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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

How nany of you got rid of trhe bottle by 12 months and is it the end of the world if you don't?

59 replies

Sullwah · 16/12/2008 16:11

My twins are just 10 months old.

I am doing a mix of BLW and jars (I cant face making up puree!) and have a 30 min limit on all meals ie. they can play with food and eat a bit of puree and after 30 mins meal time is over. They are still taking three good bottles a day and so I am relaxed about how much food they actually manage to consume during the 30 mins.

I am just worried about switching from bottles to beakers for milk as that will reduce their milk consumption (they are terrible at drinking much water from the beaker). And with a reduced milk consumption I will worry about how much they manage to eat and I will turn into one of those mothers (like my own) who chases their kids around the house with a spoon in their hand for hours after the meal should be over .

So when did yours stop the bottle and should I care?

ps - I never let them sleep with the bottle and have started to brush teeth before bedtime

OP posts:

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MrsMattie · 16/12/2008 16:14

Nah. Mine was 2 and a half when we finally got him off the bottle. Decided to go cold turkey as he was drinking so much milk he had gone off his food. Within a week he had forgotten it ever existed. Was painless. He has great teeth, too. I don't understand what the rush is, really. Most of those 'sippy cups' are just like bottles, anyway - they still encourage children to suck rather than drink normally.

deanychip · 16/12/2008 16:17

me neither, mine was about 3 and i didnt care because it was getting milk inot him when he didnt eat much...or even when he did eat.

His teeth are gorgeous and white and straight so the botle didnt damage them.

i just didnt buy a replacement after he chewed the teat to death.
found a tall cup with a lid with a straw hole. this is fab and he has this twice a day now he is 5..gets about a pint into him a day.

maretta · 16/12/2008 16:18

I wouldn't worry. They're babies.

HensMum · 16/12/2008 16:24

DS is 14 months and still has a bottle in the mornings (cow's milk) and before bed (formula). He won't drink milk out of a sippy cup so I don't want to get rid of the bottles just yet.
I don't feel it's a major issue for us as teeth are brushed after breakfast in the morning and after bottle at night, and he just has his bottle for his feeds, IYKWIM, doesn't walk around sipping it for hours. And the one at night really comforts him before bed, you can tell he really loves it.

WowOoo · 16/12/2008 16:27

Mine still has bottle and is 2.7. Not too worried about it. have tried cold turkey but he got very upset. Will try at later stage!

nailpolish · 16/12/2008 16:29

lifes too short to worry about stuff like this

are you going to look back at your life with pride and think "omg im so glad i got them off the bottle at 12 months"
no of course not!

relax

compo · 16/12/2008 16:30

mine still has one in the morning and one at night at 2.4

ByThePowerOfBaileys · 16/12/2008 16:33

no where near - not bothered about it at all.
DS1 was 2.6 when we switched to a cup for evening milk
DS2 is 2.3 and has a bottle morning and night
will probably swap the morning one for a cup after christmas but don't feel any rush to change the evening one.

isawmodernartkissingsantaclaus · 16/12/2008 16:42

I have twins and I weaned them at 6 months and stopped their bottles at 12 months. I wouldn't risk their teeth. Two months is a long time with babies; in two months yours will probably have come on a lot with their eating. These guidelines are there for a reason, it's safer to stick to them unless advised otherwise by a qualified expert.

SheSellsSeashellsByTheSeashore · 16/12/2008 16:44

DD1 was very attatched to her bottle and didn't give it up untill much much later (about 2.5 I think) Dd2 gave hers up on her own and will now only drink from a 'big girls cup' she was about 7 months when she sarted refusing bottles.

littleboyblue · 16/12/2008 16:45

I wouldn't worry either. I know plenty of people who have 2 and 3 year olds that still drink from a bottle and their speech and stuff hasn't suffered at all.
My ds is 16m and doesn't drink from a bottle, and he doesn't talk at all.....
I only did it to free up all my bottles for new baby

SpacePuppy · 16/12/2008 16:48

ds was 3 in Nov and he still has 2 bottles a day, one when he wakes up and one before he goes to sleep. No developmental delay, he will have milk in a beaker during the day and we gave him the option to decide not to have a bottle, saying that he sometimes don't take one in the morning and if he is really tired at night he won't have one either.

Coldtits · 16/12/2008 16:54

Ds1 was 2.2

We forgot to take it on holiday (genuinely) and he mnever had it again.

Ds2 was 11 months old.

