# 2 1/2 year old won't give up bottle--anyone else?



## MommyDOK (Jan 9, 2003)

My 2 1/2 year old will only drink out of a bottle. It's not that big of a deal to me, but in-laws think it's nuts. Can it hurt her mouth at all?
I give her a sippy cup, but then she hardly drinks it at all. I give her a regular cup and she spills it everywhere.

I also just want to know if anyone else is out there w/ this issue. Dd is the only one in PDO program and mom's groups that is still using a bottle.
Thanks!


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## BathrobeGoddess (Nov 19, 2001)

Short answer is yes it can mess with her teeth. Bottles are not like breastfeeding in the way they go into the mouth and are used inside the mouth...

Having said that ... know of two toddlers at about 2 1/2 who still drink from bottles but their parents are really trying to wean them from it!

I wish I could be of more help! You know your dd better than anyone else so I bet you know better than anyone else, too!


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## Vermillion (Mar 12, 2005)

If you are giving her anything but water in night bottles tooth decay is a big concern.


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## Tummy (Feb 24, 2005)

My DD had a bottle after 2yrs old.. she was having NOTHING to do with giving it up. Even if it was just water in it that was fine with her. Then around christmas time I made a HUGE deal about her giving her 'baba' to santa for him to take and leave her a 'BIG GIRL' present. She packed her own bottles into a box and put them under the tree two weeks before christmas. I was in shock!!!! She never asked for one again!!


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## applejuice (Oct 8, 2002)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *Vermillion*
If you are giving her anything but water in night bottles tooth decay is a big concern.

ITA

This is totally true.

*I* was a baby that drank a bottle until age four. I never had a cavity until age twenty-six. I never wore braces.

None of my children drank a bottle, except the youngest. I nursed him until he was a year old and also then gave him a bottle at the same time since I was a WOHM, and DH as at home with him as the primary caregiver.

My youngest child drank a bottle until age six!! My DH was at home while I was a WOHM and he was too lazy to watch him drink out of a cup or wipe any spills that may have resulted, so he simply gave him a bottle.

I normally gave him raw milk with brewer's yeast or diluted juice w/Plus formula 82 (children's liquid vitamins) in the bottle (never apple juice).

I had a little talk with my Dear Son at age six; I told him that he was truly too big to be drinking out of a bottle still, so my DS took the empty bottle out of my hand, walked into the living room, sat on the sofa and said good-bye to his friend, the bottle.

He then brought the empty bottle back to me, and handed it to me and walked away. No more bottle!


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## ShadowMom (Jun 25, 2004)

Unless you're giving her bottles at night that she just lays there with (and have something other than water), tooth decay is not a big concern (from my understanding).

The bottle at this age is not supposed to be the best thing for tooth development, but I haven't been able to figure out how big of a deal it is exactly.

I suspect no one knows for sure at what age the bottle really starts have a deterimental effect on tooth/jaw development, or what kind of damage it can cause. But if anyone hears specifics, I'd love to know!







Maybe you could ask your dentist about it?

If she really seems to want it, if it were me, I would probably not worry too much about it. Just my $.02. Sometimes they really need something to suck on for comfort, you know?


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## bobica (May 31, 2004)

the effect on jaw & tooth development depends mainly on the amount of time per day + over time the bottle is used. MommyDOK, there are a few different things you can try. If she has something favorite she drinks, that can be the start of "that goes in a cup." gradually add different liquids to the list. another way is giving her less & less in the bottle & offering a full cup as a substitute.

straw cups are often a great option for kids who don't like the sippy.

we just weaned dd off her naptime bottle of milk. over a period of weeks, we put 1 oz less in at a time until it was only 2 oz. then 1/2 water. then the choice of "little baba" or milk cup. then "no more baba- only for night." she was mildly upset but accepted it with truly a little protest & that was it. we'll do the same for the nighttime one. (when i say nighttime, not overnight but before bed).

we've noticed an increase in thumbsucking during this process, so i figure she's compensating for the reduction in other sucking. i'm guessing she'll overcorrect then go back to *normal* levels.

good luck!


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## ms mariah (Mar 29, 2005)

would it be that awful for the teeth if the child only had one bottle a day, before bed, and drank the milk in it in about 2 minutes?


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## Bleu (Mar 6, 2004)

I think if you just make a time every day or nearly every day where she can learn to get the hang of drinking from a cup, she'll be a lot less messy in about a month. You could do it with water in play clothes or pajamas that you're about to change anyway. Make sure you only fill it about 1/4 - 1/2" full. Yes, that means you will have to re-fill every other minute. I was satisfied with the way I did it, but it definitely required some face time. I think if I had a bottlefeeding toddler, I would be inclined to let them self-wean from it, though I would want to make sure they had the ability to drink from a regular cup, too. There are plenty of toddlers who nurse at that age; toddlers have a strong need to suck.

Maybe I am dense, but what difference does it make what the toddler has (via bottle) when, as long as they brush afterwards?


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## Sandrine (Apr 14, 2004)

Quote:


Originally Posted by *ms mariah*
would it be that awful for the teeth if the child only had one bottle a day, before bed, and drank the milk in it in about 2 minutes?

I don't think so. My dd1 has one bottle a day and it's at bedtime. We clean her teeth after milk and snack. I don't think it's a bad think.

I will though wean off her bottle probably by this summer. I'm going to reduce oz per oz until there is only like 1-2 oz then tell her that if she wants milk it's in a cup or sippy. By then she will be 2.5yrs old.


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## Bleu (Mar 6, 2004)

FWIW, when I recently attended a four-year-old's birthday party, the birthday girl had a bottle of whole milk when she woke up from her nap. Juat sayin'.


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## happyhippiemama (Apr 1, 2004)

DD is 19 months and I just weaned her from the bottle. She was completely attached to her baba, throwing temper tantrums, etc if she didn't get it _immediately_ after asking for it. Needed it (if I was working and she couldn't bf) to go to sleep at night, etc.

I knew that I had to wean her when she stopped eating solid foods. She had been eating like a typical toddler, and then it started decreasing a little, and I didn't give it a second thought until she stopped eating entirely - for a whole month, she ate nothing but a bite or two here and there maybe once every three or four days. BUT I was giving her a bottle of whole milk whenever she asked for it. She would drink 3 or 4 full bottles when she woke up, another midmorning, 3 for lunch, 3 more throughout the afternoon, 2 at dinner, and 2 at bedtime. She was filling up on milk and not eating at all - not healthy!! Plus bf'ing on demand whenever she was with me.

So I knew I had to wean her, but didn't want to do it - I don't like making her mad or sad, yk? It finally happened naturally - she had the flu bug really really bad for about five days, and for the first couple of days, she literally could keep _nothing_ down except breastmilk. A single sip of water would result in bile being spit up, a single sip of milk gave her explosive diarhea. Poor baby.

After the first two really bad days, she still couldn't take much, and NO dairy, so we kept on bf'ing a lot and I gave her small sips of water and pedialyte, just a sip or two at a time, from a glass.

After those five days of no bottle, she hasn't asked for a baba at all. So our weaning was alot easier than I expected it to be, although I feel kind of bad for being grateful that she was sick. Heh.


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