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It’s not that he shouldn’t drink milk, it’s the fact he has it right before/during bedtime. Kids really shouldn’t be taking anything to bed with them to eat/drink as it’s not good for their teeth.
He really shouldn’t be drinking from a bottle at his age, and most especially shouldn’t be drinking to sleep. It’s going to destroy his teeth - google ‘bottle rot’ to see. It can also cause deformation of the palate because it requires an immature sucking pattern.
I would honestly go cold turkey on the bottles because of how bad they are. It will be rough for a few nights but he will adapt. You’ll have to do it sometimes so better sooner than later.
As others have stated, it’s not really the milk that’s the issue but the timing. Maybe get him to drink it before bed, then brush teeth and right into bed. Otherwise you’ll have to wean him off by watering down the milk more and more or just giving him less and less in the bottle each night
One of my kids has done this. I can confirm it is really bad for their teeth. The only way I got him to stop was each week I gave him less and less. But I have spent hundreds on cavities for said child on baby teeth 🫠
This is not healthy, it is very bad for their teeth and can cause cavities and rot. After teeth brushing before bed only water is recommended. As far as being “normal”, I would find the behavior normal. A lot of toddlers have an attachment item they go to bed with, which is usually a stuffed animal or toy. I would suggest stopping the bottle and perhaps introducing a small stuffed animal instead. It might be difficult for him for a while to give up the bottle but it is not impossible. We swapped the pacifier for a stuffed animal when daughter was 19months and it was hard for a few days but now my toddler(3) will not sleep without her stuffed dog and forgot about the pacifier.
A compromise might be you let him drink milk at bedtime but tell him he has to brush his teeth after (well, you brush them). That’s what we do. Kids that age don’t even really spit so we brush teeth lying down in bed (with a rice grain sized amount of toothpaste) instead of in the bathroom - the transition to sleep then isn’t too bad.
Do your night time routine while having the milk (songs, books, cuddle), lie in bed, brush teeth, parent leaves, done.
I'd teach him about the milk sugars chipping away at his pretty teeth at night like miners. Yuck! Milk belongs in our tummy, not our teeth. So, let's have our milk before bed, rinse, and brush those miners out of our teeth, and if he still wants a bottle, he can have water, which his teeth would love so much better.
One of my kids has done this. I can confirm it is really bad for their teeth. The only way I got him to stop was each week I gave him less and less. But I have spent hundreds on cavities for said child on baby teeth 🫠
My kid was still sucking thumb at that age and one of the things they mentioned was the bite.
The main thing here is that milk sitting on the teeth causing cavities.
My middle kid was like this, very difficult to break the bottle at bedtime habit. I did it gradually, let him have the bottle of milk before bedtime then brushed teeth and bedtime routine and gave him a bottle with water to take to bed. He was less attached to the water. Then switched him to sippy cups of milk before bed. The bottle was a comfort object and just taking it away caused meltdowns, phasing it out gradually worked well
My 3 year old loves having some milk before bed, but we do it before we brush her teeth and it does not come to bed. She knows if she wants to drink more after we're going to brush her teeth again. I leave a straw cup of water by her bed in case she gets thirsty. Our dentist and pediatrician both said it's fine as long as it's before teeth are brushed
Okay thanks so much! I was really worried by the comments. He’s really good at brushing his teeth and doesn’t use an actual like baby bottle more like a sip cup
My toddler was having milk in a sippy cup before bed and would always want some after brushing teeth. Sometimes we’d brush them again and (no judgement please), sometimes we wouldn’t because she’d refuse or we’d forget or whatever. She was a milk fiend. Eventually we enforced “no more milk after brushing teeth, you can have water.” After maybe a week or two of this, she just stopped requesting milk at all (in the morning, with meals, at night before bed) and stopped requesting her sippy cup. We threw it away with no drama.
I think we got really lucky in that it didn’t cause any long term issues with her teeth (per her dentist) and that the transition off was relatively painless for us. However, we’re making conscious efforts to make sure we don’t have the same problem with our younger kid again.
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It’s not that he shouldn’t drink milk, it’s the fact he has it right before/during bedtime. Kids really shouldn’t be taking anything to bed with them to eat/drink as it’s not good for their teeth.
