Does anyone have any great tips for getting my 25 month old off the bottle? She used to only have one 4 oz bottle of milk at bedtime but as she's getting older she now wakes up in the night crying to the point of hyperventilating until she gets another bottle of milk. I've tried substituting water in a bottle or milk in a cup but nothing works, it's getting worse, and she's still too young to reason with. Any ideas? I'm open!

If not giving her a bottle of milk is causing a problem, would it not be better to let her have a bottle of milk. Is there a specific reason you want to get her weaned off bottles? I'm not criticising, I just think being a parent is hard enough at times without making it harder for yourself. My 4 year old still has milk from a bottle at night and in the morning - it's not caused any problems with her teeth or her speech so as far as I'm concerned it's not a problem. Her older sister was the same, and stopped having bottles herself without any problems when she was about to start school. By contrast, my oldest decided at about two and a half that he preferred a lidded cup for his milk - they're all different.

Linda

My friend, who is a paediatrician looked embarassed when she gave her 4 1/2 year old milk in a bottle. She explained to me that she considered the benefits of the child drinking milk outweighed the problem of child still having the bottle. Once the bottle has gone - milk consumption falls.

Health visitors will hold up their hands in horror at a child over 1 with a bottle. Just nod and smile and go with your instincts about your child.

Hi,

I tried to ween my son off his formular milk in a bottle when he was probably your sons age, I started giving him cows milk in a cup which he point blank refused. He then decided he didn't want any milk at all and now will refuse to drink milk in any form!

My advice is the same as the others, stick with the bottle until he decides he doesn't want it all! Its so much easier!

Martine