Should I stop giving my 2 1/2 year old milk?

[stressed2007]

My 2 1/2 year old normally has about 1-2 bottles of full milk at bedtime. My s in law says due to tooth decay he should be having none by this stage. He is also getting quite pleasantly round and I an sure that full fat milk in large quantities is significant percentage calories.

So does my son need the milk at all ( he gets some at nursery)? He has a varied diet. Would it be better if I used semi skimmed milk? or milk watered down?

Thanks very much.

DD (2.4yo) drinks lots of milk and is very attached to both milk and bottle, especially at sleepy times of the day. But since she turned two I put her onto semi skimmed and I also make most of her bottles with half milk half water and she's absolutely fine with that. I'd give either or both a try and see how it goes.

Thanks. But medically should they be "having" this full fat milk?

No, there is no need for them to have full fat after 2 years old. They should stay on semi until 5 years so no skimmed. However, plenty of children still do drink full fat so there is no harm in it, IYSWIM, just chubbiness if they drink and eat lots.

I don't think they 'need' milk at this age if they are eating well but it certainly won't do any harm.

Its only to make sure they are getting enough fat / energy in their diet. If he eats cheese / yogurt etc I would guess he is. 2 bottles of milk at bedtime seems excessive. Does he need the bottle for comfort? Does he drink it quicklya nd brush his teeth afterwards?

Could you give him a beaker of milk before bed instead? Ds (3) has 'green' milk.

No he does n't as he goes to bed with it - bad isn't it.

How much fat should they have in their diet then?

I thought it was full fat until 5, maybe unless they had alot of cheese etc. My DS2 doesn't drink hardly any milk though. 2 bottles doesn't sound too much for this age, I just wouldn't give at bedtime (after teeth brushing), nor in a bottle. When DS1 was abit younger (he is 4 now) he would go to bed with a cup of milk and drink while I read a story, then we'd brush his teeth in bed so it still felt like he was having bedtime milk