When did you stop giving your toddler a bottle at bed time?

Shelly - posted on 02/17/2009

I have heard so many things about the binky!! My son is now 17  months, and he is naturally moving away from it on his own. If he is really upset, which is not too often, he grabs for it, and if he is sick, the same. Other than that, he is pretty much away from it. Perhaps try a little redirection.

Emily - posted on 02/17/2009

I took Greta's bottle away when she was about 5 or 6 months old. We started on the sippy cup and she took to it like a duck to water. She still drinks milk during the day but from a cup. Our WIC nutrionist said she was suprised that I could get her off that early. Now I just have to get that damn pacifier out of her mouth! She just uses it at bed time but I worry about her teeth.

Julie - posted on 02/13/2009

The way I look at the bottle is, as long as they dont go to school with it ( my Mom actually did, lol).

As for the teeth worry, from what I understand, if you dont put your child to bed with a bottle, you dont have to worry about milk on thier teeth. My son drinks his bottle in my arms and falls asleep with the bottle. I take it out of his mouth, make sure he has swallowed all the milk, then put him in bed.

My concern is my son cannot get to sleep without the bottle! I am not stressing about taking his bottle yet. I'm a stay at home Mom, and he is my only child. Once I get pregnant with another baby, I will start trying to change that, until then, I'm not too worried.

Brandi - posted on 02/05/2009

My daughter is almost 17 months and the bottle has been gone a while. Actually since she was 13 months. Pediatrician wanted it gone for the sake of her teeth and ears. For her it seemed easy cause she LOVED her bottle but i just started giving her a sippy cup of milk at night before bedtime. The rest of the fam is usually watching tv with a glass of milk before bed anyways so she fits in with her sippy cup. It was easy for us

Julie Anne - posted on 02/04/2009

Hi Maggie.  My daughter takes 2 bottles a day, one first thing in the morning and one before bed.  She is 16 months old as well.  I give her the bottle, we brush our teeth and then we rock in the rocker and go to sleep.  This way I don't have to worry about the milk on her teeth at night.  She already has 16 teeth.  I am not stressing about giving up the bottles until 2. 

Eman - posted on 02/04/2009

I have 16 month old twins boy and girl.  My girl twin also takes a bottle but like yours only at bedtime and she uses a sippy the rest of the time.  My boy twin still nurses thats the one I think will be hard to break for me because he is so addicted lol.  I have been trying to give mine a sippy sometimes during her naps she doesn't complain all the time but she still likes to have the bottle.  I think if we just gradually offer the sippy more and the bottle less at nap time it may work but every kid is different.  Keep me updated and I will keep you updated maybe we can come up with a plan together.  Best Luck!!!

Wendy - posted on 02/04/2009

Hi Maggie. Don't worry, every baba is different and yours will give it up eventually. My little one is 17 months old and she still has her morning and bedtime bottle. She won't drink it unless I am holding her either because it's our special time together with no distractions. If you think about it - breastfeeding is recommended until the age of 2, yet most of us have swopped it for a bottle by now. They still need that mommy closeness, whether it's a bottle of formula or breastmilk. We shouldn't rush them to grow up too much I think, they'll let go of all their safety nets when they are ready :) If anyone is worried about tooth decay, brush teeth or give them a drink of water just before bed to rinse their mouths out.

Caroline - posted on 02/03/2009

I'm right in there with ya - Christopher is 16 months old and loves his bottle before bed, I haven't figured out how we're going to give it up, because I love giving it to him just as much as he loves getting it.  It's as hard for us as it is for him to say "no"....what are the downsides to the bottle at night?  Tooth decay...?!!  

Georgia - posted on 02/03/2009

Hello Maggie, My little boy is 17mths today and he still has 3 bottles a day, i don't think it a big deal either... I bought one of thos transion bottles too and my son doesn't want anything to do with it... id like to start taking him of the bottle when hes 18mths.. Good luck!

Kristy - posted on 02/01/2009

Hey Maggie, i was blessed with my girl Ebony Rose she gave her bottle up at 15 months for a cut with out me doing a thing she just stopped asking for her moo juice so i didnt give it to her and shes not fussed, now when we are out at play group she see's other babys with bottles and is not even tempted to drink it she just trys to force feed the other kids with them now........

Nikki - posted on 01/31/2009

I quit giving my daughter the bottle at 12 months. She didn't really care - I just give her some milk in a sippy cup while we read before bedtime and then we brush her teeth and put her in the bed. I don't really know how to wean a toddler off -

Alicia - posted on 01/30/2009

When my girls turned one I started them more on the sippy cup (the ones with straw work best for us but the Nuby's were a good transition too). We used the Podee bottles and LOVED them but just figured it was time to start transition. Since they fed themselves with their bottles anyway they didn't care about the cup either. Basically about 30 minutes before we put them down they got 6 oz of milk in their cup and when they finished we then brushed their teeth and put them straight into their bed. This has created a very good routine so they now know when we brush their teeth then it's time for bed.

