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Parenting

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Original poster

2.5 year old still has 3 bottles a day, when did yours stop?

49 replies

Cafeaulait27 · 28/01/2024 08:45

Hi! Our 2.5 year old still has 3 bottles a day, one first thing before breakfast, another after his nap, and another before bed (then brushes his teeth). He drinks water from a water bottle the rest of the time.

we previously tried switching the bottle for the water bottles he loves but he wouldn’t accept milk in it, I guess he loves the comfort of it. We are in a really good nap/sleep routine and as he’s been poorly a lot lately we haven’t attempted again for a while.

we’re going to start by giving him a snack and milk in a cup after his nap today and go from there.

just wondered what’s the norm? I definitely wish I’d attempted it when he was younger and I’m sure it would’ve been much easier.

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deliwoman1 · 28/01/2024 09:38

DD was 15 months but by that point we’d dropped down to one a day and that wasn’t guaranteed. At the time we had other mountains to climb! She was getting a good amount of calcium through food and she was also late getting her teeth (13 months), which then all sprouted at once 😖so we didn’t worry too much. It took a couple of weeks before she’d take milk in a sippy cup but now she’s totally fine. We offer it sometimes now (19 months) but she mostly just asks if she wants it and then usually wastes a lot of it! Water is her only other drink but she’s very curious about our morning coffee 😂

Happyinarcon · 28/01/2024 11:05

Probably around 3. We just put water or other liquids in it. I was worried it would affect her teeth but it didn’t.

fulgrate · 28/01/2024 11:08

They don't need a bottle of milk before breakfast, why are you doing that?

Mine had bottles at bedtime for longer than most would suggest but they are autistic and while I didn't know that when they were one, I did know that it was bloody hard to stop and for everyone's sake having a bottle to fall asleep worked best for our family.

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holycrabsticks · 28/01/2024 11:08

No bottles after 1. Switched to a cup. Bottles are for babies.

KylieKangaroo · 28/01/2024 11:10

My eldest still had milk until about 4! I did worry but her teeth are all fine and it didn't do any harm at all. Youngest will drink milk all day if I let her as she finds it comforting I think, especially as she doesn't nap now.

TeenDivided · 28/01/2024 11:12

My then 2.5 yo was on 3 bottles a day when we adopted her. She was on 9 separate feeding times a day. It was what the very experienced FC had worked out worked for her.
We dropped the post lunch one after a few months, then the morning one and then eventually the evening one.

mondaytosunday · 28/01/2024 17:17

My DD never had a bottle, was on sippy cups as I gradually reduced breastfeeding (she stopped herself night before her first birthday). My son stopped bottles as soon as he turned one, if not before (he's 20 now so a bit hazy on exactly when).
They don't need any milk at all after they turn one if eating a balanced diet.

SwiftyMcGifty · 28/01/2024 20:25

I'm not convinced it's quite such a problem as people sometimes like to make out. All mine still had regular bedtime bottles at 2.5, and asked for bottles during the day sometimes until about 3. While I know what's behind the advice to stop at 1, I really don't think it's a massive deal if a child gets comfort and good rest from it and has a generally balanced diet. It's advice, not instruction.

From memory we consciously stopped the bedtime one for the eldest about 2 (I remember doing it just before his younger sibling was born), but the other two just petered out naturally sometime between 2.5 and 3. At bedtime they stopped wanting it, they weren't napping any more, and in the mornings they started sleeping a bit later so they were waking just before breakfast rather than hours beforehand.

FloofCloud · 28/01/2024 20:35

Both mine were 4 when they gave up bottles - it was a comfort thing for them to be honest, they're very comfort needing, but they both have good teeth (tween and teenagers).
Funnily enough they're both autistic and have sensory processing issues so think it was possibly about that.

Eumie · 28/01/2024 20:55

My DS just turned 2 and he still has a bedtime milk bottle, and he has a bottle for his nap but that’s only water.

I think it’s a comfort thing more than for food, we tried to phase it out and his sleep was awful and it just wasn’t worth it. We’ve started watering the milk down with water.

hangingonfordearlife1 · 28/01/2024 21:10

boy just gone two has one in morning and one at night on a good day- on a fussy day he will have 3. i honestly don't care or see what the rush is, to be fair he's my 3rd child and i breastfed my other 2 until 2.5 so i'm in no rush to take his comfort from him. he ca. drink water out of a cup very well so it's not a skill he's missing out on and his teeth are lovely

SecondUsername4me · 28/01/2024 21:14

He will probs drop the nap soon, so that bottle can go first - sippy cup before nap til then.

