Is It Such a Big Deal That My Son Likes a Bottle at Bedtime?

My son is 2. He still gets one. I stopped telling my pedi about it.

I say, if the American Pediatrics Association says they recommend breastfeeding until at least age 2, what difference does it make if my child gets the bottle for that long?

My daughter was 2 in June and she still has her bedtime milk from a bottle. I just nod in agreement with the ped , it's not such a big deal IMO , like you said , they will grow out of it.

If it is just the sucking he wants, try and lay him down at night with an empty bottle. That's all my son wanted. Never asked for milk in a bottle again. Just needed that extra sucking to relax. Otherwise, as long as you are cleaning his teeth, I wouln't worry about it.....no big deal.

Oh, let him keep the bottle. If it's just one per day and you can brush his teeth after, there's no harm. Both of my kids gave up theirs voluntarily around 2.5, and honestly, I was so sad. There was no "baby" left to them anymore.

Just stop telling your pediatrician. Mine told me that as long as they didn't have it before bed when they went to kindergarten, they're fine.

I have a friend who put her kids down with a bottle and she's a dental hygienist. LOL. She said she would brush their teeth as soon as they would wake up in the morning. My baby drinks a bottle at night. Do what you think is best. I would simply tell my ped that I disagree with her, and this matter is no longer up for discussion. Good Luck!

Dependency on an "outside" comfort could become an issue over time. Or not. Each child handles things differently.

I have heard that leaving a bottle in a child's mouth in the crib can lead to ear infections. (The milk can pool in the mouth and back up into the eustachian tubes.) But it doesn't sound like you're doing that.

If you're willing to face some possible future issue with weaning him away from the bottle, you are probably doing him no harm with your current pattern. I find it amazing that brushing his teeth after the bottle leaves him relaxed enough to sleep, but if that's the case, then future weaning may not be much of a problem. I'd try thinning the milk with a little more water every few days until he's eventually just drinking a little water at bedtime.

I've had to tell a few "white lies" to my pedis for this very reason. It saves me having to hear a long talk about what I should be doing and I know what works best for my child anyways so while it's nice to hear their input, if it's not hurting your child, then so be it. I nursed all but one of my babies and the b/f babies fell asleep better after nursing and my one bottle baby always had his ba-ba at bed time. I honestly can't remember when he "grew out of it" but he's 4 now and never needs a thing to fall asleep so YES your son will outgrow it, do you know any adults that still need a bottle or sippy cup to fall asleep? NO lol so save yourself the lecture the next time you visit the pedi and if they ask about the bottlle, tell him you've stopped doing it, as long as your doing what you say your doing with the teeth, falling asleep with the bottle won't hurt him in ANY way.

BTW, all of my sisters had bottle fed babies, every single one of their kids fell asleep with the bottle too and all of them turned out just fine too, with NO rotten teeth. Don't let anyone steer you out of a direction that's working so well for you and your son. Take care!

I am not the best person to ask about this, having a 4 1/2 year old that still has a binky. But my two cents are that he is a baby once. You are doing little, if any damage by allowing him his bottle to wind down. Just let your ped's nagging go in one ear and out the other on this one. Just don't tell him anymore! There are far greater things to worry about in the grand scheme. Your son is still, very much, a baby. And he won't be forever. Let him have his bottle.

My humble opinion. Not everyone will agree.

My pediatrician was also hard on me when he found out I still nursed my 2 year old before sleep. There are guidelines and parameters but you have to do what is right for your son and your family. Personally, I don't think its at all a big deal.

I let my son have a nightime bottle for probably way too long! But we had it while he watched a show on Sprout, then he went upstairs to brush his teeth & off to bed. Could you try that? Does he have a little lovey that he likes to snuggle? Have you ever tried the PP's advice of giving him an empty bottle in his crib?

My 18 month old still has one bottle first thing in the morning and one right before bedtime. He drinks from a sippy or regular cup all day long, but the bottle seems to be a nice part of his routine and is also our normal book reading time. I know some might disagree, but I plan to let him have his bottle for at least a few more months if he still wants it.

Its not a big deal... and since you are able to clean his teeth after the bottle. I did that too, with my son.
My son also just liked to have the 'bottle' with him in bed (even if empty), because he liked to 'twiddle' the bottle nipple, which is an instinctual thing in kids/babies. Which they outgrow.

Or, put water in his bottle.
Or water down the milk.

All Pediatricians, will say to stop the bottle. In actuality, that does not always happen... nor should you feel pressured by it.

