I have a son that Just turned 1yr. He is completely weened from his bottle all day, he has adjusted to change very well...However we still give him a bottle at night, I have his MD and is told he is healthy, He teeth are perfect. However I hear a lot of bottle rot, and that having a bottle can misshape there teeth. My husband and I are trying to ween him from the bottle at night..I am afraid. He normally goes to sleep with my husband walking him or me singing to him, but he still wakes some at night and when he does he wants his bottle. I just don't want to rush things but I want to get him away from the bottle all together. I have tried giving him some water but he seems to drink it quickly from his sippy cup so I don't feel like giving him water at night would be good incase he gags on it or perhaps chokes...I am looking for any recommendations...
I don't really think that 1 bottle at night at 1 yr. old is going to misshape his teeth. If he had a paci in his mouth all the time, then yes it could happen. The bigger issue would be the milk on his teeth at night. What is the choking concern with the sippy cup of water? Does it come out too fast? You can get the no spill sippys. It doesn't come out as fast. Or you could give him water in the bottle instead of milk if he would be satisfied with that. By the way, my 3 yr. old has some decay on the underside of her upper teeth and she's never had a bottle. I have always followed all the rules and took super good care of her teeth. I think genetics comes into play too.
Last edited by Mom22greatkids; 03-12-2009 at 05:34 PM.
newmom:
I responded to a post, tips on weening...but I will tell you too, my son had the same issue, he is almost 13 mths now and 2-3 days after trying to get him off his bottle and we were successful. We put his milk in a sippy cup with a soft silicone tip (munchkin brand) and his water/juice in a hard sippy cup so he would knwo the difference. He did fine at day, at night he still woke up around 3 to have his bottle, so first i would try the water in sippy cup, if that didnt work, milk in sippy cup and if that still didnt work I used a 4 oz bottle of milk, rocked him and put him back down and he was fine. I also went by the farmers almanac, call it coincidence but it worked. Goodluck and hope these will help you and your little one too. Missy
My son is 16 months old and his grandmother has "trained" him to take his naps with a bottle. He doesn't sleep with the bottle in his mouth, he finishes it then plays a bit in his crib then falls asleep. We have also been putting him down at night like this too. I have a four month old who has been having tummy issues so this helps us get the big guy off to sleep easier. He does the same thing at night that he does for naps. I hate this technique but it works As a SLP I have seen kids with bottle rot and open mouth posture and an "open bite" (where the teeth are spaced and don't align properly when the child bites down). But, having said that, the problem is, as far as I know, is when the child is constantly sucking on the bottle, sippy cup, or thumb. I have tried to brush my son's teeth each morning with water or a tiny amount of toothpaste. Sometimes I brush them prior to the bottle. I might try a bottle of water and see how that works. So, I think, if he's not actually falling asleep with the bottle in his mouth and the liquid pooling in the front of his mouth he should be ok. But then again I don't know...did your pediatrician give any suggestions how to wean him?
hi there. just had to stop in a give a plug for the other side.... i'm all for letting babies keep their bottles until they are older. my two girls each kept a bottle until they were 2 1/2. just at naptime and bedtimes and i think they might have had one in the middle of the night at least until right around the time they turned 2. we never had to do anything to wean them off the night bottle, they just all of a sudden started sleeping through it.
when my girls turned 2 1/2 i took them to the store and let them pick out a special cup just for milk.... i remember my first was a huge dora fan at the time, so she got a pack of dora cups and from that day it was "dora milk" and she never asked for a bottle again. with my second, she picked a pack of gerber cups that had frogs on one and flowers on the other and so she had "froggy milk" and "flower milk." she wasn't as easily swayed by the cups, but she used them.... grudgingly at times, but she used them!
my girls are 3 and 5 now and their teeth are perfect. never had any cavities, stains, decay, weird shapes..... just perfect pretty healthy teeth. and they sleep wonderfully through the night and they are just really good healthy happy kids!
i think if you make sure to remove the bottle from your little one's bed after he's asleep and make sure to brush his teeth daily, then he'll be just fine. given that your son is 16 months old, and he's trying to get used to sharing the spotlight with a new sibling, allowing him to stay in his current routine is really the best thing you can do for him.
As a SLP I have seen kids with bottle rot and open mouth posture and an "open bite" (where the teeth are spaced and don't align properly when the child bites down). But, having said that, the problem is, as far as I know, is when the child is constantly sucking on the bottle, sippy cup, or thumb. I have tried to brush my son's teeth each morning with water or a tiny amount of toothpaste. Sometimes I brush them prior to the bottle. I might try a bottle of water and see how that works. So, I think, if he's not actually falling asleep with the bottle in his mouth and the liquid pooling in the front of his mouth he should be ok. But then again I don't know...did your pediatrician give any suggestions how to wean him?
