ok, ok....when are they supposed to stop having bottles...and how much milk are they supposed to drink??

[Notyummy]

My dd is 12 months. She was fully bf up to six months, and then mixed fed until 8 months when she was fully bottle fed. She now takes 2 bottles of cows milk a day (between 12 and 16 ozs a day). She has one when she first gets up in the morning and one before bed at night. She drinks water out of a sippy cup for the rest of the day and her weight/health/eating are fine.

I seem to be seeing from various sources that she 'should' be off bottles by now because of tooth decay/speech development issues. She is never left with a bottle and we clean her teeth morning and night. We have tried giving her milk out of a cup, but she gets VERY upset and rejects it. I was thinking of going cold turkey on the morning bottle and only offering it from a cup...I'm sure it won't kill her, and I imagine she will just eat more for breakfast. My only concern is, how much milk are they suposed to have? If I go hardcore on the morning (and evening eventually)bottles and she keeps on refusing them, then she will probably only have about 3ozs a day (and will probably not settle at night......)

Advice and thoughts please!

Don't worry about the bottle issue.
My ds had one at night until he was two.
Nothign wrong with his teeth or speech.

oh and they should be having 20oz of full fat a day but that can be in food too

Personally I let my children finish with a bedtime bottle when THEY were ready - both were around 2 years old. I then had no problems stopping. I seem to remember the magic figure of 1 pint (20 fl oz) of milk per day but this can include things like yogurt and cheese. Let your instinct guide you and don't pay too much heed to what the 'experts' say. x

I'd just wait a bit longer and see if she changes her mind. DS had a bottle morning and evening until he was two, then one day said he wanted it in a cup (he was drinking from a cup during the day), and this week (he's two and a half) has told me that he doesn't want milk in the morning or evening any more because it is for babies!

my dc are 18m, 3 and 4 (just). they all still have bottles at night and when they fancy it in the day.
i planned to get them off them and ont cups too...but it never happened. doesnt seem to be hurting anyone...

My dd1 had a bottle at night until 2 and a half when dd2 came along we agreed she was a big girl and out it went. Don't worry about the teeth or speech I think that's an example of advice catering to people who may otherwise leave bottles wedged in mouths for a quiet life!

THanks all. That all seems to make sense. She got so irate about her morning milk being in a cup, that we caved after 4 days (dh is softer than me and was nearly in tears himself!) However we know she can drink from a cup, so I guess one day she will want to be a 'big girl'!

As soon as ds1 could sit up we gave him a cup with water more for play than anything. It wasn't until he was 16 months that he was able to fully work the cup and drink out of it.

DS1 still had his evening milk from a bottle until he was over 2yrs old (all other drinks from a cup from about 14-15 months).

Sorry to be a bit thick - but when you say milk do you mean formula or cows milk? How much formula milk should an 19 mth be drinking?

I think anywhere between 16 and 24 oz. But it depends on the day some days ds (23 months) has more and others less.

Thanks for this post notyummy. My dd is 13 months and still getting a bottle morning and evening. I too tried to get her on to a cup like a good mummy following all the advice, but she wouldn't drink milk (formula) from a cup even tho she is quite happy to drink water from a cup. I decided it was more important that she got enough milk.
I've now started offering her cow's milk from a cup in the day and sometimes she'll spit it out, and sometimes she'll gulp quite a bit down. But she'll never guzzle a whole cup of milk the way she would from a bottle.
I think I'm going to move to a cup in the morning and not worry too much if it means she drinks less milk, and keep the bottle at night..as others say, she can give it up in their own time.

motherof z. My understanding is that after 12 months they can go on to cows milk entirely unless it disagrees with them, so my dd is currently on about 16 ozs of that a day, plus milk on cereal and yoghurt/cheese most days.

My godson had a bottle of milk at bedtime occasionally until he was nearly 7!

I think it's only leaving them with a bottle that's a problem.

Take the line of least resistance I say!

full fat cows milk is fine from 12 months and from then the minimum required is around 350mls (about 12 oz). This doesnt have to all be in the form of a drink as any milk with cereal, in foods, dairy products, etc all count too. They dont have to drink much milk at all (if any) as long as they have other sources of the same nutrients. My dd was off bottles by 14 months and I am aiming to do the same with ds (10 months) - he has already had some milk feeds from a cup during the day so I know he is willing/able to take milk from a cup if required.

ds is 2 and still has a beaker of milk morning and night. not sure if we are supposed to brush his teeth before bedtime though? they get brushed before the milk at the mo. well. i say brushed. he chews the toothpaste off the brush