Toddler still has bottle of milk before bed

[pastasaucee]

My 17 month old still has one bottle of formula a day, which he drinks in his bedroom right before bed. It seems to help him wind down and relax before going into his cot.

I’m worried though that he’s too old for bottles and also that it could be damaging his teeth. I don’t brush them after milk as you’re meant to wait 20 minutes apparently, and that would completely disrupt his bedtime routine. Even brushing straight after milk wouldn’t work as he hates having them brushed and would be upset and agitated right before bed, which is not ideal. I’m so reluctant to change things up as he goes down really well like this, but I know I have to for the sake of his teeth more than anything.

Does anyone have any advice on what I can do and how?

Once I put the milk in a cup my LO didn’t want it and didn’t care to not have milk anymore

@OnlyFoolsnMothers The point is I want to keep up the milk, for calcium intake. I don’t want him to stop having milk.

My 16 month old still has a bottle of formula before bed (and 2 other times, morning and afternoon 🙄). Won’t touch cows milk either and won’t take formula from a cup. I just brush her teeth before bed. She has a bath, has her milk, plays for a bit or relaxes while I wind her down, brush teeth then into her cot.

@pastasaucee

Once I put the milk in a cup my LO didn’t want it and didn’t care to not have milk anymore

@OnlyFoolsnMothers The point is I want to keep up the milk, for calcium intake. I don’t want him to stop having milk.

Yes but u can up the calcium in the meals- introduce a cup of milk for breakfast etc

With the calcium thing, could you just try and add calcium in to meals, bit of grated cheese with lunch, a yogurt at breakfast, my two love frozen Greek yogurt lollies and have them for pudding most days after dinner. They are 3 and 19 months. You can make them with mashed up fruit in too for some extra vitamin c. Mine think they are actually eating ice cream when they have them 😂 I’ll let them keep believing that one as long as possible!

Can you not just stop giving a bedtime bottle?
There was no fuss with us when we did it.

We clean teeth in the bath then go up to his room and get dressed and get in bed.

With the calcium thing, could you just try and add calcium in to meals, bit of grated cheese with lunch, a yogurt at breakfast

Yes, he does have cheese and yoghurts. But I’m not sure it’s enough to reach the 350mg of calcium a day that they’re meant to have? He has cereal every other day so he’s probably fine on those days.

and won’t take formula from a cup.

Mine’s the same. I think he strongly associates milk with a bottle, he seems confused when it’s given in a cup!

If he is confused then surely just waiting til he’s a bit older and understands what you’re saying would be ok? My 3 y/o still had bottles of cow’s milk (has sometimes when DH forgets and gets her one!) up until the last 9 months or so when we explained that they are for babies and she was a big girl who needed a big girl cup. It was around the same time we moved her to a big girl toddler bed - maybe something like that would be a good transition? My littlest is 19 months and still has a bottle and to be honest I brush her teeth well and only give her water the rest of the time, I don’t worry about it. It’s one of those things you know they won’t be doing at 18.

@pastasaucee

With the calcium thing, could you just try and add calcium in to meals, bit of grated cheese with lunch, a yogurt at breakfast

Yes, he does have cheese and yoghurts. But I’m not sure it’s enough to reach the 350mg of calcium a day that they’re meant to have? He has cereal every other day so he’s probably fine on those days.

and won’t take formula from a cup.

Mine’s the same. I think he strongly associates milk with a bottle, he seems confused when it’s given in a cup!

We have sippy cups for water and a milky cup for milk. DS asks for milky cup before bed usually around 7ish, then we have books/tv, cuddles and bed about 745. Teeth done about 10 mins before bed and a final drink of water.

My littlest is 19 months and still has a bottle and to be honest I brush her teeth well

@hazandduck thanks. Do you brush her teeth after the bedtime bottle? I think that’s the key thing I have to start doing.

It's not an issue so don't worry about it.

My four year old still has a bottle of warm cow milks before bed, won't have it any other way. Drinks normally throughout the day so it's a comfort thing.

My 20 month old still has about six bottles of formula a day, he loves it and won't drink out of a sippy cup (unless it's water) and won't drink cows milk.

