Bottle of Water for Toddler Really That Bad?

Have you tried putting the water in a sippy? That worked for my son and it may be a good compromise.

could you switch it out for a no spill sippy cup of water. That's what i did for my daughter when she was little. Other than that I wouldn't worry about it

There was a famous doctor who in the mid 70's wrote a book for parents. In it he said one grandmother is better than 3 doctors.
He needs the bottle to comfort him so let him have it. If doctors had common sense very few prescriptions would be written. If the doctor was shocked he's not able to be the physician for an autistic child.
The best place to train an autistic child is in Eugene at the University of Oregon. They will take him when young if he is diagnosed with it. People bring their children from all over the world.

Give him what he needs, mama. Don't worry what everyone else thinks about it.

My almost 4 year old still nurses to sleep sometimes. You're fine!

An important part of parenting is the ability to let advice slide painlessly in one ear and out the other, while doing what works for YOUR child and YOUR family, both of which are unique (and ever changing!)

Also remember that Doctors have degreesin MEDICINE not parenting . My theory has always been to only give them the information they need for MEDICAL reasons. Of course it's harder to decide what they need to know when your concerns are behavior based......

I don't think its a big deal as long as its water. My dentist even told me that it was ok.. as long as its water.

I got alot of grief from people because my daughter still had one for sleeping. She wasn't allowed to carry it around with her, it was only allowed to sleep with. She weaned herself right before her third birthday. It was nice to have her give it up on her own and not have the struggle.

I honestly believe some kids need thier xxxx longer than others its thier security. Rather it be a paci, blanket, stuffed animal or a bottle. You do what you feel is right for you and your son. If you feel he needs it longer, let him!

I'm torn on this one! From working in the dental field, I know the importance of eliminating both the bottle & the pacifier. Both truly do affect the development of the dentition, the positioning of the teeth, & increases the odds of future orthodontic issues. For these reasons alone, it is important/imperative to eliminate both asap.

From a developmental issue, between parent & child, I also feel that it is best to continue in your chosen path...as a parent. The child will adapt & all will be well...in most cases. I also truly believe that if he is using a sippy cup with/without a lid during each day....then it's time to eliminate the bottle at bedtime. Work very hard to find a method/routine which will provide for his needs....without the bottle.

& finally, please do not fall into the pattern of....(sigh, this is hard for me to say!).....(sigh)...."using" the umbrella phrase of autism to justify issues with your son. I, too, have children with disabilities. I try very hard not to make excuses for behavior due to their issues. Deep in my heart, I know that each child's development is affected by their own unique case.... but I also feel strongly that it also does not excuse behavioral issues. (I'm still shaking my head....I know what a struggle it can be.)

The trick/key to raising a child with developmental issues is to use each opportunity to teach your child how to move forward. Each & every child will have their own pace & pathway....& it's very important for parents to recognize this....& not make excuses. So, instead of cold turkey on the bottle....what about putting less & less in the bottle until there's nothing left in it? It's kinda like snipping bits of the pacifier off....until it's all gone. :) I wish you Peace!

I have four kids and all of them did a ba ba for almost up to two years and get this... I used milk! I know, I know "Mother-of-the-Year"!

I think the only down side is that they tend to learn to swallow differently when using a ba ba. In short, they push their tongue out instead of back so it pushes on their teeth thus creating an overbite. This happened to me and I see it in my second child. My dentist just taught me to swallow differently and I did exercises for a couple of months until I stopped doing it. No harm and no braces! In my case I used milk and did not experience any issues with their teeth as far as rotting or cavities but you do not seem to have this issue.

Don't let people intimidate you, you need to do what works for you. If you want to hear an even worse mother, I also let them take a sippy cup to bed until they were almost 5! I am horrible I know!

I let my son go to bed with a bottle of milk for years. Like 3ish, and then a sippy for the next few years after that. He was/is hypoglycemic. He needed the protein and fats in milk to get any kind of normal sleep, would pass out in bed with it after the last swallow, and his teeth were gorgeous.