Susan - posted on 01/30/2009

My daughter still has a bottle before bed.  My son who is now almost 3 didn't want his bottle anymore after 18 months --- he kept saying "not a baby" so it will come with time.  No worries! 

Trinna - posted on 01/28/2009

My 16 month old still has a bottle before bed and in the morning and with her nap, During the day she has her cup, I'm in no rush to take it away.

Mel - posted on 01/19/2009

my daughter is 16 months old and she still has a bottle with her naps and before bed, but she never took a soother so i think her bottle is her comfort and i have no problem with it =)

April - posted on 01/19/2009

I took the bottle away from my daughter at 13 months and gave her a sippy to go to bed.. If you leave them on a bottle too long it ruins their teeth..

Kelly - posted on 01/18/2009

We just stopped the nightime bottle at Christmas time (15 months old) - we were visiting relatives for 5 days and she refused the bottle each night there (so when we came home I did not reintroduce it).  She has not had any problems sleeping through the night (which was my concern). It works so much better now that we can brush her teeth before bedtime stories now.

Jennifer - posted on 01/18/2009

I still give my daughter a bottle at night..she is 16 months as well. I don't see the harm in it. I would like advice also on ditching the bottle at night too but I guess I'm not in that big of a hurry..should I be??

Rebecca - posted on 01/18/2009

I was cruel with both of my children i took there dummies and bottles off them when they were 6 months old and went to a sippy cup as i was worried about their teeth, my daughter drinks milk throughout the day but doesnt really have much from her cup at bed time

Maggie - posted on 01/17/2009

my daughter never took the binky, but the advice given to me when i was pregnant was, when they are ready to give it up on their own they will. don't make a big deal about it because they will want it longer.

a friend of mine also said that when her child was 2 she waited until her child was asleep and threw them all out, saying the the binky fairy came and took them away because she was a big girl now. i thought that was pretty neat way of getting rid of them.

Jen - posted on 01/17/2009

hi! my daughter is 16 months old and she has a bottle when she wakes up in the morning and sometime late afternoon or with her dinner. i think i stopped giving her milk before bedtime at about 13 months. i just pushed it back a little earlier to dinner time.. and then to late afternoon. and now she'll take the 2nd bottle of milk whenever i give it to her. i do give her btwn. 16 & 19 oz. a day still. and she won't drink milk out of a sippy cup... only juices and water. she's now starting to prefer a straw cup for all beverages. but she definitely cares more about her bottle of milk in the morning than at night. i think once i broke the association of bedtime with it at 13 months, she stopped wanting it. i knew i could do that though b/c she had bedtime down to a science and has always been really good at going to bed and sleeping through the night. if it were still necessary for her to have a bottle at night to put her to sleep, i'd have no problem still doing it. my question is when everyone pulls the binky away? my daughter definitely isn't ready for that.. but how long do we wait?

Tammy - posted on 01/17/2009

I switched my son to a sippee cup a couple months ago. I did that gradually by introducing it at snack times and then eventually with all the meals. He's recently started refusing the night time sippee cup of milk but still takes it first thing in the morning.

Maggie - posted on 01/17/2009

ya my daughter drinks from a sippie during the day. that transition was super easy. Suzanne you make a great point about the whole comfort thing. It definatly makes sense especially with my daughter. She likes her time with mom that is for sure.

Emma - posted on 01/17/2009

hi my daughter still has a bottle at bed we ditched the morning bottle she sometimes goes without her bottle at night but she does enjoy it i am thinkin about ditchin the night bottle when she is 2 yrs

Dayna - posted on 01/16/2009

Mine does too. Does she take a sippee cup during the day? My daughter doesn't really have a preference of bottle or cup anymore, even has taken a sippee at bedtime. We are pretty much at the point that when I run out of bottle liners I am not buying anymore. The easiest transition that I have found with all 3 of mine is to get them used to a sippee cup and just rotate it in with the bottle until you can phase the bottle out. Good luck!

Brandi - posted on 01/16/2009

Hi Maggie, my daughter will be 16 months on the 24th and I still give her a bottle before she goes to bed, alot of my friends and family give their children a little snack before bedtime and that is just our child's snack. I would like to get Shelby off the bottle and am working on it, I bought "Nuby" bottles, they have a bottle tip and a sippy cup tip, we are in transition but I'm not worried about it. My goal is to be rid of the bottle before she turns 2.

Suzanne - posted on 01/16/2009

Hi Maggie, my daughter is 16 months old next week and she still likes a bottle at bedtime and first thing in the morning, yet my sons at this age .... long time ago now!! had ditched the bottle. I'm not worried about it, think its a comfort thing, the girls obviously still enjoy that closeness with their Mums. Don't worry.