How old was you child when they stopped the bottle?

[Visitor8]

both my boys were 12 months and a week old. I always did it the week they turned 1. From 1 onwards it was a cup. They only had formula until they were 12 months then they had milk once a day after dinner and water the rest of the time, nothing else (no juice, cordial, fizzy, flavoured anything).

I know it was the right thing to do because now they love water and don't drink anything else, unlike the majority of the kids at their school who get juice and cordial over water.

I think 3 is too old for a bottle personally and would be weaning him ASAP.

[hayles07]

DS went onto a cup at 16 months!!

[widdly]

DS went down to 1 bottle a day at 10 months, then stopped them altoghether at 13 months. He still has his dummies at 3 years old however...there is always something

[SamiH]

both my boys were 12 months and a week old. I always did it the week they turned 1. From 1 onwards it was a cup. They only had formula until they were 12 months then they had milk once a day after dinner and water the rest of the time, nothing else (no juice, cordial, fizzy, flavoured anything).

I know it was the right thing to do because now they love water and don't drink anything else, unlike the majority of the kids at their school who get juice and cordial over water.

I think 3 is too old for a bottle personally and would be weaning him ASAP.

Choc hun, I agree 3 is too old for a bottle - it's purely a habit and not a soother/comforter for him, watch the juice too - try watering it down, they never know .

My first 2 same as Missy - and they wont touch soft drink either LOL and now that is their choice and not my doing IYKWIM.

Zander wont take a bottle so is taking some feed from a cup (only one a day) ...

[~shazz~]

My Son is just over 3 and still has his bottle of a night when he turned 3 we talked to him about being a big boy now and he came up with " i have no bot bot , no nummies and no nappies i'm big " he collected all his dummies i gave away all his bottles and he tried ever so hard no to have a night nappy ( he just wasn't ready for the no night nappy and is slowly getting there) but then he got ill and wouldn't eat or drink anything we had to revert back to a bottle just so he would take some fluids it was a huge set back as we are now finding it extremely difficult to get him back to where he was . I don't agree with just turfing the things he loves dearly out to satisfy the stigma of what a 3 year old should or should not have .... every child is different and playing it by ear works for us ... good luck with what ever you decide on

[amberj]

Can I ask (maybe a dumb question) why we need to get rid of the bottle? Is there actually a medical/health reason, or is it more because they can't be 20 and drinking milk from a bottle, so at some point you have to phase it out?

Someone mentioned teeth- At some point soon-ish I will make sure DS has his teeth brushed after his bed-time bottle, so I'm not concerned about decay from milk sitting on them, but is there another teeth issue regarding bottles?

Sorry if this is a silly question!!

[SamiH]

I don't agree with just turfing the things he loves dearly out to satisfy the stigma of what a 3 year old should or should not have .... every child is different and playing it by ear works for us ... good luck with what ever you decide on

Hun I dont think it is about satisfying any stigma's - it is about helping them develop. It takes different actions to use a cup than it does a bottle, and helps prepare them to use a cup without lids etc. Every child is different, but there does come a time when they really dont need what they want if that makes sense.

I suppose my opinion really is if they can drink from a cup and take appropriate amount of fluids - why are they having a bottle still when it is not for any nutritional or medical reason?

[Janie]

Sami, I understand where you're coming from, but it IS a comfort thing, for my child anyway. He gets comfort from plenty of other sources too, but he does love his bottle. I feel that taking it away from him right now would only lead to distress and sleep disturbance. I wouldn't take my boobs, or his teddy away and leave him to cry, so why would I take his bottle? I also have guilt issues (mostly resolved ) about him having a bottle at all in the first place, so I feel extra mean to take it away from him. I do understand there is a line, that it will need to go at some point, but I don't feel WE have reached that line yet.

He eats well, is still BF, drinks water out of any sort of cup or drink bottle, so I don't think one bottle at night is going to hinder his development at this point . As I said earlier, I would much prefer that he didn't have it, but I would prefer lots of things that I don't get (like a full night's sleep ), but I just have to suck it up. Each time we've dropped a bottle, it's just been getting to the point where I feel I need to intervene, and then he just gives it up on his own. Which makes me feel so much better. Sometimes playing it by ear can be a good thing.

Having said all that, my inner dental nurse would just like to warn everyone that bottles should only be for milk and water . And even milk has sugars, so you still need to be careful with that one, little teeth are so easily damaged.

[Michelle71]

Janie - DS was having a bottle up until a few months ago and easily changed (without distress or anything ) to a Playtex insulation sippy cup. It has a moon on it and as we are mildly obsessed with the cow jumping over the moon he took to it quite easily for his night milk. Not sure if that is a path you want to take or not though

[SamiH]

Janie - sorry I was responding to the OP's post - I understand the comfort thing and did say in my first post if he didnt use it as a soother or for comfort, which I read OPs son did not.

I understand entirely about not wanting to take it away from him, my DD had a dummy for a lot longer than I would like - for comfort, different thread though