When to drop the bottle

[lemorella]

Dc is 17 months and we have been happily giving two bottles of cold cows milk a day (before nap time and before bedtime) for months. It works, dc sleeps well and it's the signifier that sleep time is about to happen. I've just read some NHS guidance that I shouldn't use bottles anymore because they contribute to tooth decay.

Water throughout the day is given in a sippy cup. Anything without a lid will just end up poured all over my floor. We aren't there yet.

What are my bottle alternatives? Also milk was the last thing in my routine before bed, how do I switch things so baby is wound down and ready for bed without milk being the last thing I do

Give milk in a sippy cup during story time.

Both mine (3 and 21months) have milk in a sippy cup at bed time

Yes, milk in a sippy cup by that age.

Stop giving milk at bed time, a cuddle and a story instead.
You don’t want to be giving fluids before bed when you’re wanting them to be dry at night.

Milk in a sippy cup. My nearly 7yo still loves to chug away on a milky cup.

Sippy cup is the way to go.

@FippertyGibbett

Stop giving milk at bed time, a cuddle and a story instead. You don’t want to be giving fluids before bed when you’re wanting them to be dry at night.

Makes no difference. 3 year old has been dry at night since we started potty training and has 2 cups of milk before bed.

It made a massive difference to mine.

Mine still has one bottle of milk a day (he is 4 years old next month!)

He understands that 'when children turn 4, that they can't have bottles any more '

I've had worries about it. Worried about teeth, judgement etc.. But in reality, his teeth are excellent. What harm is one small bottle of milk per day doing him? (Noone else other than myself and my husband know)

I started giving milk earlier on so that i could clean DDs teeth before she went to bed. DD was very attached to her bottle so in the end we had to go cold turkey on the bottle and just give milk in a straw cup that she liked but as I’d already broken the association with bedtime it didn’t have an effect on her going to sleep.

I just brush his teeth after his bottle

It isn't as straightforward as the pattern of decay that prolonged bottle use causes, it also relates to how infant teeth are positioned, leading to malaligned adult teeth and oral development for speech.

My 2 year old has milk from a bottle before bed and then I brush his teeth afterwards.

@Dowermouse

Can’t imagine that’s the case for one bottle of milk which takes 3 min to drink and then teeth brushed.

My 20 month old still gets a bottle as soon as he wakes up and going to bed. He will not drink milk from a cup whatsoever. I was the same when little and had a bottle until I was 4. It didn't do any harm at all to my teeth or speech x

As long as you clean their teeth after bottles are fine for a bit longer.

Also, milk before bed is fine even with potty training when you get there. If you struggling to get them drybover night maybe get rid of milk then, but why PP are suggesting doing it early for no reason i don't know.

If you want to stop bottles, tommee tiopee free flow cup is great, no real spilage and really cheap!

My 16 mo has milk in a bottle downstairs after tea, so it is in no way associated with sleep. She happily sips water throughout the day.

She won't drink milk from any other cup (tried loads) and as it's how we give vitamins, I'm happy to compromise on the bottle for now. I will revisit when she's a bit older. Parenting is all about picking your battles, and this just isn't something that bothers me just now.

Thanks all. Swapped bottle for sippy cup at nap time and it was fine.

I think I'll hold on to the bedtime bottle for a little bit longer but will give it earlier and then clean teeth.

Whilst we aren't close to potty training yet I will bear in mind giving a big drink right before bed for that, I hadn't even considered it!

Thanks all.

Mine is 19m and still has 2 bottles a day. I have tried every cup going and she will drink water from anything but will not have milk out of anything but a bottle. Tried just offering milk in a cup and not giving in and giving a bottle and she steadfastly ignored it and went without her milk. If only it was as simple as just moving to a sippy cup 😭 we do do teeth after the bedtime bottle though.

I think there’s a lot of unnecessary worry about this. DS is 19 months and still has a bedtime bottle, all the people I know with toddlers his age still have bottles at bedtime. It’s in his mouth for about 5 minutes and he brushes his teeth after. He likes it in his bottle, and it means it doesn’t go all over the place. I’ll probably change it before he’s 2, or when he stops spilling / leaking every cup we try all over himself.

He has a half cup of milk when he wakes, from a sippy cup.