When to End Milk Before Bed

I didn't think it was a problem. If my kids want a drink before bed, I give them one. I never really heard it was a problem as long as they brush their teeth afterwards. If it is the milk in specific, switch to water before bed.

This is a good question.. and it varies depending on the Mom and on the culture.

I don't believe there is just one cut-off age. Some kids even much older, like my 6 year old, likes to have a cup of milk before bed. There are also properties in milk, which helps a person to sleep or relax.

My son is 29 months old, and I still give him a cup of milk before bed. He will even ask for it. It's fine to me and no big deal.

My friend, at about 3 years old, stopped this 'habit'...and instead would tell her son (since he was 3 at the time), that if he wants a cup of milk before bed, he can go and get it from the fridge. (she kept a cup of milk in there all ready, so he can just grab it himself). And this worked for her.

But, your child is only 19 months old... and he can't just go get it himself. For a child that is under 2 years old... I think personally that it is still okay, to have a cup of milk before bed. It soothes them for one thing.

But if you feel it is 'dragging' on and on because he can't drink it fast in one sitting... then just give it to him earlier. Or, tell him, that if he can't finish it, then you will put it away. Just change the 'goal'.... and instead of having to finish the cup, maybe just a few sips is enough for him? Let the child decide how much they 'can' drink. OR...if you feel he is just not 'into' milk before bed already... then ask him... or just try skip it, and see if he notices. Or explain to him, in a simple way that he does not HAVE TO have milk... but if he wants to that's fine.

Potty training has nothing to do with whether they get milk before bed or not. These are 2 separate things, and routines.

Good luck,
Susan

A.,

Like Susan, I don't think there is a cut-off age. My son is 2.5 and because he grows like a weed and is always hungry we sometimes do snack and cup of milk before bed. If he's hungry we do snack/milk if not, then we skip it.

Our bedtime routine, usually begin around 7pm with bath, so by the time we've done that I ask him if he wants his bedtime snack. While he eats snack and drinks his milk, I read him the first book of usually three books and once I'm done with that book snack time is over. For this reason, I usually pick a longer book...like Green Eggs and Ham or something Dr. Suess.

My very good friend who has four kiddos all under age 7, still does this with all her kids. It's great if you have one who doesn't eat enough at dinner or one who's in a growth spurt phase that needs extra nourishment.

I would say gauge it based on your child. Also, the milk before bed, as Susan mentioned has nothing to do with Potty Learning.

Cheers,
Deanna

we started giving our daughter the milk cup earlier, and around 15 months, she got her last milk at dinner. Of course there are exceptions (didn't finish it at dinner, forgot to give it to her at dinner, didn't eat much) and we let her have it after, but it's more a nutrition and full stomach issue than a bed-time routine.

my daughter was off the bedtime cup at 19 months. i started at 18 and what i did was take out 2 oz every week. she would drink 8-10 oz a night. i did this till i got down to 2oz giving about a week inbetween before cutting it down again. once i hit 2oz for a week i just didnt give her a cup. she asked for it and all i said was we dont get a cup for bed anymore and that was that. a big thing that helped is that i started to read a book to her once i hit about 4oz. now we read a book instead of drinking a cup. now im about to start cutting down on the naptime cup. my daugher is 22 months old and w have been potty training slowly since 18 months.

my son was 2 years and 11 months..i was getting worried about his teeth.. doctors say earlier but i didnt feel it was the right time... i had a 2 month old baby as well.. my technique was telling him if he kept drinking milk then his teeth might go away and he will have to drink baby brothers milk and eat baby food... it was tough but i switched to water and it took him a while to not wear diapers at night but he just stopped peeing at night all on him own... thats one thing you cannot train is the night time pee the bladder has to mature on its own..

We ended it around 18 months (about 3 months after our pedi recommended stopping it). And actually my son was the one who decided he didn't want it anymore. He was too into reading the books (which is the last thing we do before bed) and by then we were already brushing teeth, so giving up the milk was fine for me! I now give my son milk with dinner, so this is the last milk he has before bath, jammies, books, and then bed. It's worked out pretty good for us. Good luck!