IMHO a bottle and a sippy cup or sports bottle are as different from each other as underwear and a bikini. Aka, nearly identical. The major difference is the CULTURAL connotation.

i think when people tell you how awful it is they are thinking of an "ideal" situation. "ideally" he'd be off it by now. this isn't an ideal situation. if he needed a binky or a lovey blanket or whatever else, they wouldn't be telling you you were awful.

i would keep letting him have his baba. i would, however, try to limit the amount i put in it. just an oz or so just to get him by. hopefully you can put less and less in it. if it really is just a comfort item, it's not about the water right?

I am one of those moms who believes a child should be off the bottle between a year and a year and a half. And I'm one of those moms who cannot stand to see a child toddling around carrying a bottle or drinking out of it - holding the nipple with dirty fingers - yuck! And I believe that pacifiers are bad for teeth and should be taken at 6 months when the sucking instinct has dissipated.

That being said, there is a difference in normal development and special needs. I actually do not know how they figure out that a 16 month old is autistic, but his behavior must be over the top if this is so. I hope that you have gotten some words out of him, that he has talked some. If he stops talking, you will need to show the insurance company proof that he has talked and lost his ability to speak, in order for them to pay for speech therapy for him. My son had 7 years of speech therapy, (not autistic), and one of the moms with an autistic child explained to me the difficulties getting insurance to cover it, so I just wanted to throw that out to you.

You aren't an alien, and rest assured that other moms do this too. (I did not, however.) And at least it is water and not milk. (The cavities associated with milk and bottles are daunting!)

I would not leave the bottle in his crib. And I would not let him have it to take a nap. If he only gets his baba for a little bit, it won't mess up his bite. But too much sucking on it can give him bucked teeth.

Lastly, I do want you to know that screaming for hours is par for the course even for normal kids when they are having to transition from using a crutch to fall asleep. It's called cry it out, and a lot of us do that to train our children to go to sleep on their own. Your son uses baba - many use their mothers - wanting to be held, wanting to nurse, wanting a bottle of milk/formula, wanting to co-sleep, wanting to be rocked. The older the child is, the harder it is to get them off the crutch and get them to self-soothe. If they decide your son is not autistic, then at some point I would consider just throwing the bottles away and handling his crying for a week. It won't take longer than that, and then you would be done with bottles and he would learn to go to sleep without them. Even if he is autistic, you can't realistically accept him having a bottle for the rest of his days, but cross that bridge when you come to it.

Good luck, mama!
Dawn

Do what you know is best for your son. Water won't hurt him and many kids still take pacifiers well into their 2's. I don't see this as being any different.

I nursed my son to sleep until he was almost 3, he's fine now and was ready when he weaned.

I didn't read all of the posts, but do appreciate that the majority seem to be positive in nature. Kudos to all of you positive thinking moms out there. You know what is best for your child.

No. You are not an alien. It could be so much worse- you could be putting Coke or Mountain Dew in his bottle. (some people do this!) My 2 year old son goes to bed every night and for naps with a sippy of water. Though I admit for us it is more about the water than the comfort. Best wishes for your family.

I don't think it's a big deal. I gave my second son a bottle in his bed until at least 18 months, it was what he needed to get back to sleep, and we all needed sleep! Now at age 2, he doesn't need it anymore, he just outgrew it. He does still have a water bottle but that's because I worry about him getting thirsty at night.

Our pediatrician has made me feel like an "alien" for occasionally giving my son a splash of juice in his water. I know it's sugar but I really do not see the big deal if it's in moderation.

I don't think there's anything wrong with this. My youngest had a bottle in bed until after he was two. He's now almost four and has given them up, and is fine. Some people think bottles must be gone by 12 months, but just relax. There are too many other things going on to worry about a baby having a water bottle!

