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I just recently began giving my 12 month old son sippy cups. Am I defeating the purpose of breaking him off the bottle when I am putting him to bed with a sippy cup of milk?

2006-12-29 18:43:01 · 14 answers · asked by Anonymous in Pregnancy & Parenting Toddler & Preschooler

14 answers

OMG! Please do not put your child to bed with a cup of milk. Milk has sugar in it and this one of the leading causes of dental decay in children. The milk, and therefore the sugar in it sits on their teeth all night. It does not matter if you brush his teeth first thing in the morning...the process is already in motion. Please I urge you to do a search on "baby bottle caries" on the internet. If anything, please put your child to bed with a cup of water if you have to give him something.
More specifically to your question..to me it does defeat the purpose. Our daughter had a hard time with this transition and I gave in and let her go to bed with a sippy of water at night. When we began potty training and trying to get her through the night with a dry pull up...the cup had to go. This was just another battle to fight. We finally weaned her down to just a bit of water in her cup..then slowly transitioned to just an empty cup. It was more of a security thing or lovey thing to have in bed with her. After about a week, she didn't even ask for the cup anymore.
Again...please stop the milk and move to water if you must give him something.

2006-12-29 19:10:43 · answer #1 · answered by P H 3 · 2 0

The best way to help him transition from bottle to sippy cup is to stop giving him milk or even juice in the bottle. Give him water in the bottle and diluted juice or milk in the cup...but not at bedtime. If he only gets water in the bottle, he'll soon want the sippy cup instead. Make sure that you also clean his baby teeth with a soft brush and non-fluoridated toothpaste right before he goes to sleep.

You can also try a soothing routine such as reading a bedtime story, singing lullabies and so forth. Once he gets into the routine, he won't need milk to help him sleep soundly. A parent's love is more reassuring than any food or drink. Also, you'll be doing him a favor by creating a love of reading. That will definitely help him when he's old enough for school.

I did that with my daughter, and she's a great reader who does well in second grade. It also took no time at all for her to go from bottle to cup.

2006-12-30 03:07:48 · answer #2 · answered by poetwarrior62 2 · 2 1

I don't think so, you're doing the right thing. Weaning him off the bottle will take time and sippy cups are a great substitute for now. next step will be the straw

2007-01-02 22:40:12 · answer #3 · answered by Me 3 · 0 0

I realize that you feel desperate at some point to get the baby to sleep and feel that giving them something to drink to get them to sleep is the only way, but it's not! It has been well documented that this is not healthy at all and can cause decaying of the teeth, especially with milk or juice, because they fall asleep with it and it can be left pooling in their mouths and on their gums causing problems for their teeth in the future. If you have to put him to bed with a sippy cup, try a nice warm water, and try to wean him off of the habit because it always gets harder as they get older to break it. Best wishes to you! :0))

2006-12-30 11:10:31 · answer #4 · answered by Momof3boys 3 · 0 1

It is my opinion that if your child is ready to give up his comforter for falling asleep then he will do so. It is highly likely that having a drink in a bottle or cup has become part of this comforting bedtime settling period. I would agree that replacing any milk or juice in his cup/bottle with just water would be part of the 1st step in helping him get rid of it all together but let him have something else to hand eg. a blanket to act as a comforter if necessary. Gradually reduce the amount of liquid in the cup/bottle over a period of days. In the end he may be going to bed with an empty cup/bottle. Worked for me...

2006-12-30 11:09:15 · answer #5 · answered by ddodwella 1 · 0 1

It's really not the breaking him of the bottle itself but what it does to a baby's teeth to be sucking on a bottle or sippy cup at bedtime. It would be better if he had a pacifier if he uses one. If you are going to give him something to drink, at least make it water.

2006-12-30 02:47:19 · answer #6 · answered by Santa's Elf 4 · 1 1

Not only is it bad for the teeth but the sippy cup leaks in the bed. NO sippy cup in leak proof.

2006-12-30 10:31:22 · answer #7 · answered by kitkat1640 6 · 0 1

I did the whole breast, to bottle, to sippy cup with my oldest daughter but when my son was "ready"....
I was told, by the doctor, that sippy cups are WORSE than bottles because the little valves get bacteria (i.e. rotten milk & juice) in them that can not be cleaned out. She said only use cups with tops, instead.
She suggested weening with the water in bottle and skipping the whole cup at night altogether. I found that it was much easier with both my sons because we only had to go through the "transition" once.

2006-12-30 03:22:34 · answer #8 · answered by Sonia 2 · 1 2

Yes, the only way to break that habit is to go cold turkey, no bottles, no cups. My daughter needed a pacifier not a bottle to go to sleep and we had to just take it away and not go back to it, no matter how hard she cried. It took about 3 days and she was fine. Plus, putting the cup or bottle in bed with the child is really bad for their teeth.

2006-12-30 09:54:12 · answer #9 · answered by disneychick 5 · 0 1

Well, you are likely to have problems with tooth decay if you allow it to continue. I don't know that there are other major issues, but that is reason enough to try to break him away from the sippy cup at bedtime.

2006-12-30 02:47:47 · answer #10 · answered by Jonas_J 2 · 2 1

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