When did your DC drop their milk?

[likeacrow]

DD (nearly 16 months) still has a good 7-8oz of slightly warmed cows milk from a bottle at bed time. She didn't want any last night, so wondering if she might be about to drop it completely. (She has milk in cereal etc plus yogurt & cheese through the day but won't take cold milk as a drink on its own or from a cup.)

What age did your DCs drop their milk feeds completely and was it of their own accord or did you wean them off it?

(I'm aware official advice is to stop bottle feeding completely at 1 year old and offer milk from a cup instead. More interested in personal experiences.)

My DS is 20 months and still having 4-5oz of warmed milk from a bottle too so I’m interested to know too

Mine were all different - one stopped at 18 months, the middle child was nearly 3!! And dc3 stopped at about 12 months. Two of them breastfed and one bottle.

@Cheesenacho123 Will your DS drink cold milk throughout the day?

@OutofTyme Did they just start having less and less then refusing it?

My DC was obsessed with her bottle of milk before bed until she was around 20-24 mths and then gradually drank less and less until one day simply refused it!
She has milk in her cereal and occasionally will drink it from a cup but isnt as keen (she’s 3 now).

My three DC all stopped having milk feeds around a year. A mixture of my decision and theirs!

DS1 stopped having his bedtime bottles at 3 nearly 4 IIRC. I was a bit anxious about it until his key worker at nursery said her little sister still had one at 5 and was normal in every respect, and then my mum's friend said her (now adult, utterly delightful) daughter used to have an occasional comfort one at 12 😄
I stopped worrying about it after that. It's no biggie and can be very soothing for a little person, both the ritual and the sucking. Very few kids go to university still drinking out of a bottle with a teat.

My DTBs are 2y 4m and still have a bottle before nap and one before bedtime when they're at home. Just proper cups at nursery though.

I think it's often easier to keep them hydrated in hot weather using bottles / straws as you can get more liquid in that way over little sips from a cup.

Ds1 stopped his bedtime milk around 20 months. I started giving it before going up for his bath rather than just before bed and after that he fairly quickly just stopped drinking what I gave him.

He still has morning milk now at almost 5.

Ds2 is 13 months and still having it morning and bedtime, although I've just switched to a beaker. Around 18/20 months I will repeat what I did with ds1 and start giving it before going up for the night.

We just swapped bottles with a cup of milk at bedtime at 12 months.

(By bedtime I mean before they went up for their bath/teeth brush)

My dd has it in a bottle till 11 months and a cup till 2.5.
DS never liked it and always fought milk. I gave up at 11 months (formula then a months attempt at cows) to all of our reliefs. He's 3 now and still doesn't like it apart from on cereal

I stopped breastfeeding DD at 14 months and she's not had any bedtime milk since then. I originally intended to start her with cow's milk instead but she didn't take it and I've since seen advice saying not to bother as it's bad for their teeth.

She still has a couple of cups of milk in the morning and sometimes one at lunch.

My 7 year old still likes a glass of milk at bedtime. Not out of a bottle, obviously!

Stopped bottles at a year. Switched to a cup of cows milk first thing and before bed (we do teeth after the milk). He’s 2.5 and still has this set up.

It was a good age 3.5 for mine, although I swapped the baby bottle for a lidded toddler bottle with a single spout (a round fixed spout, not a square flip-up spout - still Tommee Tippee) at around 3.

It doesn't do any harm, if they enjoy it and find it comforting. They still liked the baby milks (e.g. Aptimil) although I went between that or semi or full fat normal milk because it was cheaper!

I found it was useful that they still liked the baby milks for on days where they maybe didn't feel like eating as much, or were off-colour, as they would still get plenty of nutrients from that.

DD was having bedtime milk from a bottle until she turned 2. This coincided with one of the teats breaking so I told her that there’d be no more bottles and gave her milk in a cup instead. She drank it from a cup for about a week and then said she didn’t want milk at bedtime anymore.

DC1 gave up milk completely at around a year, DC2 was still having some in a cup at bedtime until maybe 18 months.

My 20 month old still has 3 bottles a day! No idea how to cut it down

Hanuman one at a time and replace with a cup (of milk or water) and a snack?

So interesting to read how much variety there is here. My son stopped taking a bottle at 12 months easily as per guidelines and at nearly 3 has milk morning and evening In a cup. but my daughter is 16 months old and we really struggled to get her off the bottle - she was so attached to it. She's finally - after several attempts- started taking it in a cup this week but still has more milk than recommended amount.
As others have said, no kids start uni drinking from a bottle still. This thread makes me realise it was probably a bit unnecessary of me to worry about it!

My DS is 19 months and still has 3 bottles a day. I know it's recommended to move on to beakers but I see no need.

He drinks water from a beaker during the day. Having a bottle when he wakes up and goes to bed is a comfort thing and part of his very solid bed time routine.

I find he drinks far more milk from a bottle then a beaker and since milk is so good for them I see no harm at all.

His third bottle is usually around 4pm when he wakes from his nap a little thirsty. I feel I could/should probably cut this one out though.

My son was an absolute milk guzzler!!! Finally dropped his bedtime milk at about 3! He's now nearly 4 and sometimes still asks haha! Milk is good for them, the only reason I dropped it was to help with night time toilet training. If they like their milk I don't see a reason why you should drop it (unless it's for a reason of course :) )

I think as long as you make sure you do their teeth after their milk and before bed it’s not really an issue what they drink it from. The problem comes from letting toddlers go to bed with milk on their teeth.

Hi, mine just all stopped suddenly - like overnight pretty much.

Ds switched to a cup of milk 1/2hr before bed/story around 12 months.

Thanks for responses all. Really interesting. DD has her milk from a bottle straight before bed, after brushing teeth, so I think we need to look at changing this. Just so used to her having it last thing that I'm worried she won't go to sleep without it, but she probably will.