options for how to get liquids down him.