2 year old still takes a bottle - how to get rid

[kitkat321]

Firstly, I recognize this is not ideal and I know I'm a bit of a bad mother for letting this go on so long.

My just turned 2 year old still wants a bottle at night - isn't fussed during the day and drinks water from a cup although has never really liked milk from a cup.

At night as soon as she's been bathed she just want's her bottle - I've tried giving her the milk in a cup and she has a meltdown :(

I have significantly reduced the amount of milk she gets in the bottle and she doesn't go to sleep with it - in fact she usually hops up on our bed and drinks it while we tell her a story or watch a cartoon before bedtime.

Are there any cups that might work to help transition her from the bottle - or do we go cold turkey and deal with the tantrums for a few days?

I do want her to still drink the milk though - she's turned into a bit of a fussy eater and knowing she gets a drink of milk at night makes me feel a bit better about the fact that she's barely touched dinner!

My DD had a bottle until she was 2 as well. I bought her one of the Nuby cups with a soft straw and she uses that for her evening milk and seemed to transition to it without problems (we tried a few before). I shouldn't worry too much though.

Ds would never take a bottle but happily glugs milk from.his nuby grip n sip cup. It's got a soft spout, and doesn't tend to leak until they get a bit worn.

My dcs had a night time bottle till between 3-4 years old. Don't worry about it.

I haven't read the whole thread so someone might have already suggested this but I told my dd that there was a bottle fairy who came along at night and took bottles from the children who didn't need them anymore as they were becoming grown up and they would leave her a little present. It worked a treat for my dd.

Another here whose 2.5 year old still has it. He has a bottle in the morning with milk (and his vitamins) and sometimes in the evening. Drinks water through the day. Figured he would just stop himself which has happened with most things I worry about!

Why does it matter?

It's really not a problem. My dd1 was prem and we carried on with a bottle until she was almost four! Frankly, the worry of her having a bottle was a lot less than the joy of getting a pint of milk into her each day!

By the end, we were cutting holes in the top of the bottle teats!

Ds is 22m still has a bottle of milk at night I'm not worried about it he associates it with bedtime and generally takes the full bottle. He doesn't have water or juice given to him in a bottle during the day its purely a bed time thing. I will give him milk during the day from a cup but he only sips at it and rarely drinks a large amount of it.
I found with my older 2 they drop it when they're ready too

Thanks for the replies - glad to see so many others still giving a bottle at that age and beyond. My health visitor had made a comment on it previously which is why I was worried about it but she does get her teeth brushed afterwards.

I must be a terrible mother then my 2 year old takes his bottle to bed with him. I asked the dentist about it and she wasn't particularly fussed. She said milk is better than juice before bed. My four year old still takes a bottle to bed but leaves it on his bed side table untouched. I've tried a few times to stop giving it to him but it upsets him because his brother has one. It's not a big deal. There are bigger problems to worry about