bottles, for one yr old

Andrew is really fighting me when it comes to taking away his bottles.
we are just really starting adding milk to the formula and learning to switch to that..
when is the latest that a baby should have their bottles taken away?
I am worried about his teeth.

he takes a sippy but only takes sips and then lets the liquid drip out of his mouth soaking his shirt.

I hate to do it while we are switching formula..but he is 14 months old now.

The thing about bottles that is really detrimental to teeth is allowing the child to suck on one while he/she is falling asleep, or to cart one around all day. And it also depends on what is in the bottle. People don't understand that there is really no difference between a sippy cup and a bottle except for the fact that we don't tend to allow our children to sip on a sippy cup as they are drifting off into dreamland (many do however give their kids sippy cups at bedtime or allow them to cart one around all hours of the day -- which defeats the purpose and can be worse for the teeth than a bottle).

The Pediatric Association of Dentistry has recently called out sippy cups for being just as bad as bottles. They recommend using the sippy cup with milk or juice ONLY at mealtime and with water at any other time of the day.

Juice or milk should not be given to children over the age of one at bedtime unless they are going to be brushing their teeth directly afterwards. period. Sippy cup, bottle, or regular cup, if not teeth brushing will occur then water only.

So in short my point is, if he's giving you trouble with the bottle don't freak out about it. Continue giving him the sippy cup at meals and snack time and give him water in the bottle (if he'll take it) or one or two bottles of milk at times of the day when he's not going down for sleep or a nap.

I've known children who took a bottle once or twice a day until they were almost 2 who had no lasting effects on their jaws, gums, or teeth.

I dont let my kids have juice at all.
but he does use a bottle thru out the night, not in the crib but he wakes and has a bottle and goes right back to bed.
we dont let him have more then 2 oz of water because our ped told us that giving babies water can actually hurt them, it might deplete them of the minerals and vitamins they have.
so we dont fill the bottle with water.

right now its half and half whole milk and formula but we are only on day two of that.

i just wondered how long before its really to long.
and then was thinking that some people chose to bf until they are 2..and that doesnt seem different to me..

I would have gone that long had we been able.

The difference between the breastmilk and milk or formula is that breastmilk can't decay the teeth. There are no sugars in breastmilk.

It is fine to give water to toddlers throughout the day a couple ounces at a time. The only problem is if they start drinking the water instead of the formula (because the formula/milk is where they get their nutrients) -- in other words, it's better to give a child a full bottle/sippy of milk in one set sitting and allow them to have a cup with a couple ounces of water to tote around the house than it is to allow them to tote a cup of milk around (which also grows more bacteria).

As far as how long is too long -- that really is going to depend on who you ask. A lot of mothers will scoff at those who allow their children to have bottles past age one. Those who allowed their children to have them past age one will say it's fine.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends switching from bottle to sippy cup at around age 1... but they also recommend only giving a child water in a sippy cup unless it's being used during mealtime because sippy cups lead to an increase in cavities.

So... there's no real good answer there...

I would take the bottle away cold turkey at night, at the least. He shouldn't be waking up to eat at this age, IMO.

Aiden was very attached to his "bu-bu" too. We bought the silicone Nuby cups to deter him from them, and he took them, but only after realizing we were not giving in and not giving him a bottle. It was just until a few months ago that he started taking a regular sippy cup.

For alyssa her night bottle were more about comfort than actually being hungry so what I did is put less milk in her bottle well when she still wanted more I put water in it and she didn't want water. Finally one night I got tired of it and put only water in her bottle and gave her that she quit waking up for a bottle she was 13 1/2 months old

OH and we also used then nuby cups during the day

This post has been edited by A&A'smommy on Oct 17 2008, 06:52 AM

I tried this! and you know what my little whipper snapper did!
He liked the water, and wanted more! I was afraid to keep letting him have water.

m problem is, my kids rule the roost! every last one of them!

Well its a good thing that he does like water its good for him

There's nothing wrong with giving a child his age water, Aubrey drinks a lot of water and a lot of milk and yes I give her juice andkool-aid and stuff too sometimes as a treat. My ped said water is fine, water helps everything move through their system if you KWIM!

As far as the bottle goes - honey I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but I'm tellin ya - cold turkey is just about the fastest way to go. You can draw it out and make it harder. At his age I give him 2 days 3 days tops before he forgets about it!

This is just my opinion, and probably not a "what you should do" as much as a "what I would do" type of thing.

I would switch him over to the milk first and then start withdrawing the bottle. Just because I think it's a lot at one time to go to regular milk and lose the bottle.... and because I'm such a sucker for little ones tears. I have babysat many a baby who had a bottle up until 2 and never seen one who suffered bad teeth because of it. I know it can be bad but that is just my experience. I think he's young enough that it isn't a dire emergency to get him off the bottle right away, since you already started switching to milk anyway.

When you do switch though, I agree that cold turkey is the way to do it. You may be in for a couple of rough nights but it won't take too long.

Good luck!