He threw it at me every time I came anywhere near him and demanded a cup.

inneedofinfo · 16/12/2008 16:56

my ds had a bottle until he was 4 and has lovely teeth (dentist told me he was amazed -he didnt have any plaque at all) and has no speech problems.

dd is 2 and still has a bottle, am slightly more concerned about her teeth as she HATES brushing them but on balance am not concerned enough to try and get the bottle off her!

people who parent 'by the book' annoy me anyway.

Jux · 16/12/2008 16:56

Plenty of kids carry on having a bottle until they're well into school. It's just no one tells you! So I'll tell you - dd had one at night until she was nearly 7; a girl she was at school with went on until she was 8; another of our friend's children had one until he was 6. I could go on, but you get the point.

Original poster

Sullwah · 16/12/2008 17:27

Thanks everyone.

So why are HV and "all the books" so obsessed about about the bottle being stopped at 12 months.

Is it just about "baby bottle mouth"? - Does anyone know anyone who had "baby bottle mouth"?

OP posts:

KTNoo · 16/12/2008 18:05

Sorry if I'm being really dim here but why would a bottle of milk twice a day in a one year old wreck their teeth?

I can see why you don't let them constantly swig juice from a bottle or go to sleep drinking milk in the cot etc, but surely 5 mins sucking twice a day is totally different, presents very little risk to their teeth and is better than drinking no milk at all?

Please tell me if there's something I'm missing here.

I assumed books and health visitors tell you to get rid of the bottle at 12 months because babies like it so much and therefore would be prefer the bottle to proper food, meaning they drink too much milk and have little appetite left for food.

This makes sense to me and is what I used to advise (I am SALT) as if a child is drinking too much milk they are not doing enough chewing on food which also helps to develop the speech muscles. However, my dd2 age 2 still drinks milk before bed from a bottle but I know she eats a good diet and therefore don't see it as a problem.

Isn't it common sense?

MrsMattie · 16/12/2008 18:08

It doesn't.

TreeandMistleJoe · 16/12/2008 18:09

my 16 month old still has a bedtime bottle. i don't see it as a problem at all. we brush his teeth and he won't dring milk out of a cup (he's fine with water but not milk . i just leave him to it. my friend has a 3 year old that still has a bedtime bottle, i am in no rush to make him give up something he loves. think the health visitors dwell on one in a hundred cases where babies drink jusice and everything from a bottle and it causes tooth decay. my hv wanted me to give up bottles after 9 months , there was just no way i could do that, ds would never have slept without it! xxxx

CrushWithEyeliner · 16/12/2008 18:13

Oh 12m is tiny - DD is 2 and still loves milk in a bottle - she is not a great eater and this is how she gets a lot of her calories.

I hate this assumption that you have to get rid by 12m. My friend did and her baby used to cry and cry when she would see my DD with a bottle, it was really distressing and I just didn't see the big deal personally.

DD has great teeth btw.

KTNoo · 16/12/2008 18:26

I think as long as you know they are not drinking milk in faviour of eating food as they get older then there's nothing to worry about.

I think my dc went from drinking milk 3 times a day to twice a day around 12 months so their eating must have improved around then as it seemed the natural thing to cut back on the milk, although it's a bit difficult to remember now.

You do have to watch it as they get nearer 2 - my dd would take milk over food if I let her but as they get older it doesn't give them all they need and not good for the speech muscles, as I already mentioned. Many of the 2 year olds I treated for language delay were milk addicts, drinking something like 4 or 5 bottles a day at age 2.

littleboyblue · 16/12/2008 18:37

I always thought the reason we are encouraged to get rid of the bottle (and dummy) is because it apparently has an effect on speech development and teeth etc.
But as long as you brush dc's teeth......
And as for talking, I don't know any baby/child that has had thier speech affected from drinking from a bottle, like I said my ds doesn't have a bottle and he can't talk at all.

CrushWithEyeliner · 16/12/2008 18:41

Interesting KT, although DD speech is way advanced she only has 2 bottles. I wonder why it affects the speech in that way; it wouldn't if the baby was BF surely and that is a sucking reflex....or is that different? -genuine question-

PanicPants · 16/12/2008 18:41

Ds, who was very attached to a bottle, was very easily weaned off it at 12 months...it's easier than you think. I cut out the mid day bottle first and replaced it with a beaker with a soft spout, (and, at the same time replaced formula with cows milk)., then 2 days later did the morning bottle, and then 2 days later did the evening bottle. Easy...Job done!

kittywise · 16/12/2008 18:44

My nearly three year old still has on e a couple of times a day. I'm not fussed , she's weaning herself off it. I really wouldn't stress

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