Bedtime bottle - swap for a bowl of porridge with milk. Filling ans he still gets the milk but just a different way.

Morning milk - sippy cup with breakfast

IggityZiggity · 28/01/2024 21:33

We switched to milk in a 360 cup at 1, no issues with swapping luckily!

shakeitoffsis · 28/01/2024 21:40

I haven't read the full thread but 3 bottles a day at that age is mental! Mine both stopped any bottles at 11/12 months and just had milk in a cup twice a day for a month or two.

Quornflakegirl · 28/01/2024 21:41

Mine swapped to beakers for milk at 14 months. They had water in a beaker from 7 months. One dtwin (11) still has a couple of glasses of milk a day.

SErunner · 28/01/2024 22:17

Took us until nearly 2. She bloody loved the things 😂 not in the morning though, just pre nap and bedtime. In the end I just binned them and did the dummy fairy story saying they had been taken for other little babies to use and she didn't need them any more as she was a big girl. She was a bit cross the first night but other than that was fine. I was surprised how easy it was in the end.

NoKnit · 28/01/2024 22:22

Mine stopped the bedtime bottle at about 7 months! He was just one 1 bottle a day from 9 months which he had in the morning. He never drink the nighttime one so I stopped.

At 1 year old switched to having the milk in a cup with a hard spout again in the morning.

In fact even when he only drink milk he only ever had 4 bottles a day so I think 3 a day at 2.5 is a lot

Daysie · 28/01/2024 22:40

Mine were about 2.5 when the night bottle of milk stopped. It was a comfort thing as they refused milk from any cup / beaker and to this day won't drink milk.

Bottles at other times of the day seemed to naturally phase out around 1.

I would stop the morning and nap time bottle first saying 'only at bedtime' so dc knows they can have it then and hopefully you can distract with food/ play/ tv/ music etc in the day. Bedtime, I know others won't agree but I'd allow that bottle to continue for a bit as going from 3 to none seems a big step if dc is getting so much comfort. Then the bedtime one id gradually water down the milk more every few days until it's water.

Loads of people allow bottles and dummies until 3/ 4 years old but they don't share because it's not the ideal / right way.

Tisfortired · 28/01/2024 22:42

My first had his last bottle on his first birthday, he wasn’t that fussed about them anyway so it was easy. My second is almost 13 months and we cut out the morning bottle about a fortnight ago so he just has a bedtime bottle. He gets so much comfort from it still I feel awful taking it away but I’m going to do it soon and offer the milk in a cup at bedtime instead. I have a feeling this will not be an acceptable replacement for ‘bot bot.’

Inyourwildestdreams · 28/01/2024 22:53

Is 3 bottles of milk not a huge amount for that age?! 😳 My DS has just turned 3 and I feel like bottles of milk are a distant memory 😳

Very similar to @shakeitoffsis - I got rid of the bottles at about 10/11 months as DS was eating really well and would take any liquids from a cup. He had his 3 meals and a cup of milk before bed probably up until about 18 months.
Since then he has milk on cereal/porridge in the morning or a glass of milk with breakfast if it’s something like eggs/toast. Then had cheese and yoghurt in the day.

user1477391263 · 28/01/2024 23:05

SnapdragonToadflax · 28/01/2024 08:55

The official advice is to move away from bottles after 1. In reality, most people do it gradually around 14-20 months.

Mine was only having a bottle at bedtime at 1, and we stopped that around 16 months I think. First I put milk in a Tommee Tippee cup (so still an element of sucking), then switched the milk to water, and he wasn't bothered about that so stopped wanting it.

Bottles affect their teeth, so you do need to stop them now.

This. The official advice is maybe a bit unrealistically strict, but honestly, 3 bottles a day at 2.5 is well beyond the point of acceptable fudging of the rules.

Can you pack the bottles up and “send them to the babies”?

ceeb21 · 28/01/2024 23:22

Ours dropped the morning bottle around 2 I think. She often had a milk before nap otherwise she wouldn't sleep, however it was mostly water as we used to really water it down. At 3, she still likes to have a beaker at bed, but again it's 90% water and she doesn't really drink it, definitely a comfort thing. Not something I'm kverly fussed about changing as she goes to sleep and sleeps through (and barely drinks it)!
We did change to a beaker thing just after 2, so not quite the recommended 1!

sanityisamyth · 28/01/2024 23:30

About a year old?

NewName24 · 28/01/2024 23:38

12 months. They had any milk out of a cup once they were 1

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