milk for 1 year old

[julesdq]

I saw my health visitor and she suggested that I switch to a cup/beaker for her 2 milk feeds now that my LO is 1 year. She usually has a bottle when she wakes and one before she goes to bed. She also said that a full bottle (260ml) is too much milk to give LO before she sleeps (I've been giving her that for months and months but that was formula).
My questions are:Is a full bottle of cows milk too much for their little tummies before bed? If so, when should I offer the rest?
Any suggestions on how to switch to a cup/beaker for milk. She currently drinks water out of a cup.
Also, she is so relaxed after her milk and just wants to sleep, but she has 6 teeth now so need to start brushing them after milk (I currently brush them before).
She drinks her milk perfectly when lying down in the dark, but if it's light she gets really distracted and only drinks half of her usual amount. Any suggestions about what you do?
Thanks so much

[julesdq]

anyone??

[~Emma~]

hi! 

 We dropped the AM bottle with DS when he was 16 months and the BT bottle when he was just shy of 2. O personally dont see it as a problem as long as you brush their teeth afterwards. Also my DD who just turned one is STILL;h aving 3 x bottles a day and I dont see it changing anytime soon! She, like your LO also needs to have her BT bottle in peace and quiet otherwise she only drinks an oz or two.

 Keep offering the sippy but dont get pressured to have all his milk feeds from them, it'll happen in good time. 

[julesdq]

Thanks for that! I was starting to stress about it.
What happens if she's almost asleep before bed? Do you still brush her teeth then?

[~Emma~]

Well DD only has 3 teeth so far so right now I dont bother.  With DS he did have more teeth and we started brushing after milk at about 14 months old.

[julesdq]

ok, thanks :-)

[Lemonthyme]

I'm a bit unsure about this (seeing my dentist on Tuesday so I'm going to ask).  I was told to wait an hour after foods or drinks to brush his teeth so that means I brush them before his milk (from a cup) but I don't know which is worse tbh!  Do people gradually bring the milk earlier in the day so they can do that? 

You might find she drinks less if it's in a cup but there's not necessarily a problem with that.  My HV said more than a pint a day and it starts to limit their hunger for other foods and that's a pint including cheese, yoghurt etc.  A pint is just short of 600ml I think so without any yoghurt or cheese, your LO is getting nearly all the milk intake just in those two feeds.

[julesdq]

Good points, thanks! please let us know what your denstist says.. that'll be interesting.
I've bought a new cup with a soft teat type thing (nuby) and i've offered it to her twice today. I told her that there's milk in it and showed her. She held it and played with it (pretended to feed her dolls some milk... so sweet) but didn't take a sip so I'll just continue to offer it to her casually between meals and see what happens. I'm sure she'll eventually try it!
 

[katyusha]

My DS did not take much breast milk from a sippy cup but was first ok with drinking water from it and 6 weeks later moved on to drinking his oat milk from it. So sometimes the sippy goes bett if the drink is not what they are used to from the bottle. Agradually I think I could now put milk in it. We a having some problems with his formula at the moment so can't say I got  to that point yet. Main thing is not to stress as they sense it and not need. DD had been on a cup and yet still had 2 bottles and I formally transitioned her to 100% cup at around 2 years. Dentist said her teeth and gums 4 months ago were excellent.

[julesdq]

Thanks Kate
She doesn't even pick up the new cup at all. I thought it would be good to have one type for water and another type for milk so that she knows which one is which but I might try putting water in the new one and see how she gets on. I'm just going to take it easy and not worry about it :-)

[Lemonthyme]

My son's always been fine having water or milk from the same type of beaker. 

Verdict from my dentist, it's fine (in fact better) to brush teeth before milk because (in his words) "it gives a chance for the fluoride to be absorbed and protect the teeth" so he was fine with the fact I brush his teeth before breakfast and before his bedtime milk (from a cup).  Obviously different dentists might say different things but it made me feel reassured!

[julesdq]

Lemonthyme, thanks so much for your feedback :-)