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Behaviour/development

Talk to others about child development and behaviour stages here. You can find more information on our development calendar.

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Original poster

Toddler still drinking milk from a bottle - is this a real issue or not?

66 replies

Cotherstone · 14/03/2014 10:16

Our 25mo still drinks her morning and bedtime milk from a bottle. She's happy drinking any other drink from a beaker, cup, with a straw, you name it, just she has big bottles of milk morning and night. In the afternoon she'll have some milk from a sippy cup but not much, not as much as she'll take from a bottle. She eats really well so the amount of milk isn't affecting how much food she eats, though I'm a little worried if we drop the bottles of milk she won't make up the 10oz of fluid throughout the day by water.

I tried her with a sippy cup of milk this morning and she drank some of it but drank it really slowly. This will sound like a really silly issue but many mornings we need to get up and out to the CM quite quickly, and a big drink of milk keeps her happy until she gets to the CM and has a proper breakfast. I don't think we have time for a proper breakfast before we leave the house (well, we would if we all got up earlier, but she sleeps happily until half an hour before we leave the house so I don't really want to wake her). She wants her bottle of milk as soon as she wakes up, she always asks for it. Same with bedtime, it's a comfort thing.

We tried to swap from bottles to beakers at 1yo and she wasn't having any of it so I didn't push it. But now she's over two I'm wondering whether I should make a fuss of it, even though it's something she likes. She drinks the bottles quickly, doesn't keep the teat in her mouth for ages, and has her teeth brushed straight after.

Would anyone else try and force the issue, even if it becomes a struggle and makes mornings difficult? Would you leave it? And if you did, when would you try and drop them again?

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Original poster

Cotherstone · 14/03/2014 15:36

That's it. Thank you all. I am forgetting about this as anything remotely like an issue for the next year or so If she doesn't voluntarily drop the bottles by the time she three and a half I'll do something about it, but until then she can drink as much morning and bedtime milk as she wants if it's not affecting her food.

Secret hurrah that my manageable speedy mornings are safe!

OP posts:

jellybeans001 · 14/03/2014 16:53

It does damage the teeth and feel it is unnecessary as your child can get their calcium though yoghurt cheese and cereal and milk. My dentist has always told me if my son haf been sucking on something meaning it had damaged his mouth from the inside and it also causes the teeth to rot. Two different dentists asked me if my son had been sucking on something my son stopped at 3 years 4 months but I do see the damage the bottles done and you can also see it online it's called bottle mouth. My sons teeth are ok but their is damage

Jux · 14/03/2014 17:30

When dd started at primary she still had a bottle last thing at night. She wasn't the only one. She is now doing GCSEs. She hasn't had a bottle for years and I am pretty sure that none of her old classmates have either.

You don't need to force the issue. It is helping you all atm. The time will come when she won't want it any more.

maillotjaune · 14/03/2014 19:07

Teeth may be a problem if not brushed after but I think that is more of an issue with children who go to bed sucking slowly in a bottle (and maybe even left with one) rather than speed guzzling followed by a quick brush.

jellybeans001 · 14/03/2014 19:29

But these parents give at bedtime which I think would mean leaving their child with a bottle in their mouth full of milk which would damage teeth and I've never seen a teat size for two years plus only seen it go up to one so they cut the teat but would still take time to drink. I do brush my sons teeth but that was given after he brushed it and was in bed

jellybeans001 · 14/03/2014 19:38

By bedtime they mean the bottle is in the child's mouth until the child falls asleep which one leaves their teeth covered in milk and some parents give formula or milkshake which is worse so would attack the teeth even more and two affects the way a child's teeth grow if their suck too much. Bottle is a comforter to a child like some sucking their thumb and is not neccerary so take it away. When I had my second child she didn't have a dummy and had a bottle till one year and she's fine. She has milk and yoghurt and cheese everyday.

HaveToWearHeels · 14/03/2014 19:39

jellybean my daughter had a bottle in bed at night up to age 4, took her no longer than a couple of minutes to drink, just a normal teet, she was not left with a bottle, she had her teeth brushed after and has no damage to her teeth.

drspouse · 14/03/2014 19:46

We wanted to move DS away from a bottle when recommended (6 mo) and found the Nuk soft spouts a good compromise. He used those till maybe 15 mo and then changes to the Oxo cups. He's the same age as yours and still uses a closed cup - occasionally he has an open cup with water. He's really speedy with his morning cup of milk (he has it in bed so if he's having breakfast at nursery he's ready as soon as I've got him dressed).

HolidayArmadillo · 14/03/2014 19:51

DS is 4 and still has a bottle morning and night, it's a comfort thing, no big deal, he knows when they break that'll be it but it's a battle I don't need to,have right now.

