When do the bottles stop?

[Evie76]

Daniel is now nearly 11 months old and is still on 3 bottles a day (AF). (As well as lots and lots of solid food - he's an eating machine).

He has a sippy cup for water, so the formula is the only thing he is drinking from a bottle.

When I was going to mother's group months ago, the CHN said that we should aim to have them off bottles by 12 months - but I can't realistically see that happening.

When Daniel went to Day Care the other day I said to his carer, "Not long and I should have him off these bottles." She sort of looked at me funny and said (in short), "He's only a baby still. He can keep having his bottles if he wants them."

So, now I have conflicting advice - as per usual - and have no idea whether Daniel will be mentally scarred (joke) by having bottles past 12 months.

I've had a look on the side of the tin and it recommends that bottles still go from 12 to 24 months - but I'm aware of the marketing implications of that.

What does anyone else think/do?

[Emma1979]

will be watching with interest, my almost 10month old is having about 4 bottles a day, but only drinks around 150ml each bottle, sometimes less, so am thinking 4 bottles is okay considering its not actually much milk. have been wondering when to stop bottles too, so will be watching this thread. also interested in how many bottles other babies of similar age have, and up to 12 months, i can't see myself cutting down to less anytime soon... i read somewhere at 10 months they should only have one in the morning and one in the evening before bed, just doesn't seem likely for me.

[*Shell*]

Im interested in what people say here too.
My DD has 2 bottles per day, one mid morning and one before bed. I had tries to give her the mroning bottle in her cup but she wouldnt take it (never took water from a bottle either!)
My SIL had my niece drinking ALL milk from a sippy cup before she was 1. with DD1 i remember she had a bottle well after she'd turned one, just before bed. I agree with the carer, he's still a baby. SIL and i share the same health nurse so im sure she'll try to tell me to do the same, but im not going to. As long as Em wants her bottles im happy to give them to her.

[*Shell*]

Just read your post Emma, Emily also will only take 150mls each bottle. We have just dropped the middle of the day bottle ad replaced it with a snack of cheese or fruit.

[MistyFying]

I switched my two from formula to cow's milk at 12 months (they didn't have any lactose intolerances) and started offering their milk in a sippy cup with a straw. So they were off bottles by about 14 months. The main reason I did this was because I didn't want them to be going to sleep at night with a bottle in their mouth (increases the risk of cavities).

[Pandora]

Milo was still having 2 bottles a day at 12 months. As it was formula and he was already eating well, I changed him over to regular milk at about 14-15 months.
He still has milk at night but now hes 2 and its reduced fat cows milk. He wont drink his night time milk from a cup though he insists on a bottle

[dee73]

At around 12 months we swapped formula for milk and even now at over 2 years old ds still has 3 bottles a day (1 in his cot 1st thing in the morning while I lie in bed for a few extra mins! Then 1 before his day sleep and one before bed at night.) I'm happy for him to have them as long as he wants as it's getting him to drink plain milk and he loves it. I'm hoping it will mean he'll always like plain milk even at school age and won't need flavour added.

The conflicting advice can be confusing, so I did my own research and most health professionals agree that there is no need for formula past 12 months as long as they are good eaters, so maybe try swapping to milk (do this gradually, say 50/50 in each bottle for a few days then increase milk/decrease formula till it's all milk.)

As for the bottle vs sippy cup issue I think that's personal choice. DS will drink from either, but he prefers warm milk in a bottle and I figure this helps him sleep (he settle really quickly with warm milk but cold milk keeps him awake a bit).

[ZigZag]

I think it's just personal choice / preference really. Whilst in a sleep school for my DD at 15mths I got told by one of the nurses that she thought 'kids over the age of 12mths looked ridiculous with a bottle in their mouth'......made me feel great!!! Anyway, my DD was only having 2 bottles a day (cows milk by this stage) at this stage so shortly after took the bottle away and swapped to a sippy cup with no problems. I still see 2yr olds with bottles so I think it's entirely up to you / needs for your baby. I wouldn't feel pressured to do anything, but it was great not having to wash the bottles all the time.

[krisp]

My DS is 22 months old and he still has 2 or 3 bottles a day. Usually a half a bottle in the morning when he wakes one before his day sleep and one before bed. I'm not bothered by it and he loves his bottle. When he is ready to give them he will. We did try and get him to take his milk from a sippy cup about 4 months ago and he was having none of it. I'll try again soon and see what happens.

[Emma1979]

thanks shell, i am still giving her the roll over feed at 10pm, although i do think she can go from around 8pm to 6am without a feed, i dont think she can go that long without waking up, so i go and gently wake her up and give her the bottle, then she usually sleeps.... does that make sense?? i think probably before i cut the middle of the day bottle out, i would need to cut the 10pm bottle out, do u think? what doe anyone think? im positive she doesn't actually NEED it, its just that if i dont give it to her, and she wakes, i end up giving her a bottle in the middle of the night, sometimes she only takes a few mls then back to bed, so i dont think she's waking out of hunger.

she used to be a champion eater but now only eats finger food that she can feed herself, so isn't getting as much in her, as when i was feeding her from a spoon and filling her up.... sorry a bit off topic. i really want to stop the 10pm bottle but dont want to upset the apple cart.

[MantaRay]

My boys were bf so never really drank from a bottle. They started on EBM from a sippy cup at around 5 or 6 months because they wouldn't drink from a bottle. The other kids at day care mostly seem to stop bottles not long after 12 months but some still have them long after that. I think the main reason for stopping bottles is that it does increase the risk of cavities, but it every child is different so there is no golden rule. I would say that if your child will drink from a sippy cup it is better to get rid of the bottles, but if they aren't then you can take longer to transition them. GL with whatever you decide to do.

[Arimeh]

My DS is 12 months old and has just dropped from three bottles (Formula) to two. So he has one bottle when waking up and one before bed. I just give him some regular cows milk during the day now in a sippy cup and sometimes he drinks it, sometimes he doesn't. He is a pretty good eater though so I'm not concerned about it. My sister told me to get soft top bottles or something to replace his bottles (which look sorta like a grown up bottle if that makes sense) to get them to go off the bottle, and more onto a drink bottle type thing. So I'll be picking some of those up on the weekend to replace his bottles with.

[visitor1]

I was told no bottles and no formula from 12 months old. Chelsea refuses cows milk so she still has formula and 2 bottles a day. Morning and night. I dropped from 4 to 2 in one day!

[maddysmummy]

maddy is 14 months and still has a bottle..

i think its up to you and how you want things for your child.. i dont listen to my health nurse as there is two of them that job share and both say different things!!

[widdly]

Daniel will def not be permanently scarred by not having a bottle past the age of 12 months. Bottles past 12 months are not good for the teeth that is why CHN tell you to wean him off by then. i think it depends on how much the child likes their bottles as to when they stop having them. My DS stopped having day bottles at 10 months cause he loved his solid foods too much so i just stopped offering bottles and he was fine with it, at 13 months i stopped giving him his bottle at night before bed and he didn't ever miss it. Maybe just try and cut out 1 bottle at a time and see how he goes, if he loves his food so much he may not even notice the bottles are gone. BTW, when i stopped giving DS his bottle he absolutely refused to drink milk from anything for 2 months, i just made sure he ate plenty of cheese yoghurt and custard to compensate for it, now he loves his cup of milk. GL, just follow your instincts

[*Shell*]

Can i just ask, with the bottles not being good for the teeth - is this if you put them to bed with it or just them having it at all??