22 Month Old - Stopping Morning and Bedtime Bottles

[LittleLegs]

Hi

Thanks for readingmy post, and thanks in advance for your experiences and advice.

My LO is 22 months, a very happy and content little boy.  He has 7oz cows milk in a bottle in the morning (he lays in his cot while we have the chance to get ready!) and 7oz at bedtime whilst I read him a book.

He's very happy and I should probably add that I'm quite happy with this too.  However, I wondered what the 'norm' is qith regards to ages of removing bottles and how to do this, what the best cups to transition to are, should I start with the morning as he can fill up during the day if he's a little hungrier as a consequence....??

Your thoughts an experiences would be very mch welcomed.

[Lolly]

I'm going to move this over to eating for toddlers!

The recs are to be off bottles by 12 months, but plenty of toddlers are still having a bottle for a while longer. I would start by swapping the morning bottle to a non-valved sippy cup or a straw cup - what does he use for water at the moment, have you tried offering milk in that? You could keep the bedtime bottle until he gets used to milk in a cup and them swap it - are you making sure to clesn teeth after the milk before he goes to sleep?

The other thing to remember is that from 1 milk is just a drink, it's not a food like it was in the first year and they don't actually need to be drinking milk to get their nutrition needs met but it is an easy way to get calcium in them. You don't want him filling up on milk, a balanced diet is what he should be having now - well as balanced as toddlers get that is

HTH!

Laura

[LittleLegs]

Thanks Lolly,

In the day he has his water from either a straw cup or a sippy cup and he's fine with most types.  He really likes his milk and it's quite soothing before bed and I worry he won't drink as much if it's not in a bottle but like you say I could try with the morning one and see how it goes.

Yes I have always consciously made sure his teeth are thoroughly cleaned after his bottle.  In fact he asks for toothbrush when he's handed me his bottle back then cuddles then bed!

[Lolly]

At this age it's more a case of doing the switch rather than trying and switching back to bottles if they drop their milk intake. They don't need the liquid milk, they get calcium from dairy in their food so you can increase that.

We kept the bedtime bottle with DS until he was 2.5, but DD had switched to a cup by 18 months. The bottles aren't good for their oral muscle development as well as their teeth which is why the recs are to be making the swap to cups when they turn 1.

If he does drink less when you switch just keep offering in the cup, if he does like milk he will start drinking more when he realises it's this or nothing.

Good luck!

Laura

[Texomamama]

Agree with everything Laura said.  One other thing I would recommend is when you switch to a sippy, keep the milk the same temp as what was in the bottle.  So, if you were warming his bottle, warm the sippy as well (then slowly back off from that).  If the milk in the bottle is cold, then all the better for an easier transition.

And, you will probably have to experiment with the sippy cups.  Different LO's have different preferences.  Maybe you can start out with one hard spout, one soft spout and one with a straw, and let him decide which he likes best.