BornToFolk · 14/03/2014 19:52

DS had a bottle of milk at bedtime (i.e. drank after bath but before brushing teeth, not left with it to go to sleep with) until he was 2.7. He wouldn't drink milk from anything else and it was part of his bedtime routine. Once he started messing around with it at bedtime, we had the Bottle Fairy come and swap the bottle for a tumbler and that was that!

If it's not causing you any issues, leave it for now. You've got good reasons for letting her carry on with it, you'll probably find that she'll drop it of her own accord at some point and you'll wonder why you even worried about it!

jellybeans001 · 14/03/2014 19:53

Ok soppose if teeth are brushed afterwards it would be ok but I'm pretty sure most parents brush and then put their child to bed with a bottle which is no good and i have learnt a lesson from that. Just wanted to prevent anyone else from making the same mistake as I was like you mums before not strong to take the bottle away anyway health visitors tell you up to age one for a reason

AnnaDoreta · 14/03/2014 19:55

I agree with those who say don't worry about it. My little one had her bottle til almost 3. We dropped it accidentally, like a pp, as we had forgotten to take one when we went away. I thought I was in for a nightmare few days but it was fine and I just didn't bring out the bottle again - job done!

HootHootTootToot · 14/03/2014 20:06

Slightly against the grain here..

I didn't want my kids to use bottles for too long. I wanted to get rid of the bottles and thought that the kids were perfectly capable of drinking from normal or sippy cups. I cut a bit off the top of the teats so they didn't provide a suck action and within a couple of days they were weaned off bottles. I did the same with all four kids and none of them seemed bothered.

I found their appetite at mealtimes improved when they stopped having bottles. I can't remember quite when I weaned them from their morning and evening milk but I think it was between 18 and 24 months.

LydiaLunches · 14/03/2014 20:09

We melted dd3's bottle on a lamp in the middle of nowhere, she was so distraught! Speed-drinks a bottle at bedtime, is 3.4, no dental problems, other 2 the same-ish, honestly can't remember when they gave their bottles up, but at least 2 and a bit. I am shocked that bottles are discouraged from 6 months now, I can't help thinking that people are missing some of the interaction and intimacy that goes with bottle feeding, same as breastfeeding. I bf all mine got about a year and bottles can be equally snuggly. Not referring to my dd right now tbh but certa

LydiaLunches · 14/03/2014 20:09

Eh? ...Certainly in their second year.

neversleepagain · 14/03/2014 21:03

My twins are 18 months and still having morning and bedtime bottles. I have no intention of taking it away from them.

I really don't see the problem.

drspouse · 14/03/2014 21:49

Lydia it's just as possible to cuddle your DC on your lap while they are drinking from a cup...

poocatcherchampion · 14/03/2014 22:19

I'm surprised at the amount of milk children are drinking on this thread. dd1 is still bf but often has only a couple of minutes a day. I dont give her extra fairy or fluids those days, I just let her eat normally..

poocatcherchampion · 14/03/2014 22:19

or dairy!

LydiaLunches · 14/03/2014 22:26

I must be confused about modern sippy cups then, only had ones that I can't imagine that working with, in fact we had very few cups with lids at all now I come to think of it. My mistake

doireallywant3 · 14/03/2014 22:34

I worried about mine for a while... DD1, now almost 5 and DS2 almost 3 both drank loads of milk, bottles were easy to drink lying down for them. suddenly they both changed to cups and DD doesn't even want it now. I never worried, just let them be, chill out, if they are happy and it works for you, go with it.

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 15/03/2014 10:44

My 25 month old also had a bottle of milk first thing in the morning and before bed and I have no issue with it.

He doesn't have it in his cot or go to sleep with it, he drinks it, we do his teeth and he goes to bed. In the morning he drinks it before breakfast. It also fills his tummy before he gets dropped off at nursery to have breakfast.

It's a comfort thing and I figure he'll drop it when he's ready. He drinks water from a beaker throughout the day.

Pobblewhohasnotoes · 15/03/2014 10:45

Forgot to say, he's cows milk protein intolerant so it's a good way of getting calcium into him. He can't eat cheese or yoghurt.

NotCitrus · 15/03/2014 12:47

I worried as ds wanted night time bottles until around 3,but the dentist assured me it was rarely a problem and certainly wasn't in his case. Eventually teats broke or bottle was lost and ds kindly agreed to use a sippy cup one night. He must have been nearly 3. He agreed to let the dummy fairy come when he was 3.8.

Nanny0gg · 16/03/2014 23:33

How about DC who won't drink milk or water from a cup (of any description).

Nearly 3 and will only have a bottle, be it at home or nursery or out.

Any suggestions as to how to wean?

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