Do you want to chat about cutting the BT bottle?

[creations]

At 12 months we're advised bottles should be weaned and all drinks given in a cup, whatever type we have chosen for our LOs, but I know many/most continue with that bed time bottle a long time after the first birthday.
So:
Are you thinking about cutting the BT bottle?
Are you scared the calm BT routine will turn into a nightmarish drama?
Have you already done it?  What age was your LO?  What was your experience?
Does your LO still get a BT bottle?  At what age?  Do you regret not weaning it earlier or happy they still get it?
Have you had more than one LO and experience of weaning the BT bottle in different ways at different ages?


My DS is just about to turn one, it's on my mind that a change in routine is needed soon to cut that bed time bottle.
I'd love to hear your experiences, tips, worries, plans...

[clairew11]

Alfie will drink very diluted squash out of his cup but literally 4oz a day at the most. He has his 3 bottles in the diary. he is nearly ready to cut his afternoon bottle and is 1 next month so am thinking of offering cows milk in a beaker for his afternoon bottle, then maybe offering his morning feed in a bottle in the morning but he is no where it for his bedtime bottle. I am going to keep that one as long as he is happy as he goes to bed so well x

[Lolly]

My DS had a bedtime bottle until 2.5 and DD was 18 months - it was a big part of our bedtime routine so I was in no rush to get rid of it. It really isn't a problem to keep the bedtime bottle for a while yet, just make sure to clean teeth after the bottle!

I'll move this to toddlers too!

Laura

[babyrose]

ive been cutting A's bottle down for a while now, im worried that he wont settle before bed. he is 19.5 months.

[Ima shel Alon]

Creations, the change to cow's milk, weaning feeds, it all has been on my mind as well as Alon is turning 1 soon.
The BT bottle is not something I am going to wean soon, I just can't face that. But now that I read what Laura wrote about brushing teeth, I know I will wake him so much up with the teeth brushing that I might as well wean that bottle...
Don't know, but am following along to hear other's experiences.

[koe2moe]

I must admit I didnt want to deal with weaning the morning and bt bottles because every time i tried it was just too stressful and we had a long history of sleep problems, so really didnt want to deal with that.  i just made sure DS got teeth brushed after the bottle.  Soon after he turned three, he suddenly didnt want it.  He first didnt want morning bottle, then altogether the night one and said that milk wasnt yummy and it made him sick!   

HTH

[creations]

I'll move this to toddlers too!

Oops - thanks for moving it over Laura.  I really must get used to using the toddler boards eh?!

I know I will wake him so much up with the teeth brushing that I might as well wean that bottle...

My thinking too Ima.
It isn't the milk I want to take away, just the bottle, or move it in the BT routine.
We have already made the change to cows milk (had used ready made carton formula but it was always difficult to get in my town despite complaining to the supermarkets), a little earlier than we should have because there was no formula anywhere.  So we've been on cows for a month now.  He didn't even notice.  But I think he would notice very much if I started giving him his milk downstairs pre-bath in a sippy cup!

I've just split some of his teats.  Don't know if this is advisable/inadvisable but my thinking was that if he drank the milk faster from the bottle it would reduce the level of comfort he is getting from it, kind of weaning the suckling.  I think he prefers it as he used to suck so hard the teats caved in and bottles took ages to drink.

But maybe I need to bite the bullet and make the change.

Laura and koe2moe did you have to move the BT bottle from the end of your BT routine to the beginning of it or was it always at the beginning of your routine?

[Lolly]

We always did bottle last thing before sleep! The one thing I would say is that both my two used to fall asleep on the bottle so we did have a couple of months where cleaning teeth was hard but as they got into being toddlers they stopped falling asleep on the bottle so the routine changed to drinking milk while they had a story then clean teeth and sleep.

Laura

[MadisonC]

At the age of 1 DS was having a morning, afternoon, and bt bottle.  At 13months the afternoon bottle was gone and 13.5 months the morning bottle was also gone and both were replaced with a sippy of whole milk.  The bedtime bottle was replaced with a sippy at 14 months and was much easier than I excpeted.  He now has a sippy cup of milk in the morning with breakfast and before bed with a little snack.. teeth are always brushed right before bed.  The bt bottle was the one I was scared about taking away but he really didnt seem to notice or care.. he just went with it!

[creations]

Thought I'd update on this.
About a week ago I offered a sippy of milk with the evening solids meal.  That solids meal is really more of a small snack, he doesn't want much solid food then (big breakfast, morning snacks and lunch though).  I offered water too so he had the choice.  Well, he jumped at the milk in a sippy with his meal and took less milk from the bottle at BT.
Now, for 4 days he has refused the BT bottle.  I've offered to the point of annoying him with it (oops) and he really really doesn't want it.  I have been so surprised by this.  I believed that his BT milk was really important to him as part of the BT wind down routine but he's just dropped it himself!
This has removed the need to brush teeth after the BT bottle.
I'm going to keep offering the BT bottle for another week just in case it's a phase.  I've also upped his dairy solids a little in the last 2 days as he doesn't take as much milk from the sippy as he did from the bottle.

[babyrose]

we have just cut the b/time bottle and it wasnt that bad. he doesnt seem bothered by it one little bit! i was worried we would have a big drama about it. A is now 20 months.

[creations]

It's surprising how many people have thought there would be drama and difficulties with dropping a bottle (or other changes) and it turns out to be relatively plain sailing.
The morning bottle that DS still has is very fast flow because I but the teats, he seems much happier with this, we still cuddle for it but he stays sitting rather than laying down.  I think he used to be quite frantic sucking away to try to get the milk in, now he has no problem getting it fast enough.  I might even switch this to a sippy cup soon (plan to offer both to begin with so he has a choice).

[Ima shel Alon]

Creations, is he left with only morning bottle and the sippy after supper?
I am asking because I am trying to figure out what to do with Alon.
How many oz/ml would you say he is taking in a day?

[creations]

My DS has been taking less than (about half) the advised amount of milk since about 3 or 4 months old and yet maintained perfect weight gain, so I am cautious to compare his ml per day with another LO.
Strangely his milk intake increased dramatically at 11/12 months despite him being a big solids eater and he started to take 180ml in the morning and 180ml at BT (almost the full amount taken) which was really high for him and he gained a LOT of weight in the last couple of months (jumping the centile line).

In the UK the recommended milk intake at 12 months is just over half a pint or 300ml or 10oz.

I now give 180ml morning (takes half to all of it), as much as he wants in the evening sippy (takes maybe 30 or 40ml) and still offer the BT bottle (after 4 days refusing it tonight he took 40ml but I don't think he would have cared if I had not offered).  So a total of say 260ml from bottle/sippy.  He also gets some milk in breakfast, butter, cheese, milk/white/cheese sauces etc for his solids.
So, I think for my LO this is quite a high amount of milk, I am not worried by it and neither are his paediatricians or health visitor.  For another LO this might not be enough.

[Ima shel Alon]

Thanks, that's all good to know