Stopping bottles?

gt568

My nipper is 10 months old and currently has 4 bottles a day.. first thing, mid morning, mod afternoon, last thing at night....as well as 3 squares a day..

So when can we stop giving her the bottles...or start phasing them out and in what order...

Hope that makes sense..:o

Amandaj32

I remember my childminder advising me to cut out the mid morning bottle as that meant DS was hungrier for lunch. He did this with no problems at all and that was at about seven months.

I think I remember the general advice was to add some of the breakfast bottle to the actual breakfast and lots of little ones still like to have the night time bottle for quite a while. To be honest - I can't remember when this one stopped.

Marcheline

I mixed-fed but we stopped with the bottles during the day as soon as our daughter could use a cup (think this was around 6/7 months mark) and she had a night time bottle for maybe one month after this. Since then, we've been using a cup throughout the day and last thing at night.

Emmenelle

I was just thinking about this as I put my little one to bed! She's also 10 months and currently has 3 bottles a day totalling 19oz. Her first is around 9am, the second 2pm and the last before bed - around 6pm.

She uses a Nuby cup for water and over the next few days I'm going to start putting the milk in it - I tried before, but she wasn't keen. The plan is to get her to have 3 'drinks' of milk a day by her first birthday and 'rev' up the snacks, when I will then switch to cows milk. So, it will hopefully go something like drink of milk with snack around 10:30, 'booster' and snack around 3pm then bedtime milk.

I read today that past their first birthday, they should still have around 350ml of milk a day, so I'll spread that over the three bottles.

sooty&sweep

Hi

Your dentist / health visitor will advise you to move them onto feeding cups ASAP as they say bottles ore not so good for teeth.
In terms of volume of milk, depending on how they are coping with solids and whether they are getting a balanced diet that way I'd say as much as possible as it is still a good source of nutrition for your baby. Also if they are ill you may well find they'll still take a bottle of milk but refuse solids.
I cut the nighttimefeeds first to give me a better night sleep and then cut to first thing and just before bed.

But saying all this it depends on you and your baby and what works for you !
My son was 3 1/2 before he dropped his bed time bottle but for him that was a cuddle and comfort thing ! My daughter dropped bottles alot faster and that was what suited her !

Best Wishes

minimoneysaver

I would say very strongly.... do what feels right for you and your baby!
Everyone has their own opinions on what is right for your baby. I have been a nanny for 10 years, a step mum for 4 years and now have one of my own, and yet I was still bombarded with unwanted advice.
It amazes me that health visitors and the like have so many bits of advice, some of it great, but also some of it can really put pressure on new mums. Most new mums, given a chance to get a feel for being a mum and given a chance to get to know their own baby will do what feels natural to them.
I have spent a lot of time in training, at university and putting into practice what I have learnt, but there is nothing like human instinct.
Good luck.

shirlgirl2004

It is recommended that babies upto a year have a pint of milk a day so any below that you can cut out. Also some of that milk can be given in the form of yoghurt and cheese. As has been suggested you may wish to move to a cup or beaker so that he doesn't become reliant on the bottle for comfort but that is personal choice rather than need.

Trust your instincts. Most mothers have great instincts.

LJM

i would begin cutting down the daytime bottles still keep giving morning and eve though,dont cut them all out at once though do one every couple days to a week till your baby gets used to it.

Rachel83

I cut the bottles slowly can't remember when i cut the daytime ones, i think she still had an evening bottle until about one and a half eventually i kept coming back to a full bottle so guess she kinda told me when she'd had enough

minimoneysaver

That's so lovely Rachel83, that you and your baby worked together. You "listened" to your baby and no tears or upset was caused to you or your baby in finishing bottles. Just how it should be.

Money_maker

Mine is 10 months. She has a 9oz in the morning (some used in breakfast cereal/weetabix), 5oz at lunchtime and 9oz bedtime with water from a beaker at teatime. She doesn't always take as much as she should but she has dairy as well and you cant force them to take more milk!

Will be looking to cut to breakfast and bedtime when 1 year old, phasing in to cows milk and beaker. Eventually will be down to beaker of milk in morning and evening (my 13yo and 12yo still have milk at bedtime, good for their bones).