LOTS of kids, have a bottle before bed. At that age. You are not the only one.

Also, does he have a lovey to sleep with? If not, let him have one.

good luck,
Susan

If you brush his teeth after the last bottle it is not an issue.
We got rid of bottles around your son's age, but kept the binky for another 9 months or so.
Good luck!

our pediatrician said that kids should be off the bottle by 14 months and that the sippy cup shouldn't replace it just used to transition to a cup. I guess as long as it doesn't bother you and you are able to brush his teeth after he drinks it then thats okay. When you get closer to potty training it will be harder to night train if he needs the drink before bedtime.

I don't think it's a big deal at all but I do think the more he gets used to having it and it becomes a habit more than anything else, the harder it will be to take it away. If you are content to let him continue to use it at night until he says, ok I'm done with it then that's fine. But you have to be ok with it IF he decides he wants it until he's 3 or even 4 or older. If you're thinking, ok I'll take it away when he turns 2 (or any other arbitrary age you think is appropriate) you're setting yourself up for a bigger battle when he gets older.

When I took my kids off the bottle, I went down to just the nighttime bottle and then when I was ready to get rid of that one I threw away the bottles so that there was no going back and I did let the kids have their sippy cup before bed but they didn't become dependent on the sucking action to soothe them to sleep with that so once they knew the sippy was all they would get the bedtime drinks pretty much ended there.

I have 3 children, my youngest being 2 1/2 and I have found that a lot of the transitions I built them up in my mind ahead of time and dreaded them when in actuality the kids handled it better than I thought the would.

Good luck,
K.

I don't think it is a big deal, it's just a habit that you will have to address eventually. Having that much milk at his age before bedtime just ensures that he will wake up with a soaked diaper. You might just want to cut down the quantity of milk you put in the bottle. within a few weeks, you could cut it down at least half and then within a month, you could eliminate it all together. But, that's up to you. Clean teeth are themost important thing before bed. I'm glad to see you brush after the bottle.
Take care!

My son never took to bottles. he went straight from breastfeeding to a sippy cup.

To be honest, every night he goes to bed with his cup filled with water.
He used to wake up in the middle of the night asking for water.
Now I don't see the big deal with it.
It's just water. And his sippy cup is one with the hard plastic lid & doesn't leak.
So in my opinion it's not a big deal
I would only say if you are leaving the bottle in the crib when he goes to sleep to put water in it, or put him to bed with a cup that he can't bite the tip off of in the middle of the night, & one that doesn't leak.

I say to do whatever works for you and your family no matter what others say. Everyone around us kept telling us to get rid of my sons paci when he was 1 years old. We tried it at age 2 just before my daughter was born. It was very frustrating for everyone, especially my son. So after two weeks, we stopped fighting it and gave it back to him. We tried again for a couple days at age 3 and he still wasn't ready. He also took a bottle at night time until he turned 3. Finally on his 4th birthday he made up his mind to give all his paci's to his new boy cousin. So we put them all into a ziploc bag and mailed it to my bestfriend for her newborn son. I even took my son to the post office so he could "mail it" and then he called my friend and told her all about it and he got to hear her praises.

With my daughter she is a thumbsucker. Boy did I get a lot of flack for that. She is 3 and a half and still sucks her thumb. As soon as she could get her thumb into her mouth at 3 months of age, she would literally chuck the paci's out of her crib. She also took a bottle at nighttime until she was 2 years old. I figure in the grand scheme of life, whether or not your kid sucks their thumb or their paci, for whatever length of time, is not that big of a deal. Every kid needs some way to self soothe themselves.

FYI: My kids are fine. They both fall asleep on their own. They are intelligent and do well in preschool. They are social and adjust to change easily..and I think it has to do in part with the fact that they learned at an early age to self soothe with either a bottle, a paci, or a thumb.

So go with your gut instinct...if you feel your son needs his bottle a little or even a lot longer...go for it.

We nursed at bedtime until my daughter was around two. I wasn't as good about brushing, but her teeth are fine at three+, so I wouldn't worry about it.
Good luck!
R.

Give him the bottle! He loves it. Life is short!

