# When to stop cows milk in a bottle at bedtime?



## Mellie1988

Hi ladies, hope your all okay :) 

DS is 16 months old now, i'm just wondering when you should stop offering milk in a bottle at bedtime? I just lay him down in his cot at night and he will drink his milk by himself...Sooo i'm wondering when I should stop this, I just cannot see him going down to sleep without his bottle in bed...feel like we have got ourselves into abit of a bad habit here! 

DD did the same though when she was younger but she naturally weaned herself of her milk and no longer wanted it at about 13 months old. 

Obviously I don't mind the milk part as its great that he still wants it, but i'm just wondering the norm for switching from a bottle to beaker/cup? 

x


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## lisabee

My son who is 3 stopped having a bottle at 2.5 he only wanted it at night and I never thought it was a problem...it was his little comforter he eventually stopped on his own and has been going to bed quite happily ever since

I am a firm believer in letting children have their own routines I struggled with my eldest and listened to all the advice everyone was giving me - none of that helped with my 2nd I let him do what he wanted and have found that toilet training and stopping the bottle etc sooooo much easier

Suppose if your really wanting to stop you could try cutting down the milk until your son doesnt want it anymore it will also help when it comes to toilet training at nighttime as he will have less fluid in his bladder

:)


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## steph1505

Hey! Brandon is 18 months and he, just last week, stopped his milk at bedtime through choice! When he was 1, we started giving him his milk in a beaker and over the past month we noticed that he was drinking less and less until eventually he wasnt interested so we've just stopped giving him it!

But I dont see anything wrong with your LO's routine, my nephew is 18 months and still gets his bottle lying in bed (and one throughout the night I think) 

xxx


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## mommyof3co

If he wants milk at bedtime I would give it to him before putting him down and brush his teeth. Letting him have it in bed as he's falling asleep leaves the milk on his teeth all night and can cause bottle rot (tooth decay). If he still wants something in bed I would change it to water only.


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## kiwimama

Agree with mo3 about letting them go to bed with a bottle, it's unfortunately just so bad for their teeth. 
Ella naturally weaned off her nighttime bottle about 18 mths I think, she just didn't really take much anymore and so we stopped and she never asked for one or seemed to want one.


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## celine

I would agree with mo3 as well, could you try to slowly change it to water little by little and see if he notices it?
WE didnt do bottle with my lo but he would be bf to sleep and would get bf in the night if he woke, at 15/16 months I switched it up and tried to show him boobie THEN storytime (instead of story light outs then boob) and offered him a sippycup of water and he has been fine since.


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## bloodbinds

Bella still had her bedtime milk and morning milk, she weaned herself off all her other feeds gradually so i'm sure she will with her bedtime milk too!


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## billy2mm

kai when i took put him onto cows milk at 12 months along with getting him onto as cup he stopped having milk at bed time. i offered it to him 3 nights in a row in his cup and he refused.

i dont like the idea of them feeding themselves in bed alone - not having a go at you its just not something i ever thought of doing but each to their own.


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## sophxx

my lo stopped bottles at 9 months he just has a cup of milk before bed now x


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## krockwell

I haven't ever had to give my son a bottle at bedtime, but I just wanted to show you this, incase you'd never heard of it. 

:hugs: Not trying to be rude, just wanted to give a heads up about sending babies/toddlers to bed with a bottle. 

https://hubpages.com/hub/Baby-Bottle-Mouth


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## Mellie1988

I know your not trying to be rude, but I didn't ask if I should be putting him in bed with a bottle or not, I asked when I should be stopping giving him a bottle at bedtime... :shrug: 

As it happens, we've decided just to knock the whole thing on the head, we put him to bed tonight without it to see how he went and he didn't bother at all. So no more bottles at all now :)


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## claire23

Oh hun, I'd say as soon as possible just because of increased risk of developing dental caries. Because of reduced salivation and swallowing during sleep, clearance of those nasty acids is reduced, so bacteria accumulate and damage the teeth. He should be drinking his bottle before the teeth are brushed for the night, and then only water (not juice) during the night if he needs to. xx


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## chuck

I dont give Dewi any milk in bed...I stopped months ago to help break the night feeds, I dint want him associating waking in the night with milk.

He had 6oz of milk before he goes up to bed though still.

He has all other milk in a sippy cup/beaker so will make the move to that soon too. Although not sure about stopping it altogether. I guess when we get closer to potty training it'll be time to think about cutting down late fluids a bit.


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## billy2mm

Mellie1988 said:


> I know your not trying to be rude, but I didn't ask if I should be putting him in bed with a bottle or not, I asked when I should be stopping giving him a bottle at bedtime... :shrug:
> 
> As it happens, we've decided just to knock the whole thing on the head, we put him to bed tonight without it to see how he went and he didn't bother at all. So no more bottles at all now :)

:happydance: he was obviously ready!

well done!


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## Mellie1988

Night 2 has been a success too :D yay...I love it when things turn out to be really easy, and you always think "wow, why didn't I do it sooner!!" :haha: 

I gave him a cup of milk at his snack time today instead of juice, so in effect hes still getting his milk, from a cup though :thumbup: 

Thanks for the replies 
x


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## future_numan

Emily just turned 1 and she no longer has a bottle just a cup..and her last milk is about an hour before bed.


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## charlotteb24

At about the age of your son, my son suddenly randomly started asking for beakers rather than bottles for his milk all off his own back! which was lucky for us as we don't mind him having the milk to take to bed but did want to get rid of baby bottles all together! 

I think that having milk to go to bed with is fine and i dont mind how long he takes before he decides he doesn't need it anymore as thats clearly his way of winding down to go to sleep.


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## claire23

Mellie1988 said:


> Night 2 has been a success too :D yay...I love it when things turn out to be really easy, and you always think "wow, why didn't I do it sooner!!" :haha:
> 
> I gave him a cup of milk at his snack time today instead of juice, so in effect hes still getting his milk, from a cup though :thumbup:
> 
> Thanks for the replies
> x

Well done hun! Happy mum, happy boy and happy teeth! :thumbup:


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## yannimama

Yannis has his bottle of milk before bedtime, milk at least is something healthy I think


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## pinktaffy

i give my lo a bottle of milk an hour b4 she goes to bed its just somthing weve done for so long its a habbit but milks good for them so im in no rush 2 stop her having it.
she has a beaker of a morning and a bottle an hour b4 bed


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## lynnikins

i just didnt want this problem to start so have always done their final feed then bedtime routine then bed with a few excpetions for EJ when hes ill or teething or growing lol,


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