Hi - I want to echo what most others are saying - if he needs the comfort let him have it. My son had his 'binki' till he was almost three then one day just never used it again. My daughter is two and she still uses hers.

My son was diagnosed PDD-NOS (autism) 2 years ago and one thing I have learned is to not let judgement get to you and to have a thick skin - both are hard to do but I try!

The best gift of all is what my son has given me - an open mind and to be less opinionated.....

Good for you for getting tests done early - my son started speech and developmental therapy at your childs age - he's progressed SO much!

best of luck to you!

My son nursed to sleep for naps until he was 3. You are doing what is best for your baby. Keep up the good work :)

I see nothing wrong with it. I nursed my first child to sleep for 2.5 years before weaning her and she adjusted to sleeping without a bottle or anything else because she was ready. She is perfectly healthy and has perfect teeth.

My twins are now 2 years old (just turned) and they both cry for their bottle to sleep at night. It's a comfort thing and when they are ready, they will give it up. That said, they are very independent and insist on using utensils and drinking out of glasses like everyone else throughout the day. So I totally see it as a comfort thing in the evening and have no concerns at all about it.

Of course, we do attachment parenting and our friends all view parenting differently than mainstream parents, so we don't have anyone telling us it's an issue either.

I was told kids shouldn't go to sleep w/a bottle of anything to lower the risk of ear infections. So I never let my kid fall asleep with a bottle and he's maybe had 1 two day ear infection in his 6 yrs of life. Perhaps that's why the doctor said no more bottles - to avoid ear infections?

There is a fantastic 3, almost 4 year old boy at my son's babysitter's and I saw him walking around with a bottle of milk the other day! It wasn't nap time, his parents just let him have it. So, don't worry about a bottle of water at nap time. Do what you have to do to get through this tough time.

In my opinion, I would choose for my kid to have slightly less than perfect teeth and be well rested and happy.
It isn't that abnormal for a 16 month old to need to suck to soothe themselves to sleep when they are typically developing, throw in major regressions and possible label of autism and you really have to weight things of importance differently. Keeping up with the pack just insn't important right now, and besides, they whole pack isn't done with their bottles anyway!
My kids both nursed to sleep until they were 19 months and my son had a pacifier until he was two, and neither had dental problems or mouth deformations.
Do what you need to right now to get through the night and make sure he is sleeping. What would be a nightmare is if he got overtired and was constantly crabby, ended up getting sick because his immune system was compromised, and was unable to participate in future therapies because his whole system is out of whack all over the method he was given his water.
I have a friend who's son has sensory integration disorder, and his occupational therapist told his mom to continue giving him the bottle when he was almost three years old! She told her that he was getting great sensory input from it, and taking it away would throw off the balance of what they were working on because he would have to overcompensate for losing this huge soothing device.
So there you have it, I would keep the bottle. And no, you are not totally out of your mind :)

My 1st was weaned from the bottle at 13 months...my 2nd was 19 months before she was weaned from even drinking milk from the bottle. She also had a pacifier until about 2 weeks after her 2nd birthday. And until I weaned her from the nighttime bottle, she was falling asleep with MILK in her bottle. Eek, I know! I expected the worst at her dentist appointment 2 months ago. But what do you know - perfect teeth, no cavities, no damage from the bottle or pacifier. So I'd say switch him to the sippy cup from the bottle sometime soon if you can. But don't totally stress about it. My daughter still has a sippy cup of water in her bed at 2 1/2. She likes the comfort of having a drink at night. You might have a few rough nights, but he will eventually accept that if he wants a drink of water, it's right there in his cup. :)

He is a baby 16 months old. It is only water. I do not understand the big
push to get babies off their bottles. I mean really would you want your morning coffee taken away. My kids had bottles until about 2 hey and maybe a bit older. They were a year apart (4yo, 3yo, 2yo and 1yo). Yes,
planned. Let him enjoy it. No you are not out of your mind because if you
are out of your mind, I am totally gone!!!!!!

