Help - 1 year old will not drink milk from beaker or cup

[custard1]

Hello,

I have been told by health visitors to give 1 year old her morning and evening milk from a beaker, however have tried several times and she is completely hysterical and will not entertain the idea. I have only tried in the morning as thought this would be easiest. This morning she has had no milk (as she would not drink it from a beaker or cup) and I have given her breakfast early. Is that OK? If she does not drink her milk in the morning is that alright?

She will drink water and juice from a beaker and cup all through the day and I have tried different beakers.

I am scared of even attempting trying at night as she has such a good bedtime routine and know this will create such huge hysteria.

Advice is greatly needed.

Why not let her have it in a bottle if that's what she wants? 2 bottles a day isn't going to do her any harm.

My dd is nearly 2 and refuses to give up her bottle, so will be watching this thread with interest.

She really really looks forward to her morning and bedtime milk and cries and cries if it comes in a cup (although she will drink happily from a cup the rest of the time).

What I don't get is why the HVs tell us to get the DCs off bottles at 1 year, but on the other hand we're encouraged to BF until they're 4.

Is it really developmentally harmful for a small child to keep their bottle?

let her have her milk from her bottle. My ds is 18 months and still has milk from bottle morning and night time. During day he drinks water from cup and it is fine..

It's a comfort thing.. I personally think it is fine up to say age 2 or 2.5. They'll drop it themselves around then. or you can just start to offer it less and less until it is forgotten..it is no big deal in the grand scheme of things..

will she drink milk from a beaker at other times in the day? try it, she may not associate it as wrong at that time, then she'll gradually accept that taste from a beaker.

saying that my 20mo has milk from a bottle. she still wakes in the night, which is worse as i give her one then too which IS bad - for teeth.

Completely agree with everyone else - let her have her bottle!!

What HV 'tell' you isn't the law so you don't have to follow it - just go with what you and your DD are comfortable with. I have a friend whose DD is 3.5 and still has milk in a bottle at night so don't worry!!!

Just carry on, ignore the HV. Nothing bad will happen.

try getting your lo used to milk in a cup during the day along with a snack. Once they start taking more and more from that cup then start substituting one of the other bottles for the cup too. I did this with ds from the age of 9 months and he was off bottles by 10 1/2 months (I substituted a day bottle feed for a cup feed but gave it to him in his highchair along with a biscuit so he could feed it to himself - once he was ok with one feed I started changing the other feeds into the cup too)