When did you stop giving your child with SN a bottle at night?

[Amester]

Slightly odd question but dd who has Down Syndrome and is nearly 3 still has a small bottle of milk before bedtime at night and one first thing in the morning. I know the advice for most babies is to stop when they are about 1. I'm just wondering when other people with children with SN stopped giving a bottle? Is she ever going to stop wanting it? And am i doing her teeth major damage by continuing with this? It really helps her to get off to sleep, although she doesn't fall asleep with it in her mouth. And if I do stop how the hell do I get her to sleep!!

Any thoughts on this subject much appreciated.

Amestar, my DD1 is almost 4.6 and she still has milk for bed, and I top it up before I go to bed. She has it in a beaker, rather than a bottle.

My NT DD2 is 2.9 and she has a weak squash by her bedside, and NT DD3 (13 months) has a weak squash available if she wakes at night. Neither of the younger children would drink milk after I stopped breastfeeding them.

DD1 is a milk monster!!

My DS is almost 2 and still loves his bottle, just like your DD, before bed and in the morning. I have no intention of stopping it until he wants to.

Amester
my DS(ASD) is almost 3 and still has a bottle before bedtime at night and first thing in the morning. I did worry about teeth damage etc but in the end i just decided that in the grand scheme of things, this wasn't anything to lose sleep over so i'm not going to stop him until he's ready to! I am considering trying him out with a beaker though. See how that goes....

I could have written this post as was wondering the same thing today. My DD is 2 and a half and still has a bottle of milk when she wakes up and a bottle before bed. She has CP and little comunication but is able to ask for her botbot when shes ready for bed. I think for her its comfort but also when we have a cuddle and a bottle on the sofa before bed its one of my favourite times of the whole day!

I think i will know whens shes ready to stop having it, and dont like pushing things with her just because its not ment to be done at a certain age if that makes sense!

I stopped giving my DS (ASD) a bottle of milk when he just over 4, before he started school. I tried in vain for ages to get him to take milk in various cups etc. I just thought he was too old (due to stupid society pressures, which I am rapidly learning to ignore completely)
I regret it tbh, as he won't touch milk now. His diet is so limited (mainly to crap), I wish I had kept it on. He still has dummies at 6, and I can't see anytime in the near future when he will be ready to give them up. He needs them to calm himself down (sensory issue), and we haven't found a suitable replacement as yet...

Thank you for replies, its interesting to hear what other people have done. Think we'll just continue with it for now. I tried to put her to bed without it last night and gave up in the end, she just looked at me like no this isn't how we do it! We made her a small bottle up and she then went to bed no problems. Hopefully she won't want it forever!

My son is 6.5 (ASD) and he still has bottles of milk at night and through the night he wont drink milk from a cup.We have had no problem with his teeth.(he just lost his first 2 teeth)
Up until a few months ago he was drinking milk all through the day he was only comforted/calmed with milk but i didnt realise that exceessive milk intake cause iron diffeciency(sp) he has to take iron supplements now.
Im relieved we reduced the milk he now has his bottle from 7pm although he does still try to get it during the day.
We dont try to stop it but hope he will grow out of it.

Oddly enough this is a cultural thing. Here in France plenty of kids drink from bottles much later than one - NT kids often still have a bottle at night up to 4 or 5.
Neither of mine do but it was pretty much their choice (actually DD wouldn't really take milk after I stopped BF'ing.

My daughter is 2.5 and she has a bottle of milk in the morning and one in the evening (sometimes 2). I did feel under a lot of pressure to get her off of it but she loves it and during the day uses normal cups/sippy cups and pretty much only drinks water as she's not keen on juice (weird!! )

I started introducing the sippy cups during the day from the age of 1 but it took her almost a year before she would even drink water from them but she got there in the end. I think just offer it and hopefully when she's ready she will want to swap.

I think its very comforting for my daughter and I don't see the need at the moment in getting her to stop using it. She has enough to cope with at the moment.

my son is 11 and still has one ...... severe special needs tho ! He cant drink out of an open cup