Getting rid of the bottles.

[iemma321q]

Hi all

My 20 month old ds still has two 240ml bottles of cow milk per day- one when he wakes up and one before he goes to sleep. I know that all the advice says that we should have stopped these a whole go and that they are no good for his teeth. However he really enjoys the milk and cuddles and I am struggling to get him to accept the milk from another type of cup. How did you all wean your children off these two bottles? What type of sippy cup or drinks container do you suggest I use to replace the bottles?

Thanks

I have always just gone cold turkey. With my 3 biggest I gave them two bottles a day until they're 18 months, same as you are doing. And then I just switch to sippy cups. They were all obsessed with bottles around this age, asking for them all the time etc which is one of the reasons we quit them. When they asked for the bottle I just said "no more bottles, drink in a cup now" and I swear, despite me dreading it with DC1 and thinking it was going to be so hard to get rid of them, it has never been a problem. All three just accepted it after asking a few times.

In terms of what cups, I've spent a fortune trying so many but actually think the basic tommee tippee ones with a free flowing spout are the best.

I don't think they will ever take as much milk from cups so once the bottles are gone there's a definite reduction but they don't need the milk at that age. My son never really took to milk from a cup and to this day doesn't drink milk (neither did I as a kid) and my two girls, 5 & 2 will have no milk some days and want pints of it the next!

A (disposable) straw - novelty value, still with cuddles though

Complete opposite here. Have let them stop when they wanted to. DS1 at 18 months, DS2 at around 3yrs (night time only from age 18 months though) and youngest is 21 months and still going strong morning and night.

I started giving ds milk in a sippy cup in the morning but just let him keep his evening bottle until he wanted to give it up. He was just about to turn 3. It took him 5 minutes to drink it and we brushed his teeth afterwards, he also ate really well so all of the 'issues' around bottles I didn't worry about too much.

Is it necessary to remove the milk? Genuine question - I thought it was a comfort thing and since many women especially in other cultures breastfeed until 2+, is there a reason they can't have bottles at that age?

My DD is 21 months and still has 2 bottles a day - one at nap time and one at bed time. I saw the NHS advice saying they should be dropping at 1 year and was frankly horrified - they are only babies!

cherries, there are a few issues associated with bottles:

• teeth. Their teeth need to be brushed after milk, so bottles shouldn't be left in cots (with milk or anything like juice in)and they're much like dummies in terms of teeth and speech.
• weight/nutrition. If an older child is having too much milk in addition to a full diet they can put on too much weight. They can also miss out on nutrients they should be getting from food if they have milk instead. Both of these can be true of breast milk too.

I concluded that ds having 220ml of milk once a day, that took him 5 minutes to drink with his teeth brushed after was a non issue!