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Behaviour/development

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Original poster

What age to stop bedtime milk?

49 replies

Rockydog · 02/12/2004 11:56

Hi, my dd is just about to turn 17 months and I read somewhere that she should be having water at bedtime now. She only drinks from cups (stopped bottles at 12 months). Her milk intake (all full fat cows milk) is milk on cereal at breakfast, yogurts, rice pudding etc and currently 5oz at teatime and 7oz at bedtime. Her shape seems to be completely changing - all her puppy fat is going and she is getting tall and slim (hv said she was height and weight of a 2yr old!). She eats like a horse! How much milk should she be having? We want to cut down on evening drinks as she keeps waking up wet (although she is teething - all back teeth, ow) and I also heard this was related to teeth. Also, because her shape is changing, nappies don't seem to fit quite so well. Sorry this is a bit rambling!

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colditzcolditzcold · 02/12/2004 12:05

Re the nappies, have you tried switching to a differant brand? They all seem to fit differently.
As for the milk,, ds is 20mo and drinks about a pint and a half a day, most of it at night. I think water goes through the system even quicker than milk, so swapping it might make her even wetter?

SantaandtheReindeer · 02/12/2004 12:06

I don't think there's anything wrong with having milk at bedtime, as long as you brush her teeth before you put her down.

My 5 year old still has her bedtime milk!

hana · 02/12/2004 12:17

my 3 year old still has about 8oz at bedtime

sparklynorthernstar · 02/12/2004 12:26

My 2.9 year old just could not go to bed if he hadn't had his milk. I'll keep giving him it for as long as he wants it. I thought the world health organistion reccommended it till age 5 anyway.

slim22 · 06/12/2004 20:47

Hi,
DS is only 8mths but I was actually thinking about this!!
He now drinks water from a cup at mealtimes. But Milk is from the bottle morning, afternoon and bedtime. When do you stop giving the bottle altogether?
It seems to me milk from a bottle in the morning and at bedtime is best for confort, whatever the age. How do you serve your baby's milk????

TracyK · 06/12/2004 20:56

been trying to wean ds (9mo) off bottle during the day for milk and just boobies in morning and bottle before bed. Today was the first day he took a decent amount of milk from his cup - have been trying on and off for a couple of weeks.

galaxy · 06/12/2004 20:59

My dd is 25 months and still has her bedtime bottle (teeth cleaned after). Also has a morning 8oz at about 9:30.

fisilhohoho · 06/12/2004 21:04

ds still has his (nearly 2). We all love the cuddle that comes with a warm bottle of milk at bedtime. He cleans his teeth after. I think he would be happy to ditch it, but it is a very important time of day to dp and me after a long day at work! So it is a comfort thing for us!

Awenamanger · 06/12/2004 21:21

?? Stopping milk at bedtimes? My ds still has a small mug of full fat cows milk before bed and another with his breakfast.. he is 5 in Febraury. Rocky - dont worry about what you have a read, as long as diet is blanaced it is fine. OH and ds is dry at nite too and I leave water by his bed. It is a very long time for kids to go without a drink.. 12 hours if they are asleep 7 and awake at 7. KIds are rarely dry at night at 17 months as far as i know. Has someone said that your dd should be dry by now? Ds only been consistently dry of about 2 months and was intermittedly dry from about 3 and half to 4. Sorry to ask, but i have had friends who have been stressed out so much by pressure from others saying their little ones should be dry by certain age. My ds is very proud he is dry and it was led by him

LAMBda · 06/12/2004 21:22

my ds's are 5 and 3 and both still have bed-time milk

ChristmasBOOZA · 06/12/2004 22:22

I stopped giving it to DS when he stopped drinking it and was just messing about. We made the conversion from bottle to magic cups by 12 months but he was having bedtime milk for a good while after that but stopped before he was 2. Would keep going it she still wants it.

janeyjinglebops · 06/12/2004 22:27

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ButtonMoon · 06/12/2004 22:41

My Grandad is 89 and still has his cup of warm milk before going to bed!!!

JingleBellJodee · 06/12/2004 22:48

DS (4.5) loves a beaker of warm milk (plus a snuggle with his muzzy) when he wakes up and just before bed, his routine is set in stone I think!

Awenamanger · 07/12/2004 00:51

Rockydog, is your concern about milk or water or about dd still wetting bed? Cos i think i got confused with my earlier posting :)

KateandtheElves · 07/12/2004 01:07

Rocky, are you still there?

Where did you read that a child shouldn't be having milk at bedtime, and what was the rationale behind it? I have never heard that before.

Davrosthesnowman · 07/12/2004 09:28

ROFL Buttonmoon, but puts it into perspective! My 8 yr old niece still has a beaker of milk at bedtime and my 20 mos DD certainly does, and in a bottle.... AND its milky, not milk!

sponge · 07/12/2004 10:27

My dd, aged 4.5, still has milk at bedtime.
From a lidded cup. I think advice is to move off bottles by age 1. Something to do with teeth but not quite sure why cups are better for teeth than bottles.
I don't know of many children who are dry at night at 17 months. DD wasnt until she was about 2.5, so I wouldn't worry about that at all.

FlashingRudolphNose · 07/12/2004 10:38

Mine all stopped having milk at bedtime at 12 months . I didn't have a Health Visitor or anyone I could ask, so used to consult baby books for advice and one of them said you must stop when they're a year. Am feeling rather cruel now.

Carla · 07/12/2004 10:42

dd2 is 5 and still has her bedtime milk.

lima · 07/12/2004 10:43

My dentist told me that teeth were affected by how long the milk/juice etc remained in the mouth. A child taking small sips from a bottle, over a long period of time, keeps the enamel in contact with the sugar for a long time. A child tanking down his milk in seconds (like mine do) is not at so much risk.

He also said it didn't make any difference as to whether you dilute the juice - the important factor is the contact time.

HTH

MerryMetrobaby · 07/12/2004 10:48

dd is 4 yo and still has milk at bedtime and in the morning too. She loves it, and I don't mind as she has a very good appetite and is also tall for her age. She was dry by night around 3.

Original poster

Rockydog · 07/12/2004 11:43

I read something about tooth health that made me wonder - we clean dd's teeth after her cup of milk so its fine. It was more out of interest than anything, sorry if I've offended anyone! Of course we won't stop giving her milk unless SHE wants to stop, it was just a question really. And as for the being dry at night, of course we don't expect her to be dry at 17 months! What I meant was for a few nights her nappies had leaked but that has more to do with the way she sleeps than anything else! Like I said, her shape is changing and the nappies aren't quite as snug as they once were!

OP posts:

ItllBeLonelymumThisChristmas · 07/12/2004 11:48

All my children still have a cup of milk before bed and the oldest is 8! But Buttonmoon, your grandad surely takes the prize!

Original poster

Rockydog · 07/12/2004 11:48

Hope you get the gist that she still wears nappies (well pull-up pants) full time.

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