When did you stop using a bottle?

SoupDragon · 25/08/2003 19:29

DS2 gave his up at around 2. He only had it at bedtime anyway though and I didn't have a problem with that.

tinyfeet · 25/08/2003 19:56

DD stopped at 13 months exactly. I also don't like the sight of a toddler with a bottle but I do think this is a personal preferance. She still drinks milk, but from a beaker. I hid all the bottles the day she turned 13 months.

bunny2 · 25/08/2003 20:30

Twiglett, my son when mad when I finally cut out his morning bottle of milk. He was nearly 3 and I did it to encourage him to eat a proper breakfast rather than gorge on milk. He said exactly the same as yours "I'm a baby, I want a bottle". We had days of tears before the message got through. He still has a nighttime bottle though, it is part of his routine and helps him settle. Apart from his morning and night bottles, he has used a beaker in the day since he was about 2. If ds was ill/dehydrated/badly constipated I would let him have a drink in a bottle, it's comforting.

Ghosty · 25/08/2003 21:14

Twiglett ...
My stopped having milk during the day from about 12 months ... but continued to have bottles in the morning and at bedtime. I think I cut out the morning one at about 18 months and he continued with his bedtime one until he was just over 3. I told him one day that his bottle was broken and that he could have milk in a beaker ... and he accepted that quite well to start with. After a few days he asked for his bottle back and I said he couldn't have it as it was broken ... he complained for about a week and then gave up.
I stopped giving him milk at bedtime altogether when he was 3 and a half ... in order to encourage a dry bed. He moaned for a bit about that but got used to it eventually.
He now has milk again during the day ... but in a glass with his morning tea ....

honeybunny · 25/08/2003 21:29

Both my ds's gave up their bottle at around 14 or 15 mo. Mainly because I was concerned about the effects bottle feeding has on teeth and also because I'd been warned of the potential battlefield of this one. DS1 is now 2.10mo and still has a post supper/bedtime beaker of milk. He's been dry overnight for 3months now. If he needs a wee in the night he gets up and uses the potty. So late "liquid" hasnt caused us any problems. The bottle dropping didnt either. both were quite happy to use a beaker, much faster flow I think probably helped!

jasper · 25/08/2003 23:07

Twiglett I personally don't lke seeing toddlers with bottles. One toddler in particular - my dd who will soon be three and still wants her milk (but nothing else)from a bottle.
On the principle of choosing our battles (bottles?)I just let her get on with it.

robinw · 26/08/2003 07:45

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codswallop · 26/08/2003 07:55

a year bang on. and I dont feed them after 12 months either. so its chaos all round

Azure · 26/08/2003 08:44

My DS (2 tomorrow) still has a bottle before bed, which I hate but am reluctant to change because it is part of his routine. We cut out his wake-up bottle at 16ms and he has been drinking water from a beaker for well over a year. I have tried putting a beaker-style top on the bottle instead of the teat but he wasn't fooled for an instant. As we brush his teeth before his milk, I know it's really bad, but it's going to be v. difficult.

Lindy · 26/08/2003 08:44

I mixed fed until 8 months - then I decided that I was giving up breast I would give up the bottle as well and DS immediately went on to beakers with formula - I just gave him no choice and perhaps because he was so young it was no big deal and we had no battles over the bottle. It does seem that the longer you leave it the harder it gets - but, if it doesn't bother you is it worth the battle?

Original poster

twiglett · 26/08/2003 08:57

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OP posts:

wickedstepmother · 26/08/2003 11:09

My DD, who turned 12 mths on the 8th of Aug, has 2 milk feeds a day. They are both out of a 'bottle' but they don't have teats on them, we use the green 6m+ toddler spouts from Avent. We've had no problem with the change from teats to spouts and to be honest my DD didn't even seem to notice. Although we did have to try 4 different types of toddler spout/cup before we settled with the Avent. I'm sure that I'm one of the lucky ones and that it really does depend on your child.

At the complete other end of the scale, my StepDS had a bottle until he was 5 ( a comfort thing). It must have been infuriating for DH as he was keen for SDS to give it up but DH's ex-wife used to just keep giving him the bottle for a quiet life (she has admitted this).

On the subject of 'I'm a baby...', I think this is a fairly common stage in toddler-hood. Kind of a final farewell to the baby years. Try not to worry too much about it.

