Your child needs to stop drinking from a bottle at 12 months of age.- If they don’t, they may get tooth decay, ear infections and have low iron.
At 6 months
- Let them get used to holding their new cup by playing with it. They can use it as a ‘shaker’ by filling with ice-cubes or as a ‘bucket’ in the bath.
- Let them drink from the training cup when they want to.
At 8-9 months
- Swap one bottle with the cup (start with a lunch- time feed, as the morning & night time feeds are usually harder to give up).
- Start to gradually swap more bottle feeds with a cup.
Over 12 months
Children older than 12 months should have no more than 2 to 3 cups of milk a day.
Ideas to help calm your baby
- Play soothing music and give extra cuddles.
- Be a positive role model and drink from your own cup with your child.
- Heat the water if your child is used to warm drinks.
What about bed-time with a bottle of water?
Water won’t hurt your baby’s teeth.
However, your baby may not learn to sleep without a bottle and they may wake more often with a wet nappy or because they have run out of water.