I'm usually a follow the rules kind of mom... but I too allowed my son to have milk at night. He's 6 and has never had a cavity. He also has Autism and has difficulties growing and maintaining weight. He always wanted milk at night and it was a time when I could get him to drink 8 oz at one time. Something that was ALWAYS hard for him to do. I just stopped the milk at bedtime this year.

I know the Mommy police would have a fit, but you have to choose your battles. The GI Doctor or "weight Gods" as I called them would love the calorie intake, but the dentist not so much. Kinda like running... the cardiologist loves a runner, but the orthopedist, not so much.

Don't beat yourself up about it. I don't see a problem with it and water is better than I did! :-)

Babies develop at different times. Leave the baby alone and let him have his bottle. My kids didn't get off their bottles until around that time and some kids are later than usual. So what! Just because one child gets off at 12 months doesn't mean all the children get off at 12 months. They are individuals - let them be individuals. I think I would find a different doctor.

N.

You're not out of your mind. :) I allowed my autistic son now 5 to have a sippy cup of milk at bed time until right after he was 4. He still occasionally needs a cup at night. He gave up the bottle by a year old and thankfully took to drinking out of a sippy cup. At 5 years old he still drinks out of them at home due to a few of his issues. I see no harm in what you are doing especially since as you said it is water. You do what is best for your child. Please do not listen to judgmental people either in real life or on this site.

My hubby apparently drank from a bottle until he was 2ish, totally for comfort. He's a perfectly normal and healthy adult. I don't see the big deal, as long as it's not milk or sugary juice. I have to have a glass of water next to my bed in case I wake up thirsty, I don't see much of a difference.

None of my kids used a bottle to get to sleep. However, they nursed to sleep until I weaned them completely. That didn't happen until about 15 months old for all 5 of them. They are normal children. It didn't scar them. In addition, they all took sippy cups of water to bed with them for at least a few years after that. They would probably still do it if I hadn't got tired of digging sippy cups out from under beds so I could wash them. I don't think there is anything wrong with a 16 month old having a bottle of water for bed.

Our pediatric dentist said it was fine even if they took a bottle of milk. It does not damage their teeth any more than drinking it from a glass. Think about it, milk is milk, there is NO difference here.

If they hold the bottle all night long in their mouth full of milk it will drip milk continuously all night on to the teeth, that is what causes the tooth rot. Not just drinking milk. The saliva rinses the milk off the teeth, even adults don't get tooth rot if they drink milk at lunch at work and don't brush their teeth every afternoon.

Let him have it for as long as he needs it. My grand-kids have good teeth, normal teeth, and they took bottles of milk until after 2 years old. The boy took it out of his mouth one day, handed it to me, and asked for a tippy cup. He never really looked back.

You would much rather that child suck a bottle instead of a finger or a thumb, or a corner of a blankey they have to drag around all day and suck on it...eeewwweee.

Please, listen to your child and let him keep his bottle. It seems that he needs it for comfort, don't take it away from him. Your pediatrician sees your child maybe 15 minutes every 6 months, you know your child and his needs much better. Anyway, the bottle has only water (I let my kid have milk and he's fine) and if he takes vitamins with fluoride or your drinking water has fluoride, the teeth should be fine). You kid's regression is a much more serious issue. Don't wait for your pediatrician to say "come back in 8 months, we don't diagnose autism until 2 years of age". Start therapy immediately. Even it's not autism, therapy won't hurt. If your child is regressing in speech, start speech therapy. If there are changes in social behaviors--loss of eye contact, social engagement with people--start ABA therapy. The more intensive and the earlier the better. My child went through severe regression--he became non-verbal and withdrawn--but came back and is now in mainstream preschool. At the time of regression he needed extra comfort and support from parents, not less. And your kid's need for a bottle may be one of the ways to draw him out--if he is losing interest in communication, you can use the bottle as a reward for eye contact, sound/word/sentence that you are working on. I took a Henan class offered by the county and it was very useful in learning ways to work on communications skills with my kid. I would highly recommend it as an addition but not substitute for intensive therapy. Good luck!

