My daughter is 3.5 years old...should she still be drinking from baby-bottle?

Question

She generally only has a bottle at night as she goes to sleep but will cry herself to sleep if she doesn't get it. What is the average age a kid stops drinking from a baby bottle?

Answer 1

kids should be off BOTH bottles AND sippy cups by age two

a sippy cup is a bottle (as are all cups with valves)

your daughter is old enough she should have the hand eye coordination to drink from a regular cup continuing to give her a bottle or a sippy cup will cause nursing bottle syndrome

http://doctorspiller.com/images/Pedo/nursingBottleSyndrome(large).jpg

Answer 2

The average age? Well it is very highly recommended by the age of 1 that a child should be off the bottle...so you are 2.5 years behind. Around 15 m.o. something like that becomes habit as it has with your daughter. I am glad she doesn't do this in public how embarrassing for you and her. Does she still sleep in a crib?? Do you let her go to sleep with it?? Talk to your Dr about what they call "bottle rot" Does her teeth look dingy and gray? That is from the nipple rotting her teeth out. My niece had this problem because her mother was extremely lazy and didn't take the bottle away at a apprioate time.
So what she cries? Guess what? let her cry it out for about a week and she will finally learn the bottle is not coming back. You just gotta be strong and be the parent and say NO MORE BOTTLE, bottles are for babies (under1) and not for 3.5 y.o. So you will have a bad week of her screaming and crying for a bottle...deal w/it you created this beast and now you need to stop it now...TONIGHT.

Answer 3

My daughter stopped using a bottle at 11 months old. Just let her cry at night without the bottle. Is she potty trained yet? Because you could run into problems in that area if she is still sucking on a bottle all night. Nevermind the damage it will do to her teeth. It might help to replace the bottle with a spill-proof sippy cup at first. (Keep it on a table next to the bed so when she is thirsty she can get a drink....) Then start taking it in there at bedtime, give her a drink, then take it out with you. Then maybe a drink after brushing teeth before bed.

Answer 4

Children should stop drinking a bottle at 1 year old. You can/should begin introducing the sippy cup at around 9 months by putting water/juice in the cup. Then begin putting the milk in it. Then at one you should be able to eliminate the bottle altogether.

Have tried giving her milk in a NUBY cup? They have a soft spout almost like a nipple. Either way, she should not have a bottle or cup in bed with her at all. First, children should not drink lying down because it may cause ear infections. Second, it could cause tooth decay.

She's old enough to try talking to her. Explain that she's old enough to not need a bottle and that the bottle will not be given anymore. Let her drink some milk from a cup before bed. The crying will stop eventually. It may be hard to listen to but no one ever died from crying.

Answer 5

average age children should stop using a bottle is like 1-2 years old. Your daughter is entirely too old to be using a bottle. She can cry herself to sleep without the bottle for a couple nights and then she'll be over it. She needs to be on a sippy cup now.

Answer 6

average age is 12 mths when u take them off formula and put them on whole milk. my son is 3 and had the bottle until he was 13mths. it was hard to ween him off but after 3days he was fine he helped me throw all the bottles out. i accually went and let him pick a "big boy" sippy cup out.then i got another cheap one at a local wallmart and all threw the day when he wanted a drink i give him the sippy cup and i drank out of the other one. he was so excited he was using a big cup like mommy that he forgot all about the bottle.also them being on bottle too long can ruin her teeth. get her off of it. it may be hell for a couple days but it will be worth it b/c u wont have a 7yr old walking around still drinking from a bottle. also do not give her a bottle to go to bed with she is 3.5 she should be able to sleep all night w/o needing milk all night.put her sippy in with her for a few days mabye and if shes that thirsty she will drink from it. also throw the bottles away so she cant find them and so your not tempted to give it too her when she starts crying/

Answer 7

I'll have to go against everyone else and say that if it's only at bedtime it's OK. 3 year olds usually still need some sort of babying to make them feel safe at night. She'll outgrow it. The only problem is that it might be bad for her teeth...that depends on what's in the bottle. If she will take warm water/a paci instead, or drink milk or juice and then brush her teeth before sleeping, it would be better.

Answer 8

A little crying has never hurt any child! So let her cry herself to sleep a few nigth and hopefully she will get over teh bottle fast after that!
My daughters were off the bottle at 8 months!! They were on sippy cups until just over a year and on regular cups ever since!

Answer 9

Most pediatricians recommend weaning from a bottle around 12 months. Try to switch to a sippy cup to gently get her off the bottle. Nuby cups are very similar to bottles and may be an easy transition. You may want to rough it a couple of nights and just totally break the habit of having a drink at bed time though.

Answer 10

I have three children and with many nieces and nephews and the earlist is around 1 years of age and no later than 2. I started introducing my sons to a sippy cup when they were 1. And buy 18 months they were totally of the bottle. 3.5 is way to old to be on a bottle still..

Answer 11

Well,doctors say no bottle after 12mos.But they've never dealt with a screaming toddler at midnight when you gotta get up at 5am.I don't really think it will hurt her to have a bottle at night.I mean,who cares?She's only a baby still.The only thing I would be concerned about are her teeth.You don't want them to grow in buck teethed or rotten.Braces cost alot of money later on.

I've had 4 kids.One was off the bottle at 13 mos but was on her paci for almost 2yrs.Another was off all of it by 11mos.Then another off the bottle by 1 1/2 yrs but paci for 2yrs.The last was on a bottle at night until 2 1/2 yrs old,but he finally got himself off.

I wouldn't over stress it yet,she's still little.