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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

20 month old still has night bottle

23 replies

mumofben · 14/04/2008 22:12

I still give my ds a bottle before bed as part of his bedtime routine (we try to brush his teeth afterwards but it's a bit hit and miss at the moment - a whole other story!)
Anyway, I have recently been told that I should have got rid of this by 12 months at the latest, but what do you replace it with? I don't know if it's a problem or not really, it helps him get sleepy, and we both enjoy our little cuddle and story with it, and I know that if he didn't eat much at tea time, the milk will at least ensure he doesn't wake up hungry in the night. I'm not sure what harm it's doing apart from the teeth, but the brushing is getting a bit better...
What do other Mumsnetters do?

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Mum1369 · 14/04/2008 22:16

My DS1 is 2.8 and he still has his night-time bottle of milk ! In my opinion he can have it for as long as he wants !
I don't know why anyone would say you should stop it, if he enjoys it.
BTW I am Mum of Ben too ! He is DS2 !
Great name !

wrinklytum · 14/04/2008 22:17

FWIW DD still has a night bottle at 2,as long as her teeth are well brushed afterwards I don't think it matters.Will he drink from a sippy cup if you want to get him away from bottles onto cups???I wouldn't stress to much about it though(Before anyone says my dd is too old to have a bottle she cannot drink from a normal cup due to her sn)

Novacane · 14/04/2008 22:23

Gawd I will probably get flamed for this....
MiniNova turned 4 last week. He still has a bottle at night. His diet is very limited (its the only calcium he gets apart from cheese) and he is a small chappie so REALLY needs the good stuff in it. He eats like a sparrow and wakes up at precisely 0300 hrs if he hasn't had any milk on a night. Believe me Ive tried everything, he won't drink milk out of a beaker, or have it as a bedtime drink in a cup, he just thinks it's wierd if not from a bottle.

So I'm not bothered TBH.

You can try doing a beaker, or bedtime milky drink in a cup, to see if that helps, or I know of someone's DC that has a yoghurt before bed to fill up the tummy.

But what I would say is don't stress about it, and do what YOU want to do, not what anyone else is telling you to do.

Trolleydolly71 · 14/04/2008 22:36

Message withdrawn

BigBadMouse · 14/04/2008 22:41

My DD2 is just about to turn 2 and has just gone off bottles at bedtime. The teats were getting a bit old and one night one just stopped allowiong the milk to flow properly so she handed it back looking much confused. I asked if she would prefer a beaker as her bottle was broken and she accepted that without any problems. A few weeks later she had a bad cold so I gave her warm water instead of the milk and now she just has a beaker of cold water in her cot for the night (nothing actually before bedtime.

I wouldn't worry about it too much. When he's ready to drop it he'll let you know.

seeker · 14/04/2008 22:45

Why is a night time bottle a problem? Once again, I think I'm missing something! My dd was still bf at bed time at 3, and ds had a bottle until he was nearly 4. Doesn't seem to have done either of them any harm.

SlightlyMadSweet · 14/04/2008 22:48

If my DD3 (2 next week - shit how did that happen???) didn't have bedtime milk she wouldn't take her 300ml or whatever it is of milk daily.

They shouldn't really have it in a bottle when they can drink form a spout/cup - I think we are just going to try and get DD3 off teh "bottle" - but she will still have milk.

In fact DTDs still have bedtime milk most days and they are 7!!! Admittedly they don't have as much and they have it if they want it.

QOD · 14/04/2008 22:50

my daughter had bedtime milk AND milk at 3.30am until she was 3 1\2

She was underweight and if i gave her water, she threw it and screamed LOL

I am/was so weak

seeker · 14/04/2008 22:50

But why shouldn't they have a bottle? If it's only one a day what harm is it going to do?

Ags · 14/04/2008 22:58

My ds (now 4.6) just eventually began to refuse his night time bottle. I can't remember when it was exactly but probably when he was about 3. It never cost me a thought that he should be made to give it up and my dh was devastated. I think he felt it was the end of his baby boy time! My dd (now 2.3) still has a night time bottle and I would not for one second consider this a problem. I assume she will begin to refuse it when she is ready to as her brother did. Please don't worry about this.

Psychomum5 · 14/04/2008 23:04

all of mine gave up their night bottles only when they were ready.

DD1 was 12mths
DD2 was in reception at school
DD3 was 7
DS1 was 12mths
DS2 is now 5 and still occasionally has one!

TBH tho, they are not bottles with teats, more like spouted type tops, or even now for DS2 it is an 'any-way-up-cup', but even so, tis still warm milk at bedtime that he has after teeth cleaning!

for his it is the only way I can ensure calcium tho as he is intolerant to cows milk and so has calcium enriched (non-sweetened) soya milk.

don;t fret.....they give up when ready IMO, and it isn;t as tho he is going with juice or even a frootshoot!

Novacane · 14/04/2008 23:10

Even if it is a bottle- its in their mouths for what..5 mins max?

I've got a whole heap of other things I really need to be worrying about!!