I think if you believe you have a great dr for your child you should listen him him on this and if you dont like his/her answer and telling you to ditch the bottle you should ask the dr their reasons for this. At the end of the day its really not going to matter what our opinions are on it bc you are going to do what you want. You think that bc he may or may not have autism that he should be treated differently when in fact its not differently than other children he needs to be treated its just treatments and teachings that need to be geared more tward his condition if in fact he has autism BUT dont label his problems with letting go of a bottle because of this condition. All children have issues with one thing or anopther and letting it go its how us the parents teach the children is how they learn. regardless of conditions they may or may not possess. I and alot of other people will agree that you need to let your c hild cry it out and for you to take the bottle. BUT there will also be people that say to let hime be LIKE I SAID BEFORE at the end of the day your going to do what YOU want so even though we give our thoughts and opinions its still going to be up to you what happens.

I don't think you're out of your mind, but it's probably time to get rid of the bottle too. If he's having a hard time with it right now, wait a week or two until life has settled down a bit after the holidays and then try again. Just my opinion, but calling it a "baba" won't help your son. If he needs a small cup of water (even one with a lid), that might be a better option for him instead of a bottle.

Totally fine....you know your child best. There are kids who have pacifiers till 4 and 5! He may just have a very strong need to suck. I still let my daughter have a sippy cup of water at bed time and she 5. It is relaxing for her.

If he was 3, I might be saying something different, but 16months....My daughter wasn't done with bottles until between 18months - 20months. And you are only doing water....no harm to teeth...

You will know when he is ready to give it up. Don't worry about it now.

Even filled with water, it's a terrible idea. The nipple pushes the teeth out forward from the upper palate and falling asleep with the nipple in his mouth traps all sorts of bacteria, which then festers and grows in his mouth and can still cause infections, such as thrust. You're setting him up for a long road of dental/dental hygiene issues.

Autistic or not, time to chuck all the bottles. No child should ever be put to bed with food or drink, ever. He'll be mad for a few days to a week, and then get over it once he realizes it's not coming back. He'll replace the comfort of that bottle with something safer, like a blankie or lovey.

Both my kids had bottles of milk before their naps and bedtime till they were 2 years old. Neither one got any cavities. They really liked that milk bottle to help get sleepy and soothe themselves. I see absolutely nothing wrong with giving your son a bottle of water before bedtime. You will have to wean him off it though so that he will learn to get sleepy without a bottle. My daughter is just over 2 so we just went through this. I explained to her what we were doing and it took about 3 days. She did not like it and had a hard time going to bed and each of those 3 nights I ended up reading her tons of books! (I totally got rid of the bottles so I was not tempted to give in) It then took about a month of her struggling to fall asleep...I could tell it was harder for her to settle down but she was not crying or anything, just rolling around a lot. Anyway, I think it is strange that your pediatrician and others feel that this is strange of you to let him have a bottle. To me it is the exact same thing as a little one nursing before bedtime. That bottle is a comfort to them and the sucking motion is a comfort. Since most people I know here tend to nurse their kids till they are 2 it seems absolutely normal to me to let your child have a bottle till that age as well. My pediatrician had no problem with our kids having milk bottles till age 2 but said that after that they really should stop that habit and learn to fall asleep without it. (For both kids I let them finish their bottle and it was taken away before they went to sleep - to make sure they were not sleeping with milk pooled in their mouths. This is what I believe causes cavities. Since you are using water you don't even have to worry about this. Again, both my kids have perfect teeth!)

My brother drank chocolate milk in a sippy cup every night before bed until he was in his teens. He grew up to be a professional baseball player, and he has nice teeth too.
Let your son have his bottle of water, and try to wean him off again when he's a little older. Good Luck!