Almost 1....how to drop to 2 bottles

[Charjanemom]

My dd will be 1 in 2 weeks. A month ago we moved to 3 bottles. She eats 3 meals, 1 snack and has sippy cup of water at meals and throughout the day. I have tried to do formula I the sippy but she doesn't seem interested but I will continue to try.
She appears to be cutting first top molars and has a cold with ear infection so she is on antibiotics. This week she is eating her solids much and is just crazy for her bottle. I was going to drop the 2pm one as she was only drinking 4 oz then this week of teething and sickness have come and she is crying and reaching for her bottles like we have never seen. Is this just cuz she is ill and it's comforting?

I was hoping to be down to morning and bed bottle soo but now I don't know what to do.

[greenlady]

Hi Charjanemom

If she's ill just let her get back into her rountine before you try any changes.  I am sure it's party comfort (like a teat), partly because it helps when teething to chew on something, and also it is easier to drink when you have a cold.  So, just wait a week or two.  If she's reaching for it, she must need it.
Hope she gets better soon.

[*Kara*]

^^  I completely agree.  Leave her be right now.

[Charjanemom]

C is finally better! She will be 1 in a week and I'm wondering what ppl typically do at this point with milk and bottles. Here is our eating routine
7 am bottle of 5-6oz
830 breakfast - toast,fruit and yogurt or eggy bread and fruit or eggs,fruit and toast
12 lunch - meat fruit and veg with crackers or noodles, grilled cheese with fruit and veg
2 bottle of 6-8 oz
4ish snack of fruit and crackers/Cheerios
530 dinner meat, veg and grain of some sort
7/730 bottle 6-8 oz

Which bottle do I try to drop? I was thinking making the 2 pm bottle a snack and sippy of milk. She drinks water from sippy but haven't had luck on the milk from sippy.

Also is there a link on how to start switching to whole milk?

And lastly...bedtime bottle is always the last part of our bedtime routine she always goes in crib awake after but should I start brushing teeth after this bottle?

Thanks ladies!

[creations]

Hi
Most of the routines I've seen (including ours) there's a mid morning snack, which you don't appear to have/need. So
milk
breakfast
snack
lunch
snack
dinner
milk

But, if she's taking a good lunch at 12 then there's no reason to change it.  Perhaps just switch the 2pm bottle to a snack like you said.

WRT switching to cows milk. If your LO doesn't take issue with the switch and hasn't shown any allergies you can just switch. My DS didn't bat an eye when I changed his formula to cow milk.  If she refuses it you could switch an oz at a time so that she becomes gradually accustomed to the taste.

WRT the BT bottle and teeth brushing.  I would totally recommend brushing teeth after the bottle.  Although milk isn't as bad as some drinks/foods it will still effect her teeth.  In fact it was the whole brushing teeth after the BT bottle that motivated me to drop the BT bottle altogether.  It was a very cosy part of our WD for BT and I didn't want to mess with our routine or wreck his WD and not having him sleep but I also didn't want cavities. I decided if I was going to alter the routine to put brushing teeth after the milk I might as well just get rid of the bottle.
In this thread I give detail of a totally pain free (and quick) gradual wean from the BT bottle, it's an option:
morning bottle still needed?
(the details are in reply #14)  The OP on that thread is 6 days in and already dropped half the bottle without any disruption to the BT routine.
FWIW I dropped the BT bottle at 12 months and the morning bottle at 13 months. The morning milk was switched to a straw rather than a sippy cup.  LO can get a lot more through a straw (we use a wide one with the bendy bit - after use wash and save for craft projects if you like to recycle) and it can be an easier switch whilst still maintaining the milk intake which of course is still important.

hope this helps. There are no hard and fast rules, just various experiences.