My toddler, Juliette, has never been a great sleeper. She fights closing her eyes like her life depends on it. (She?s also the most stubborn kid I?ve ever met, so maybe this just comes with the territory.) We have tried so many methods for better sleep?I have a shelf full of books by experts?but from babyhood on, the only thing that could coax her into nodding off was a bedtime bottle. So it?s probably no surprise that when I started researching this story, the same week Juliette turned two and a half, she was still taking a bottle every night.
My older daughter, Sophie, now five, gave up the bottle abruptly when she was almost two. I was pregnant with Juliette then, and we were talking a lot about Soph being a sister and helping with the new baby. One day she declared that she was a ?big girl,? and started using her bottle to feed her dolls instead. That was that?she never went back. I figured Juliette would do the same thing when she was ready, but every attempt to persuade her to give it up ended in hours of tears and no sleep for anyone. I knew she wouldn?t head to college with her beloved bottle in hand, but I wondered at what age bottles might become harmful.
Michael Dickinson, a paediatrician in Miramichi, NB, is a firm believer in removing bottles as early as possible. He encourages families in his practice to start the weaning process around one year of age. ?I don?t think there?s anything particularly positive to bottle-feeding past 15 months,? says Dickinso...