DontCallMeBaby · 14/04/2008 23:13

DD was over 3 when she stopped having a bedtime bottle. It was accidental - she was having an overnighter with my parents, and we forgot to pack a bottle. She had a little cup of milk before bed, and we figured if she'd gone to bed okay under those circumstances we'd skip the bottle at home and see how it went. She asked about a bottle once or twice and we very casually said 'oh, you don't have that any more' and she was fine.

I figure it's a little like giving up dummies - there's an early window of opportunity, and a late one, in the middle there's a period where they have remarkably long memories about their favourite things, but can't be reasoned with. As soon as DD had a bottle past a year, I thought she'd be at least over two before it went. Plus a former boss was kind enough to tell me her daughter still had a bedtime bottle when she started school, and given that mum is a sensible and intelligent woman and daughter is a bright and lovely little girl, it took a lot of the worry away!

DontCallMeBaby · 14/04/2008 23:15

Novacane - that's exactly it, the concern with bottles and older kids is about teeth and speech development, hardly an issue when the child is taking 5/10 minutes to drink ONE bottle a day. Nothing wrong with DD's talking. Except the fact it never stops.

Original poster

mumofben · 15/04/2008 20:47

wow - what a relief! I'm so glad I asked the question as the milk seems to be more the norm than the exception

and to think I was worried enough to consider taking the poor chap's beloved "milky moo" off him and endure pointless misery all round! I guess i have missed the window of opportunity as Dontcallmebaby says - I'm glad I got rid of the dummy at 6 mths as it'd be a nightmare to try now. so I'll carry on with it as long as he's happy. Thanks everyone for your replies - it's very reassuring. (now I'll have to start a post about how to brush a 20 month old's teeth with any degree of success - unless anyone's got any quick tips on here????

OP posts:

forevared · 16/04/2008 13:30

I pretty much agree with everyone here. My ds is now 27 months and has been having a bottle in the morning and bedtime. I had a bit of a panic recently when I found out aswell that you're meant to stop the bottle at 12 months. So last week we dropped the morning bottle and started putting it in a cup for him. At first he refuses it, but I leave it on the table for him and after about 15 minutes or so he drinks it without a fuss.
However, he likes the whole bedtime routine of bottle and a cuddle while we watch night garden, and then brush teeth and bed, and I think it might be too much to change that one until he decides to drop it himself. I even still the warm the milk for him!

forevared · 16/04/2008 13:36

As for brushing teeth (I just read your last post, belatedly) we bought 2 identical toothbrushes. 1 for him to use and 1 for us to show him how to do it. When we go to bed we let him squirt the toothpaste on and have his toothbrush which he mostly just sucks and bites on, and we then clean his teeth for him, but as the months go on he is now starting to move the brush round his mouth with a bit more purpose.
I guess it'll take months, even years before he can do it effectively. Good luck.

midnightexpress · 16/04/2008 13:38

We got the easter bunny to take ds1's bottles and replace them with a (very tiny ) easter egg. He's 2.5 and was having a bottle morning and bedtime. He was fine with a cup for a few days and then refused to take milk at bedtime. I then read a similar thread to this a couple of weeks ago and was racked with guilt, so we gave him his wee brother's bottle (which has a different shaped teat and is brightly coloured) for bedtime only and his little face lit up. I will now just leave it up to him when he drops it.

Someone on the other thread suggested cutting a cross in the teat and then gradualy increasing the size of the hole when you're ready to get him to drop the bottle. As the sucking action becomes less effective they gradually lose interest (apparently - haven't tried it but it made sense I thought).

Iklboo · 16/04/2008 13:40

I am mum of ben too! And he still has a night bottle as part of his bedtime routine.
"It's very comfy here on your boobies mummy".
He's 2.5

Flum · 16/04/2008 13:41

DD 22 months still has

Bottle at 7pm, bottle in the night (about 50% of nights), bottle in morning, and one in afternoon before nap.

Apparently bottles are only a problem if they walk about with them and have juice or squash in them.

I think milk is ok. Mind you mine has milk with tiny bit of choc powder in, was the only way could get her off formula

I think I am keeping her a baby!

Flum · 16/04/2008 13:44

My dd1 who is 4 has heres in one of those no spill beakers. She likes it and it means she can drink it lying down in bed or cuddled up. I love it. They have the rest of their lives to drink from cups and spill em all over the carpet.

I would not allow drinks upstairs if not in bottles like this to be honest.

fiodyl · 16/04/2008 14:13

DD aged 25months has drunk from a cup since 1 year old but will not drink milk in anything but a bottle.
Just b4 xmas i bought some of the replacement spouts for Avent magic cups and replaced the teats on her familiar bottles with these- now she drinks her milk from these halfcup/bottle thingys no problem.
Tried the same with DS just after his 1st birthday and he screamed the house down so went back to teats for him.

dandycandyjellybean · 16/04/2008 15:50

my ds, big strapping lad at 2.5 potty trained, eats what we eat, practically shaving and going down the pub, still insists on having milk in a bottle (in mummies bed ) morning and night. Don't care, don't suppose he'll still be doing this when he is shaving and going down the pub, why worry?

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