18 month old amd bottle/milk help

Juicy_Tube

Hi

My 18 month son has been having a bottle of milk morning and night. I have decided to get rid of the morning bottle to start with... I want to replace it with a cup with milk.

Mmmmm... he is having none of it! Won't touch a cup of milk! On Monday he cried for his bottle, not touching the cup of milk. Since then no tears but still won't have milk out of anything else? Will have water first and above this!! So not a bad thing..

I have tried lidded cup, open cup, straw etc but he refuses. I have also tried offering milk in a cup during the day to no avail.

he is still having a bottle of milk at night.

I am concerned he is not getting enough milk, or is he? he has 7oz at bedtime. He eats very well indeed, plenty of fresh fruit and veg and natural yoghurt, cheese.

Any thoughts? How much milk should he be having? How did you cut out the night time bottle and when?

Thank you so much for any advice you might have for us:D

Milky_Mocha

I'm no expert as I've only got a 14 month old but I'm asking myself, what's wrong with a bottle of milk morning and night?? I can't imagine it being a problem and intend to give it for as long as she wants it. Are you worried about her teeth?

Nicki

Have you tried the Avent soft spout and hard spout system? These fit onto Avent bottles and the soft spout is the same shape as a sippy cup but as soft as a bottle teat. When the baby gets used to the shape, you introduce the hard spout. Once they can deal with that, you can graduate on to ordinary lidded cups.

Otherwise maybe a sports bottle type set up with a favourite character on it, might work, or one of the sports bottles which Woolies are selling at the moment with the child's name on it (assuming he doesn't have a weird first name)

amandada

Milky_Mocha wrote: »

I'm no expert as I've only got a 14 month old but I'm asking myself, what's wrong with a bottle of milk morning and night?? I can't imagine it being a problem and intend to give it for as long as she wants it. Are you worried about her teeth?

I totally agree! My son who's 5 has only just given up his bottle at bedtime! I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with an 18 month old baby having a bottle of milk mid morning-it obviously brings him comfort and security. If anyone says he "should" be having it from a cup, just try to smile sweetly and ignore them!

SPARKY16

amandada wrote: »

I totally agree! My son who's 5 has only just given up his bottle at bedtime! I honestly don't think there's anything wrong with an 18 month old baby having a bottle of milk mid morning-it obviously brings him comfort and security. If anyone says he "should" be having it from a cup, just try to smile sweetly and ignore them!

I agree with you Amanda when mine were little i was always in a hurry to make them grow up too quickly, stop having a bottle stop having a dummy stop having a cuddle to go to sleep
people always say to you they grow up too quickly Please believe them!!

Just enjoy him he will let you know when he is ready to give things up
i wish mine were little again

AnnieH

I agree with what's already been said. My 2 and a half year old still has a bottle of warmed up milk at bedtime. They're a long time grown up and it doesn't do any harm at all. Its not like he's still going to have a bottle when he's 18 is it?

hellies

I heard that drinking out of bottles can damage their teeth in the same ways dummies can? I saw it on supernanny- all the kids in 1 family had deformed mouths due to dummys and bottles... that was enough to encourage me to get dd off the bottles!

Nicki

There is an issue with toddlers taking bottles of milk to bed with them at night. This is because the natural sugars in milk combined with the action used sucking on teat make them much more susceptible to tooth decay. If you cross posted onto the Health board, I'm sure one of the dentists. like Toothsmith, could give you chapter and verse. There may even come to think of it already be a thread on it if you do a search.

katskorner

I have an 18 month old son who adores his bottle of milk. He has four bottles a day of between 6 and 8 oz each. He will happily drink juice and water from a normal lidded cup but he likes the bottle for his milk. Now he is my second son and this time I am not worried in the slightest about it. I have tried giving him a cup with his milk but he doesn't drink it so I give him his bottle. With my first son, I controlled and planned everything and he was using a cup exclusively at 5 months old (apart from breast-feeding) but it didn't work out the same with son number two!

Don't worry - there are no rules. Go with what makes you and your son happy. He will grow out of his bottle when he is ready to . Good luck.

carolwat

My son will be three in September and he still has a bottle of warmed milk morning and night. As long as he is happy to drink it I dont care what hes drinking out of. He has never had a dummy and his milk is the only time he has a bottle. I dont think its done his teeth any harm at all. Its not as though he is going round with a bottle hanging out of his mouth all day long.

My niece stopped drinking milk full stop at about 2 years old and I know what I would prefer. If you are happy with your little one drinking milk from a bottle then let him choose his own time for another drinking vessel. Dont let peer pressure make you feel as though you should let him have a bottle. People are always quick to judge other peoples parenting skills, nobody is perfect, we all just do what we think is best.

lil_me

If you let him have the milk during the day, then you won't be worried about the evening feeding. Kids who have milk last thing tend to end up with bad teeth. Cutting out the night time drink will also help with toilet training and will help him be more comfortable through the night, helps them settle back to sleep without a comforter aswell when they wake up.

Not judging, just what I'd do in the situation and what would effect my decision.