Milk before bed?

My boys (21 months) still have a half bottle of milk before bed. They drink out of sippies or regular cups during the day but still like a bit of milk in their bottles before bed. They don't have them in their cribs so they don't need them to fall asleep. It's just been part of our bed time routine so they expect milk but I don't think they really need it. They seem to be drinking less and less each evening and I was wondering if is still necessary for them to have milk right before bed. Do your little ones still have it? If not, when did they stop?

 

My twins stopped taking milk before bed right after they turned one and we stopped bottles, they just didn't seem interested. My daughter would drink milk all day long if I let her and I have given her her cup up until bedtime until we started potty training in August then she didn't get it after supper time. I would just give them the milk in a cup and let them have what they want...at that age it's more comfort and not nutrition or filling bellies to sleep all night

 

We nursed, but the girls dropped the before bed session around 15 months (I think). After that, they had a sippy of water that they kept with them all night in case they got thirsty. They still do that although they have water bottles now & not sippies.

My guess is that they probably don't "need" it but it doesn't hurt anything (assuming you brush teeth after milk is done) so there's really no reason to stop.

 

Personally I think it's getting pretty late to have bottles still, and if nothing else, I'd switch those to sippy cups. They are going to be getting old enough to become "attached" to things, and it could be harder and harder to get that before bed bottle away.

Mine stopped the milk before bed around 16-18 months I think, but they were using sippy cups from about 14 months on. I gradually weaned down how much was in the sippy cup until it was just a couple swallows, and then "forgot" about it one night, and they didn't even ask for it.

 

We nursed at bedtime until 18 months and then switched to a bedtime bottle of milk (brushing their teeth afterwards) for another 6 months or so before dropping bedtime milk altogether. Dropping the bottle was no problem, we just switched to offering milk in cups at supper from one day to the next when we decided it was time. Mine never drank milk from a sippy and as they did not linger over their 2 bottles of milk a day (wake-up and bedtime) I saw no problem with the bottles although I know most people disapprove of bottles for toddlers.

 

Mine were all different. But we kept bottles late so prepare to be shocked!
Naomi and Luke switched from having a bottle of milk to a sippy of milk at around 2 (I think, it's so hard to remember exactly) and kept the sippys until they were maybe 2 1/2-2 3/4. They weaned themselves off, they just didn't want the milk anymore.
Alyssa and Bryony kept the bedtime bottle until they were about 3 1/2 (are you shocked yet?) and then switched to sippys. The sippys lasted for a couple of years and then they went to mugs. They will still have a mug of warm milk now as part of their bedtime routine, not every day but more often than not.
Eleanor and Ethan had a bottle up until this last summer (so Eleanor was a little over 4 and Ethan a little over 3) and have now switched to sippys. So far they are not drinking any less milk from them.

I agree. As long as you are brushing their teeth after they drink the milk it won't be doing them any harm. However (assuming your boys are not underweight or anything like that) they also don't need to be having that milk so if they are really reducing the amount they drink then you can probably just stop giving it and they won't care.