I don't see the problem if you are brushing his teeth after. Most people have a wind down or bed time routine. If he's going to bed with clean teeth then I don't really see why your ped thinks it's a bad idea. It's not like he's going to want to have a bottle before bed until he's 30! My ped was all over me to get my son off the bottle all together at 1 year. It wasn't happening and I felt bad. I ended up pushing him into something he didn't want and creating a situation that made our whole family crazy because there was always a fight. I finally gave up trying and within 2 months he was not using a bottle anymore. Sometimes I think moms and docs get hung up on stuff like that. Everybody seems to use the same chart for milestones when all kids are not the same. What's the difference between having a bottle 5 minutes before bed then brushing and a bottle 2 hours before bed and brushing? I'm no expert. I can't even get my 3 year old to brush at all without threatening to duct tape him to the wall!! I didn't go to bed with a bottle in my mouth ever because my mother was so worried I'd have problems with bad teeth....guess what.....I got bad teeth anyway!

My 18 month old daughter still likes to have her milk from the bottle at bedtime and I dont see anything wrong with it. When she gets a little older and can understand its time to let it go, then we will discuss and let go of the bottle. They are still "babies" at this age and if thats what they need, then ok :)
Remember, follow your instincts, you know whats best for your son better than anyone.

Hey J.,
The biggest problem your Son is going to have is bucked teeth. Its just as bad letting him suck a nipple as his thumb. My Grandson sucked his thumb until he was 10 & had to have a tooth pulled. We told him if he sucked it he would make a dry socket & have to go back for more work. If he absolutely has to have a bottle at bed, give him water ONLY! He'll fight you at first i'm sure, they always do, just remember your the parent & if you don't stand your ground he'll win. People say we train our kids,not like animals, the ways of life. Well I think it goes both ways. Kids train us too. If a baby crys long enough someone will come pick it up. Same way with your sons bottle, he will cry and scream, all the fun stuff. Just hang tough. Pretty soon he'll not want the bottle because it doesn't have in it what he wants.
Good Luck
S. in Vegas

Is he drinking out of hunger or comfort? If it's hunger, you may want to change his feeding schedule to get him more food. If it's for comfort, you can try using regular plain water, or a binky. I think the bigger issue though is comforting to sleep, as this can create dependancy issues and make learning to fall asleep on his own harder.

I am very laid back about the bottle thing. As long as he wants it I really don't see any issues with it. As long as he is not sleeping while holding the bottle in his mouth all night he will be fine dentally. It is the constant, all night, drip of milk that causes tooth rot. If you want to learn more about tooth rot the google it.

Having that sucking need is a big deal, and he will find something to suck if he needs to, it may be a finger, a thumb, a blanket corner, etc...many things that will be a huge battle to stop.

Our 6 grandkids all kept the bottle until they were ready to stop and each one has good strong teeth. None of them have bucked teeth but my daughter does because I took her off the bottle too soon and she still needed to suck and I can tell you fingers don't come off at bedtime and you can have a major battle every day for the rest of that child's childhood fighting about their sucking whatever they latch on to.

I say you know what is best and can choose what you want to do and then tell everyone else it's none of their business.

My daughter actually just turned 2 years old on 7/23. She too loved her bottle of milk before bed time. Only thing was I had a baby in April, so before I returned to work in the beginning of July, I had to get her off Bottles, so I could use them to pump for the baby! So just one day I hid the bottles and told her there were no more bottles. (I've also heard of parents throwing them away or give them away in front of the little one) and ask maybe once or twice and then she was ok with drinking from a sippy cup from then on! Then, since she wasn't a huge fan of her sippy cup, she sometimes doesn't even ask for one anymore.

She was probably about 21-22 months when she stopped drinking from a bottle. SHE FINE! Like with potty training, they'll let go when they are ready. Please keep in mind, you can't potty train until they stop drinking at night, otherwise they will FOR SURE wet the bed at night. So, think of it as step one to potty training. Tell your son big boys don't need bottles! And maybe buy him some big kid cups that he can ONLY drink sitting up or in the kitchen.

I don't think it is a big deal. Like you said, he isn't falling asleep with the bottle of milk, he is just winding down with it then you brush his teeth.

My 2 year old does the same thing (kind-of). He has to have a sippy cup to fall asleep. We give him water...our pediatrician didn't have any concerns with it at all. In fact, I think it helps him fall back asleep if he wakes up too. Cause every now and then I hear him sucking on his sippy in the middle of the night.

We weaned our oldest from bottle to sippy right after 12 months (we used a soft top sippy rather than the hard top so it wasn't too different than a bottle IMO). Then we just took that part out of our bedtime routine. It was bath, bottle, book, bed...I just took the bottle out of the equation and he was absolutely fine with it.