P.S. Apologies to those who are seeing this for the second time, I posted it on the other thread too.

runragged · 26/08/2003 19:41

Can I hide my head in shame and admit that my dd still has a bottle and she is 3.5! However, she only has milk at bedtime sometimes and wants to be like ds so I don't make an issue of it, they can both give it up together soon. Also she drinks the milk in about 20 seconds flat so I can't see any lasting damage from it.

tamum · 26/08/2003 19:50

Twiglett, robinw is quite right, milk can be very harmful too, the lactose in milk can promote the growth of bacteria that cause tooth decay. If your ds carries on having a bottle at night he should really clean his teeth afterwards or his teeth will be bathed in it all night. Sorry to sound sanctimonious, just better safe than sorry!

Beccaroll · 26/08/2003 19:51

Ill join you runragged in confession!!! It may make you feel better to know that my daughter is 3.10 and still has her bedtime bottle.

It makes me feel SO guilty and crap sometimes but then I just get on with it!

3GirlsMum · 26/08/2003 20:10

All my dd's were never given juice in a bottle and had water until they were on a beaker which was at six months. I stopped giving them their milk in a bottle at about 12 months and instead gave it to them in a beaker which they were happy to use having already been used to it with the water/juice. Im sorry but I hate seeing older kids with bottles of juice stuck in their mouth just makes me think of the harm its doing to their teeth.

LIZS · 26/08/2003 20:10

wickedstepmother,

Can I ask whether you find it a pain to keep the green spouts clean. I'm still using the old white ones (far better imho) but dd has chewed her way through most of them now. My green one, used for water only on an Avent cup, went all black under the valve and even though have dismantled it the dishwasher cannot get it clean. Can you use them ok without the valve as would hate milk to get caiught in the same way ?

wickedstepmother · 26/08/2003 20:25

I've not found there to be a whole lot of difference between the green and white Avent spouts in terms of ease of cleaning. Although I did have a similar thing to you with the white ones where there was a bit of black mould appearing. It was a one off though because it was as a result of the cup being left in the bottom of a bag with juice for about 4 days. I just soaked it in boiling soapy water with a splash of milton and it came off.

I should think that the spouts would work perfectly fine without the little 2 piece valve but they obviously wouldn't be non-spill anymore. You do know that you are supposed to dismantle the entire spout into 3 pieces (the green spout, the hard disc and the soft rubbery disc) in order to get it properly clean after every use don't you ? I have never had any probs with them in the dishwasher, so long as you make sure that the spout is dismantled completely.

HTH
WSM

LIZS · 26/08/2003 20:39

hi wsm,

Not fussed about the non-spill aspect as milk is not really in there long enough to worry . Old white ones were just pour down the throat anyway so that is what she is used to. I used to put the green one in the d/washer but no didn't bother to dismantle it every time as only ever contained water - never bothered dd though !! Instructions were in german, that's my excuse anyway!

thanks for the info

wickedstepmother · 26/08/2003 20:58

Oh, that's odd. My white ones are exactly the same as the green ones with the little valve attachment, the only difference being that the green ones are less flexible.

LIZS · 26/08/2003 21:05

wsm

The white ones are left over from ds, now 5, and I think were superseded by the non-spill ones about 2yrs ago. They were longer and more angled either soft with one hole or hard with 3 (dd has chewed this into one!). These come really clean in d/washer, better than teats even ,and no assembly required!!!

wickedstepmother · 26/08/2003 21:11

Ahhhhhhhh, that explains it

jasper · 27/08/2003 00:00

not strange at all RobinW but nice of you to show concern

aloha · 27/08/2003 10:08

My ds didn't seem very attached to his bottle and I can't even remember how we made the final transition to non-spill cups. Now he usually has a morning drink of water from the glass by my bed and manages that well. However, he still sleeps with his dummy and has it during the day when tired, upset or when travelling. I don't believe these things matter that much. I mean, if they want their milk in a bottle it's not like giving them coke in a bottle is it? Surely if the issue is teeth, it's tooth cleaning and not giving lots of juice/sweets/coke that's the issue.

wickedstepmother · 27/08/2003 10:21

Yuck Robinw, I've just looked at that page

Normally DDs (12.5 mo) toothbrushing is a bit hit and miss (sometimes twice a day, sometimes not at all) because she hates it and clamps her mouth closed. Having seen that site I will now be extra vigilant.

I have very weak teeth (as does my mother - hereditary?) and would not want DD to have to go through as much painful and invasive orthodontic treatment as I have.