Is the bottle REALLY all that bad for a 24 mth old???

[alicesmum]

My DD breastfed until 11.5 months when she self-weaned and decided she liked formula better than me! She is now 24 months old and still has 2-3 bottles of half-strength (i.e., weak) toddler formula per day. She has:

1. half a bottle in her cot first thing in the morning, as it buys me more time (sometimes an hour!!!) to feed and look after the baby,

2. a bottle of milk to go down for her day time sleep (in the cot), and

3. a half or a full bottle (depending on thirstiness) about 30 mins before bed. We give her a bottle of water in bed after tooth-brushing, which she seems to sip throughout the night.

But all the books say there should be NO MORE bottles by 24 months. So I have recently cut the daytime bottle and given her milk in a sipper cup, which she barely touches, and am then having real trouble getting her to go to sleep in the afternoon, :banghead: and with a 2-month-old, I REALLY need her to have that daytime nap as I am exhausted by then!!! :sleeping:

Today I relented and gave her a half bottle and she went to sleep. Bliss!

Is there a medical reason for stopping the bottle now, or can I wait a bit longer before taking it away altogether?

Is it really all that bad?

[Goosie22]

Hi,

I posted a reference to studies a while back that identify long term bottle with serious dental problems like malocclusion (deformities of the teeth and jaw) and cavities. That is the reason bottles are not encouraged long term.


A strong association was found between exclusive bottle-feeding and anteroposterior malocclusion. Davis DW,Bell PA. "Infant feeding and occlusal outcomes: longitudinal study." J Can Dent Assoc 1991.

Among Breastfed infants, the longer duration of nursing the lower incidence of malocclusion. Labbok,MH. "Does Breastfeeding Prevent malocculsion?" American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 1997.


But as with everything you have to make your own mind up.


edited to add the references, you may be able to get your local libary to look these studies up for you. I havent got any online links.....sorry.

[Ana Gram]

DD is 2 1/2 and still has a bottle before bed at night. I honestly don't see why it is supposed to be bad.

[~EmsMum~]

i don't find it bad at all... my theory is whatever works!

[jessgray]

i dont think its all that bad if it works for you and your child.
i have read somewhere prolonged bottle use can lead to tooth problems but most of it can be prevented through good dental practise :)

[Percy]

You need to do what is best for you and your family.

I get alot of criticism about the way i handle my 14 month old, but when it comes down to it, he is a happy contented little boy, with a relatively stress free mummy!

[zoemacaroni]

my DD1 had bottle at night till she was 2 1/2 and shes got the best teeth ever, i always made sure she brushed twice a day....

[xkwzit]

I have asked a similar q of my dentist, as I was worried about DD2's dummy and bottle use. She said that a two year old has so much more growing to do that bottles and dummies are not worth worrying about. She said thumb sucking was much worse for displacing teeth, because the weight of the arm tends to "pull" teeth out of place, but dummies don't. I would figure a bottle to be the same.

The tooth decay might be a worry, but if she's not having it at night and only a small bottle before a nap - I couldn't see it causing major problems.

Cheers

[mum_2_5]

I say whatever works stick with it. All my kids weaned themselves off their bottles. My DD3 didn't stop her bottle till she was about 3 1/2.

[SilverStarfish]

I guess it is like any settling routine, it could only be problem if your bubba cannot go to sleep without it, and you caught out somewhere without it? Just like any blankie etc I guess.

I say whatever works for you :)

[razzle]

We still have a bottle for her lunchtime nap and a bottle before bedtime at night. I don't see a problem either. Eloise has weaned herself of everything else, so I'll just wait until she's ready, no point in forcing the issue.

[reAllytee]

I agree with the whole self weaning thing too.
We used to have 3 bottles a day morning, after lunch for nap then before bed. We too used to save the stress of naps by allowing the bottle in the cot we did this for a few months until i decided enough was enough especially as we often had milk all over his room from him spraying it out of his bottle !
I finally cut out the morning bottle & i was getting to the point of pulling my hair out at 10mths trying & pleading to get boof to take his sippy cup to no avail even with just water then i just figured if this is what he wants then who am i to take it away ! If we were b/f he would still be b/feeding if thats what he wanted so its the same to me.
Back in June at 15mths Boof watched me drinking water out of a pump water bottle to which he wanted to try & so began our change over !
I just kept it at water in the pump bottle then offered a sippy cup & he took to it no dramas then we slowly changed his lunchtime bottle & his nite bottle ( he still has his nite bottle if he is sooky for comfort ) this all happened with no fuss & no stress which was fantastic !
I figure if we learn to stand back & take how they learn & develop as compared to other bubbas then its the same with bottles & dummies they do it when they are ready !

[poshBecks]

Yeah Connor is still having a bottle aswell. A night time one before dinner. I wish he would drink it from a cup, but I think the soothing sucking is what he is after. Its no biggy.

[chubbybubby]

Harry had a bottle until he was about 12 months old, and then he just stopped. We basically stopped offering it to him and he didn't even ask for it. He has been a very easy baby though. He is now 2.5 and we just took his dummy off him because we were worried about his teeth - some days he would only have it for sleeping, other days you couldn't get it out of his mouth for a minute!! We decided to go cold turkey and he only cried for it for 2 days at nap times, and hasn't mentioned it since! :)

I think just go with the flow, but encourage the child to use a cup or sipper. :)

[alicesmum]

thanks guys. i feel better about it now. my MIL keeps telling me it's not right for a 2 yo to be having bottles :mad: , but i figure they don't go to school wanting to drink from a bottle, and hey, if it were up to me i'd probably still be breastfeeding her at night, so what's the difference?

xkwzit - i'm glad to hear your dentist's advice. i thought the same thing myself and wondered how on earth 2 or 3 bottles a day could damage the growth of their jaw and teeth. thanks :thumbsup:

(going off to relax and do whatever gets me through!!! :p )

[Bub2luv]

my DD (15mths) still has a bottle of full cream milk at night before going to bed. I do this for the following reasons:

She sleeps longer as settles quicker
Reassurance for me because I know she has had her required milk intake for the day
She will not drink milk from a cup, only from a bottleI give her bottle on my knee as quiet time before bed, we then clean teeth after.
I considered weaning from the bottle at 12 months but the only reason I could find to support this was claims of teeth rot. I figured if she cleans her teeth afterwoods then there was no reason to stop.


If you are worried about your dd's teeth you could give her the bottle on your knee and then clean her teeth before putting her into her cot (:hugs: It gives you extra cuddle times too!)

:thumbsup: Whatever you decide do what feels right for you and your family.