ditched the bottle - ds not impressed

[Nappyzoneneedsanewname]

My ds 18/19 month old isnt a milk lover and never has been anyway but has had 8oz or thereabouts out of a bottle at bedtime consistently for some time. Through the day he drinks fluids out of a beaker or lidded cup but if i put milk in it he doesnt touch it only water.

Three nights now we have put his milk in a lidded beaker - first night he whined but then drank it all but a few oz - the 2nd and 3rd night he has had a sip then chucked the beaker and cried. On both occasions i have adopted the well if you dont want it dont have it rule and put him straight to bed where after a short moan he has gone of to sleep as normal.

Through the day he will have 2 yogurts and a fair bit of milk i suppose soaked into his 2 weetabix for brekky but other than that none.

Should i back heel and let him cont. with his 8oz bedtime bottle or would you stick to your guns to eradicate it.......

Why do you wnt to get rid of it? One bottle a day isn't going to do him any harm, is it? And if it's a comfort and part of bed time I would stick with it. My ds had a bottle at bed time until he was nearly 4!

Its a teeth thing, washing bottles thing , wanting him to just sit and peacefully drink out of a beaker thing....hmmm

Stick to your guns. If he needs more milk he will drink it out of a beaker. My daughter refused all milk for over a week when we did this but then relented. A few days with less milk will not do any harm and he will start drinking his bedtime milk again soon.

Thanks scarey thats reassuring - hes a stubborn little toad so I was reluctant to back track tbh - thats because im a stubborn toad to i guess lol.

One bottle won't hurt his teeth, one bottle's not hard to wash - and what's wrong with him sitting drinking milk peacefully out of a bottle?

[slack mummy emoticon]

I too stopped my 19 month ds drinking from the bottle at night. During the day he drank from the beaker and sippy cup, so one night i just gave him a beaker he drank a bit, then after a days he loved drinking his milk from a beaker before his bathtime . As opposed to just before he fell asleep.So much easier.

He doesnt sit peacefully with a bottle - he lays like a newborn - was trying to you know in still some big boy independence. Im sure it wont harm his teeth but i dont want to have to pack bottles and worry if they are clean enough if we go on holiday or camping.....

He's only little - if it gives him comfort and makes him happy to have his bottle like a newborn then let him - he's not that far off and maybe he doesn't want to be a big boy yet!

Bottles are just as easy to wash on holiday as lidded beakers - I think you ahould pick your battles and this isn't one worth fighting.

I know i wanted him to move on but it seems he doesnt want to and i cant be done with bedtime dramas so have back tracked tonight even though dh said it was daft too. My dd gave em up at 4 months i kid you not and had everything out of a lidded beaker. I conceded they are different and I will broach the subject with him over a pint on his 18th birthday .

My DS1 was breastfed till he was 2 but started to want a bottle of milk at night when DS2 was born (DS2 also breastfed so not sure why).
He still has a bottle at 3.5 and his teeth are fine (he goes to the dentist every 6 months so I know this for sure).
Cant see the problem in letting your DS have a bottle - he is very young, if it comforts him then why not?

At least if he has his beer out of a bottle he won't spill it everywhere!

Seriously, don't be in too much of a hurry to move him on - he's only little.

My breastfed ds (19mo) started having a bottle of cows milk at bedtime a couple of months ago - he won't touch milk if it's in a cup although he'll happily drink water like that. I view it as a sleepy baby comfort thing & I don't worry about it, he'll stop eventually (it's hard to snuggle with a cup).