Babies should be weaned off the bottle at 12 months

Main Category: Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia
Article Date: 24 Feb 2004 - 0:00 PDT


Australian experts are telling parents to wean their babies off the bottle when they are twelve months old.

The director of the Sydney-based Centre for Family Health and Midwifery, Leslie Barclay, says cows' milk and sweet drinks used for comfort and to soothe babies to sleep may rot teeth and cause ear infections.

They say that cow's milk replaces vital nutrients which the child should be having. Important nutrients such as iron could be missed if the baby carries on drinking milk from the bottle.

'Cows' milk is not a complete food for babies after six months of life and after 12 months of life, if it is replacing other food, babies can become anaemic and have other health problems that may result,' they say.

According to the Family Health and Midwifery Centre, soothing children to sleep with bottled milk or sweet drinks may rot young teeth.

'We wouldn't put an adult to bed with something to suck, something to soothe them, particularly if that soothing is going to add unnecessary calories or may result in some health problems,' they.

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