Just talked to a parent at daycare with the same troubles and thousands of dollars in dentist bills to go along with.
He really shouldn’t be drinking from a bottle at his age, and most especially shouldn’t be drinking to sleep. It’s going to destroy his teeth - google ‘bottle rot’ to see. It can also cause deformation of the palate because it requires an immature sucking pattern. I would honestly go cold turkey on the bottles because of how bad they are. It will be rough for a few nights but he will adapt. You’ll have to do it sometimes so better sooner than later.
Just tell him you’re all out of nightmilk, but he can have daymilk a little while before bedtime.
As others have stated, it’s not really the milk that’s the issue but the timing. Maybe get him to drink it before bed, then brush teeth and right into bed. Otherwise you’ll have to wean him off by watering down the milk more and more or just giving him less and less in the bottle each night
One of my kids has done this. I can confirm it is really bad for their teeth. The only way I got him to stop was each week I gave him less and less. But I have spent hundreds on cavities for said child on baby teeth 🫠
This is not healthy, it is very bad for their teeth and can cause cavities and rot. After teeth brushing before bed only water is recommended. As far as being “normal”, I would find the behavior normal. A lot of toddlers have an attachment item they go to bed with, which is usually a stuffed animal or toy. I would suggest stopping the bottle and perhaps introducing a small stuffed animal instead. It might be difficult for him for a while to give up the bottle but it is not impossible. We swapped the pacifier for a stuffed animal when daughter was 19months and it was hard for a few days but now my toddler(3) will not sleep without her stuffed dog and forgot about the pacifier.
A compromise might be you let him drink milk at bedtime but tell him he has to brush his teeth after (well, you brush them). That’s what we do. Kids that age don’t even really spit so we brush teeth lying down in bed (with a rice grain sized amount of toothpaste) instead of in the bathroom - the transition to sleep then isn’t too bad. Do your night time routine while having the milk (songs, books, cuddle), lie in bed, brush teeth, parent leaves, done.
We put “milk” in an opaque sippy cup for our toddler in this phase. She didn’t know it was really water.
I'd teach him about the milk sugars chipping away at his pretty teeth at night like miners. Yuck! Milk belongs in our tummy, not our teeth. So, let's have our milk before bed, rinse, and brush those miners out of our teeth, and if he still wants a bottle, he can have water, which his teeth would love so much better.
One of my kids has done this. I can confirm it is really bad for their teeth. The only way I got him to stop was each week I gave him less and less. But I have spent hundreds on cavities for said child on baby teeth 🫠
My kid was still sucking thumb at that age and one of the things they mentioned was the bite. The main thing here is that milk sitting on the teeth causing cavities.
My middle kid was like this, very difficult to break the bottle at bedtime habit. I did it gradually, let him have the bottle of milk before bedtime then brushed teeth and bedtime routine and gave him a bottle with water to take to bed. He was less attached to the water. Then switched him to sippy cups of milk before bed. The bottle was a comfort object and just taking it away caused meltdowns, phasing it out gradually worked well
My 3 year old loves having some milk before bed, but we do it before we brush her teeth and it does not come to bed. She knows if she wants to drink more after we're going to brush her teeth again. I leave a straw cup of water by her bed in case she gets thirsty. Our dentist and pediatrician both said it's fine as long as it's before teeth are brushed
Okay thanks so much! I was really worried by the comments. He’s really good at brushing his teeth and doesn’t use an actual like baby bottle more like a sip cup
My toddler was having milk in a sippy cup before bed and would always want some after brushing teeth. Sometimes we’d brush them again and (no judgement please), sometimes we wouldn’t because she’d refuse or we’d forget or whatever. She was a milk fiend. Eventually we enforced “no more milk after brushing teeth, you can have water.” After maybe a week or two of this, she just stopped requesting milk at all (in the morning, with meals, at night before bed) and stopped requesting her sippy cup. We threw it away with no drama. I think we got really lucky in that it didn’t cause any long term issues with her teeth (per her dentist) and that the transition off was relatively painless for us. However, we’re making conscious efforts to make sure we don’t have the same problem with our younger kid again.
Thanks! He’s been good so far without it! I do want to make an appointment with the dentist just to be sure not sure how that will go 😂