bottle at bedtime - 18mths

[milkyman]

I want to wean ds off his bottle right before he sleeps because it is proving impossible to brush his teeth! What do others do? Obviously he'd still have milk but ideally in a beaker before his bath?

Just offer him a beaker instead, make it a exciting looking beaker and point out how lovely it is and how special it is. He may surprise you - my DD just took the beaker and drank it without a fuss and that was the end of the bottle.

Thanks. Would you give it before they go up to bed. He will not let me brush his teeth in his bedroom before sleep! It causes him to get in a state. He's more likely to let me brush before his bath.

My daughter won't drink milk from anything but a bottle and she has it in her cot before she goes to sleep... She's 22 months. I've tried umpteen times to get her to drink from a beaker but to no avail. She gets so upset - really distressed not angry. I've also got a four-month old so it's a battle I'm leaving be for the moment. She also drinks quite a bit of milk at bed time - 14-15ozs - so she has tea, bath, most of her milk, then we do her teeth, story and then in her cot with 4-5oz of milk. It's not ideal but I've got bigger fish to fry at the moment (I've got cancer).

I'm sorry to hear that becca. Puts it all in perspective.

Sorry to hear that becca - definitely not a battle worth having when so many other things going on.

Milkyman - we have a beaker of milk with books and in the night garden at 6.30 until 6.50. I then take her beaker, and then she has her teeth cleaned in the bathroom and then goes to bed. Can you brush his teeth in the bathroom or would he get upset?

We give our 19 month old twins their milk downstairs before bath and bed. They had it in a bottle until 16 months, when I started giving them milk in a sippy cup they didn't complain at all. We brush teeth upstairs after bath & pajamas.

In the morning they have a sippy cup of milk in their cots.

I was more worried about the milk on his teeth than him having a bottle as he still was having one up until 2 in bed. I let him have his milk in a bottle before bath, brushed teeth then warm water in a bottle just to settle him. Maybe worth a try, just made me feel less worried about it all sat on his teeth.

We've swapped his bedtime drink to warm water, still in a bottle. He took it without a murmur! He has some milk earlier before bath & teeth but the water is just to get him off to sleep as the sucking action seems to start his eyes closing.