Milk before bed

[MeAndVee]

I want to drop the bedtime bottle but what I'm wondering is, should it be replaced with a sippy cup?  Like now he gets 9 oz of milk before bed and it is his one and only bottle for the day.  I want to get rid of the bottles completly, but have doubts about whether or not he can make it through the night without his milk.  He is nearly 13 months now and a good size boy at 22 lbs.  And the problem is he won't drink milk from a sippy.  And I want to go cold turkey on the no more bottles because going it slowly isn't working.  What should I do?

[elliesmama]

dd is 15 months and still drinking a bottle same as yours.  the dr. at her 15 mo visit said that since she's not drinking milk from a sippy the bottle is fine for a while still because she's still needing milk.  so, he didn't make it seem like a big deal. HTH

[Diana1981]

Hello there.
My ds is 16 months old and still drinks a bottle of milk at bedtime and one ine the morning. You are going to find lots of mothers who still give their children a bottle of milk well after the first year.
Your LO will tell you when he is ready to give up the bottle. 

[MeAndVee]

My son's doctor was very insistant that we drop all bottles NOW.  Maybe I could keep his bedtime bottle and just push the sippy during the day.  Just bought a new straw cup today so will try that all day tomorrow.

[Diana1981]

I think thats great! Do it slowly, you dont want to upset your LO

[browneyedgirl]

Hi Girls

I was just thinking the same today. Our ds is 17 mts but has 2 bottles. 1 at night going to bed and the other mid morning. Public Health Nurse was pushing me this week to drop bottles completely.

I agree that baby will tell me when they are ready - but I worry about his teeth. He has nearly all of his teeth - young I know to have so many. Just worried about the Enamel.

Thanks

[MeAndVee]

I'm worried about hydration and dairy intake.  He isn't a terribly good eater and with the two bottles I felt comforted knowing atleast he was getting that nutrition in him.

[elliesmama]

I think the teeth thing is more if you put the baby in bed with the bottle. 

Really, every doctor is different I guess, and just the fact that ours are telling us two different things tells me that we should just go with what our consciences feel good about.  KWIM? 

[Diana1981]

Im sorry, but what is Enamel???

[elliesmama]

the coating on the teeth, i think.

[browneyedgirl]

I was speaking to friend tonite said to do whatever suits our ds which I will continue. Child will drop the bottle when they are ready.

Enamel is the coating on the teeth and could be damaged if ds drinking all night.

But he drinks this milk at bedtime, very thirsty... He is a great grubber and eats plenty - actually fish & veg or pasta are his all time favourites..

[mommy2mason]

My LO is 15 months today and we dropped all bottles at 12.5 months as my Dr. urged me too as well. My LO was never really attached to his bottles so it wasn't too difficult for him. I was worried at first because he wouldn't drink cow's milk out of a sippy yet....but loved water in his sippy. One night I just didn't offer his bottle and he didn't miss it. I too was worried he'd wake up hungry but he didn't. After a couple nights without the night bottle I stopped giving him his morning bottle and replaced it with a sippy of cow's milk. It took him a few days to finally start drinking the milk but I think once he realized he wasn't getting anymore bottles then he started to love his milk in his sippy. My Dr. wasn't concerned about him not drinking much milk right away when I dropped the bottles as long as he was getting some yogurts and cheese. He said his three year old still won't drink milk so that made me feel a little better....but I'm glad my LO just took a couple days to love his milk. I think you could try going cold turkey and not give him the night bottle. I do give a sippy of milk before bed...sometimes he drinks it and sometimes he doesn't.

[stheo]

Ainslee was about 18 months when we dropped all bottles.. She too was attached to her bedtime bottle and it was the only one she was getting.. one night i just put it in a sippy cup and gave it to her.. She took it with no complaints and that was it... if she saw a bottle after that she would point and say "baba" but I told her she got to drink out of a big girl cup and that was the end of it.

[jess, lukeys_mom]

Tracy's perspective is don't worry about the 'stop bottles at 12 months old' rule that doctors are pushing, she felt that bottles even up until 2 years is no problem.  I usually trust her over hv's anyway 

Regarding the enamel on teeth, I believe this is moreof a concern when lo's are sleeping with their bottle or using the bottle as a prop in order to get to sleep. At least that is what I've understood from what I read when ds was around a year. (I had decided to keep bottles as long as he wanted them, btw, but at about 14 mo he just randomly dropped them himself one day - and he used to LOVE his bottle!)