Quite honestly, with both of them - they give it up when they want to, it's not doing any harm.

As for brushing teeth, just do it after - it's better to brush after than not at all!

Mine are 15 & 11 years old & still have 1/2 pint of milk from a sucka mug (as not risking milk spillages on the bedding) whilst I read them a bedtime story - we're doing the Hitch Hikers Guide to the Galaxy atm. They only moved to brushing their teeth afterwards about 18 months ago - no fillings or issues with the dentist (though cows milk had less sugar than formula.) It had to be warmed in the microwave til they were about 6. It's a nice bed time routine & increases their calcium intake. So I'd tried to move to cows milk gradually but otherwise don't fuss.

My biggest issues was replacing our original sucka mugs as Playtex have stopped making them & ours gave up the ghost after a decade of use. I can recommend the Re-Play cups as they have an easily removable / washable valve.

Yes I would definitely find a way to get it so that teeth are brushed after. My toddler (special needs) had a bottle for ages at bedtime and as I was concerned about overall diet, I was happy for the formula to continue. However there was decay under his front baby tooth, which luckily went when it fell out but it was probably partly caused by the bottle of milk - which he took ages to drink.

My little boy is 25 months and still has a bottle of formula at bedtime. I brush his teeth a few minutes after. The Hey Duggee tooth brushing song helps!

@pastasaucee keep the bottle. Forget the brushing after.

My 2yo has several bottles a day before nap, before bed, and if he asks. He eats like a lion. We brush morning and evening. His teeth are fine and good quality diet and brushing are enough.

Please do not listen to people who say "it has to be done" because it's BS It does not have to be done. Anything that makes your baby happy is what has to be done, nothing else.

[quote ZooKeeper19]@pastasaucee keep the bottle. Forget the brushing after.

My 2yo has several bottles a day before nap, before bed, and if he asks. He eats like a lion. We brush morning and evening. His teeth are fine and good quality diet and brushing are enough.

Please do not listen to people who say "it has to be done" because it's BS It does not have to be done. Anything that makes your baby happy is what has to be done, nothing else.[/quote]

Milk is fine but you really can't skip brushing. If all you care about is happiness, there's no point brushing at all because no child enjoys it

It's truly not that hard to get into the habit. Mine is woken if she sleeps at night without brushing. We brush. She drops back asleep after.

Even if they don't settle immediately after, first time, that's what parenting is for

I switched from formula to cow´s milk and put cereal in it. She looked a bit weird at it the first time, the gave this "oh well" shrug and emptied it. She was three last month and we decided that by three she had to ditch the bottle. I stop putting cereal in it in July, so she drank less and less of it and finally used our holidays away to implement the change of routine. She has asked twice and got munchkin water cup instead and really hasn´t protested. Her teeth are fine.

My dentist told me never to brush after a bottle of milk because it brushes the milk sugars into the teeth. She said to brush before the bottle, and then follow the bottle with a drink of water to rinse the teeth as much as possible.

If all you care about is happiness, there's no point brushing at all because no child enjoys it

My 14 mo DC loves it! He has bottle of cows milk, then has a few sips of water as he is generally still thirsty for more, and it also washes away some of the milk. We then brush and it makes him giggle, and then he goes to sleep with a smile on his face

I also brush before his day nap.

My kids also love having their teeth brushed, and going to the dentist (stickers!)! Long may it continue 😄

Sorry Op just saw your question, yes after the milk most days although sometimes I do it when they’re in the bath then they have milk after which I know is the wrong way round.

I "forgot" to put the teat on the bottle so mine drank it like a cup. No problem, although he drank water from an open cup quite well

Help! My eldest is 22 months and very reliant on a bottle still. She has cows milk before her nap and one right before bed. She also wakes in the night to ask for bottle. Unsurprisingly she doesn’t eat as much in the day as she should. We are also struggling to get her engaged with any teeth cleaning. I am starting to dilute the bottles before nap and in the night. Can anyone recommend techniques to brush a toddlers teeth as I am very worried about this. I know we need to change the bedtime routine to bring the bottle forward in the process to allow teeth brushing but not sure how?? We can then hopefully remove the bottle eventually!! Any advice massively appreciated