Bottles, when did you stop using them?

[hayesgirl]

My DS is 14 months. He only has 2 bottles a day - when he wakes and when he goes to bed. He's currently on growing up formula milk (aptamil number 3) but I've been wondering whether to start trying him on normal cows milk instead. I was also wondering whether I need to start getting him off his bottle and drinking from a beaker instead...?

What did everyone else do?

Mine stopped having bottles when they got to their 1st birthdays. They are teens now, so I don't know if that makes a difference - guidance over everything else changes all the time.

Small child here finished up with bottles about a week after first birthday. You should definitely be fine to move him onto cow's milk too.
The way we did it was to make up the formula to the correct amount, and then tip some out and add milk instead. Then changed the mix over a further couple of weeks to go from mainly formula to all milk IYSWIM?

Mine is on cow's milk and has been since he turned a year old (now 16mo). He gets a vitamin supplement too mind you whenever we remember.

He's on 2 bottles a day, roughly, sort of. It usually calms him down when he's tired but fighting sleep. A bedtime bottle is normal but he also might go the whole rest of the day brushing the bottle away if offered. He does drink water from a sippy cup quite happily.

I know we're meant to stop bottles at some point and I suspect it's around now.... prob due to the risk of tooth decay but we do brush his teeth immediately after bedtime bottle, so I don't see it as too much of a risk IYSWIM.

I will be interested to see what others say :)

Same, around 12/13 months. Had been doing a night feed but introducing beaker during day. Eventually dropped the night feed (reluctant bfeeder but surprisingly sad about it ending ).

After chatting to a lot of friends, at 12 months, I cut ds's bottles down to one cows milk in the morning and one formula at bedtime. Kept the formula going for his iron intake. I used bottles until around the time he turned two (probably late by most standards but I think I was clinging in to his babyhood!) and now he just has a cup with milk when he fancies it!

Moonlight- thanks for that suggestion. I tried him with just cows milk a month or so ago and he refused to drink it so that may be a good way to wean him onto it.

He has a really good diet so I'm not too worried about taking him off the formula.

Thanks again for all your comments.

Do you give him cow's milk during the day? My DS gets a cup of cow's milk with his lunch so was used to drinking it out of a cup.

But you know you can give him formula in a beaker too? It's more about having children stop using bottles for their oral development (I think) rather than for stopping the formula.

I stopped mine the week after her 1st birthday. From then on I gave her cows milk in a beaker.

My 2(19months and 3) have been on cow's milk since 13 months.They both still drink out of baby bottles but only at home..they use beakers and cups at nursery and pre-school. I suppose one day they will grow out of it,but they really like having milk out of a bottle,have no speech issues and clean their teeth straight afterwards..

My ds refused a bottle from 6 months! He would literally put his hands over his mouth, turn his head away and scream. Once I introduced food at 6 months he would not drink a bottle.

I ended up getting a tommy tippee beaker and ready to drink formula which could be kept in the fridge. He would drink loads throughout the day but just sip it gradually. It's like his little tummy didn't have room for meals and 7 oz of milk. I would just put an ounce of milk at a time in his beaker and it would be gone within the hour. I would just keep washing the beaker and refreshing it every hour, I rarely chucked any milk away.

He's almost 3 now, he eats really well. Has milk for his drink at breakfast and just before bed. He has a very balanced diet and has never woken up in the night for a drink since 4 months old. I used to wake him for a bottle at midnight and he would sleep through til 6.

I Breastfed for 6 weeks then went on to formula (but actually still kept on bf at 5 am an whenever he was fussy in between, I used myself as a dummy for a while). One day he slept till 7 am (at 10 weeks old) he never wanted to go on the breast again

I have probably x posted with loads of people

I switched to cows milk at 12 months. At first I just added a little bit to his beaker, the next day at bit more, then half and half, then after a couple of days just cows milk, he has never turned a hair, he didn't notice.

My DD is 2.5 and has her night-time milk from from a bottle - the rest of the time she uses a cup.

I moved her to cows milk from 1. Initially full-fat but now semi-skimmed as that is what the rest of us drink.

