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Parenting

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Original poster

theoretically...your child is over 3..would you...

33 replies

StrawberryMoon · 18/09/2006 10:16

still be giving them a bottle of an evening..not a cup but still in avent bottle, layed back snuggled up same as when much younger...and still permanently having dummy????

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cupcakes · 18/09/2006 10:17

theoretically... no. No objection to comfort drink but would change to a hard spout from a teat. And no dummy.

Enid · 18/09/2006 10:18

I could care less tbh

but dh would put his foot down for sure

SSSandy · 18/09/2006 10:18

Would try to get off the bottle but don't think it's the end of the world.

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sugarfree · 18/09/2006 10:19

I think it's no-ones business but your own tbh.

hunkermunker · 18/09/2006 10:21

Dunno.

Don't really care either way, it has to be said. Don't like seeing 4yos with teated bottles with coke in them, but other than that, nyah.

SSSandy · 18/09/2006 10:21

When they're 3, you think they're too old for this and too old for that. Then when they're 6 and you look back on old photos, you think how very small they still were at 3

JosephineSmith · 18/09/2006 10:27

Not sure about the dummy, but a bottle of milk at three is not really any diff to breast feeding at three is it? comforts the child the same. And i think that is great.

eidsvold · 18/09/2006 10:27

do whatever makes you and the little one feel happy and content - all that matters.

trinityshiftingherleatheryarse · 18/09/2006 10:29

dd1 was 3and a half when she gave up her bottle for a pussy cat cuop she took a liking to
dd2 is 18 months and can drink out of a spouted cup but still has her borttle most of the time and will do till she doesn't care for it anymore

Bugsy2 · 18/09/2006 10:29

Have no issue whatsoever with an evening bottle. Think we are obsessed in this country with forcing children to "grow up".
A permanent dummy by 3 is not such a great idea. My DD had her dummy until she was 4 (not permanently in her mouth but at night & when she was very grizzly) and the dentist pointed out that it was pulling her teeth out of alignment. However, teeth all back to where they should be now 6 months later & in her new dummy free world!

TambaTheDragonSlayer · 18/09/2006 10:32

DS1 is 4.5 and has a bottle of hot chocolate for bed

The wierd thing is, he didnt ever have a single bottle until he was 3.5 and I had no clean beakers and he just loved it and now insists on having one for bed!

DS2 is 2.5 and has bottles of milk for his nap and bedtime and also has a dummy.

I think there are more importnant things to worry about and am not going to get stressed over it

mummydoc · 18/09/2006 10:34

strawberrymoon - there is no rights and wrongs about parenting ( even fruitshoots and sausage rolls - though some mumsnetters may disagree ) if you are happy with your LO having a snuggly bottle and a dummy who cares what anyone else thinks ! have confidence in how you feel about it and oyur own parenting, i am sure dummy or no dummy you are still the very best parent your lo could have!

daisy1999 · 18/09/2006 10:37

Personally I wouldn't give them a bottle after 12-18months. Dummies were never a problem as my dd's didn't like them. If someone else wants to give a bottle to their children it wouldn't bother me.

Clary · 18/09/2006 10:40

The reason bottles are not a great idea at an older age is because of nursing bottle caries - ie tooth decay brought about because of all the sugary milk washing about their teeth.

That said, I don't guess one bottle a night is the end of the world if it helps lo get to sleep.

Rosylily · 18/09/2006 14:01

my dd will be 4 in jan. She loves her milky bottle. I haven't got the heart to get it off her. I just try and make sure teeth get well cleaned often. I used to suck my fingers til age 11 and I still remember how comforting it was.

Original poster

StrawberryMoon · 18/09/2006 14:46

can i just say how kind and supportive you have all been, unfortunatly its not me who should be recieveing my kind words but my friend..she is very concerned about these things and me being me, i knew where i could get the best advice from!..ll let her know what you girls said..thanks again...p.s it was my dd who chucked bottles and dummies at early age, so i dont proclaim to be better than anyone, dd did it on her own

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Issymum · 18/09/2006 14:50

We had exactly the same advice from the dentist when DD1 was 4 - dump the dummy as it was causing her teeth to buck and could even affect the placement of her adult teeth. Her teeth are fine now. DD1 (5.5) and DD2(4) still have the occasional bottle of milk and DD2 will sometimes still snuggle like a baby with it. I can see it only as a positive, secure, bonding thing (provided it's before bedtime teeth-cleaning!).

Twiglett · 18/09/2006 14:55

DS did till he was 3

I tried before to get him to give up but made no headway

So I waited until I could bribe him and did

(he wanted a slide, we said 'no darling you can't have a slide' and bought him some lego .. he opened his lego and said 'oo lego ... .. am I having this whilst I wait for my slide?' .. at which point we bought him a slide too)

btw DD was never allowed a bottle at all

Gobbledigook · 18/09/2006 14:57

I wouldn't but it's entirely up to you, lots of people do.

Mine were all off bottles by 11 months-ish.
With dummies - ds1 had his at night till his 4th birthday - he announced he didn't need it and that was that. Ds2 just decided he didn't want his when he hit about 2 and ds3 never had one.

HuwEdwards · 18/09/2006 14:58

My nearly 4yo, sucks her thumb altho usually only when tired, but prob no diff from a dummy (and at least at some point you can throw a bloody dummy out. Bottle? no, but at 3, they are still v.little.

StitchtheCrafter · 18/09/2006 14:59

dd is 3.5. has a bottle in the morning in front of cbeebies.

Bozza · 18/09/2006 15:00

No I wouldn't. I never gave either of mine dummies and they were both off bottles by 12 months. DD has just about given up any form of lidded cup at 2.3 but does use sports bottles if we are out and about. But then so do I, and so does 5yo DS.

Pinotmum · 18/09/2006 15:05

Iirc dd was still having a bottle of milk at 3.5 yo but dummy had gone at least a year earlier. Once bottle went her milk consumption dwindled - which wasn't a bad thing for her luckily.

bluejelly · 18/09/2006 15:21

My bro had one till he was 4. He is totally normal in every way! Can't see it being a prob at all

lemonaid · 18/09/2006 15:22

Theoretically, no (both would be habits I'd have hoped to have given up much earlier when it would be easier). But practically, if they were in the swing of it and it made them happy I wouldn't rock the boat. Both sound like things the DC in question will give up on their own when they are ready. I suspect DS may still be nursing in the evening when he's three, which would make a lot of people go "yeuch", so I am not going to knock what other people's DCs do for comfort.

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