I changed to cows milk at 12 months. DD is nearly 3 and still has bedtime and morning bottle, everything else in beakers and cups. Thinking it's about time to stop bottles really as felt cringy dropping her at nursery with the remainder of one this morning due to running late but can't quite bring myself to bring a close to this stage yet

I would hav loved the bottle stage to go on for longer than 6 months but ds was having none of it, he point blank refused.

My DD has just turned 2 and has one bottle of cow's milk (120mls) before bed. After reading this thread I think I will phase the bottle out. She loves it though

Gave up bottles at 8 months. (he was ff from 5 days old)

DS used to bloody love his bottles, had 8 ounces every 4 hours at the least, sometimes I'd have to make up more and he'd have up to 10 oz! He also fed to sleep for all naps and at night.

He got a horrible stomach bug at 8 months and didn't have any milk at all for almost a week.

Just never bothered going back to bottles, he never cried for them so didn't seem any point to give them back to him only to wean off 4 months later. He was already drinking water from a beaker anyway so I think the bottle was just for comfort.

If he cried for milk I still gave it to him but he just drank it out of a beaker himself instead. Turns out he didn't give a crap if I cradled him and stared lovingly into his eyes, he just wanted the milk!

He honestly never again wanted a bottle.

Switched to cow's milk at 12 months to the day as I'd run out of formula on that very day so thought I'd give it a go. He didn't flinch.

I'd never heated his formula any higher than room temperature anyway and started giving it to him straight from the fridge at about 6 months as he was just so bloody loud when he was hungry.

Since then he's just had milk when he's asked for it. He's 14 months now and gets through probably 2 or 3 beakers a day but rarely drinks one all at once, just sips here and there. I find it bizarre as he's exactly the same with water but is very definite about which one he wants at which time

He doesn't have morning or bedtime milk at all, hasn't asked for it since he stopped having bottles.

I used to give ds ready made formula straight from the fridge too, I used to treat it like me having a glass of milk. If I warmed it he wouldn't entertain drinking it and would wait for it to go cold, I learnt my lesson fast!

We switched from bottles to beakers at nine months because I'd read that if you leave it till they are a year old, it can get hard to wean them off them. No idea how true that is.

Cow's milk from one year. I'm currently trying to get hold of unpasteurised as it's supposed to be great for the immune system, and we had it when I was a kid and it's SO much nicer.

DD's been on cow's milk since 12 months. She went down to one bottle at night at about 13 months, then the week she turned 18 months she decided to start biting straight through the teats! I replaced them but quickly got fed up with it (not least because it was getting expensive) so we went onto a beaker and she barely noticed. Didn't feel I needed to 'wean' her off it. She was ready and it was completely painless to my surprise.

Can I ask some advice? Sorry for thread hijack.

I have 11.5 mo twins so am thinking about how to get them drinking milk from beakers. Currently they have 5oz on waking, 5oz at 3pm and 8oz at bedtime (probably time to cut out the 3pm bottle and replace with a snack I think).

They hold their own bottles so I just sit them on the floor with pillows to lean heads on and its all very easy. But how can I tandem feed with beakers - they drink water during the day but just a few sips between mouthfuls - they hold the handles but I have to hold them too to stop them throwing water everywhere and can't really do that for two at once. Are there any beakers you would recommend that wouldn't spill everywhere?

Thanks

3 years and still has bed time bottle - its a comfort thing, but she hasn't got a dummy, doesn't thumb suck and brushes her teeth after so am not too worried.

DS is nearly 2 and has cows milk once a day before bed. I tried moving him away from bottles at about 14mo but he was having none of it - just got really angry and frustrated when i tried to give him a cup. He still likes his bedtime bottle of milk now, and i guess he'll give it up when he's ready. Will try moving him onto a beaker again in a month or so, but for now i'm not overly concerned.

Ceeveebee - the Cow Cup doesn't spill, it's marvellous. Kids love the black and white colouring too. You can get them all over the place - that link was just the first I found on google. Sainsbury's sell them and I think JoJo do too, or they certainly used to. They have a valve in the spout so the milk can only go one way, but unlike a lot of valve beakers they don't have loads of faffy parts to wash up and lose.

Cows milk from a beaker at 12 months here too.