Please get him off the bottle today, if you can! I made the mistake to keep my daughter on a night bottle until she was 3, now she is 10 and battling weight ever since. My son went off the bottle at 13 month, and is of perfect weight. My observation was vaildated by latest research: bottle after 18 months leads to obesity in children... easy calories consumed!

Anyway, here is how to do it:

1. Tell him he's a big boy, and big boys drink from a cup, not a bottle
2. put only water in his bottle, or UNSWEETENED Rooibos tea / no sugar, honey or milk!!
3. give him his formula or milk in a cup

within a week, you should see results. If not, offer him a treat (i.e. a toy he wants) from the "bottle fairy" if he manages NOT to use the bottle for a week and throwing it in the bin at the end of the week.

Good luck!

Sabine

Melissa, you need to learn to trust the basic, inborn instincts of yourself and your husband when it comes to your child. He is YOUR child, nobody else's.

There are cultures within which breastfeeding until 4 years or even later is normal ("...experts say that the average age of weaning worldwide is 4 years..." - see Wikipedia article on breastfeeding)
Is it right or wrong?
Personally, I'm not a fan - probably due to the South African culture which closely mirrors that of the U.S.A. - but if it works for you, then go for it!

There are people who advocate family sleeping arrangements - called co-sleeping - and something like 93% of the entire population of India co-sleeps (in their parents' bed) until 10 years of age Wikipedia article on co-sleeping
Is it right or wrong?
If it works for you, then go for it.

NOBODY has the right to tell you whether it's right or wrong. All they are actually able to say is that THEY don't agree with it. And why should you give some total stranger (with unknown motives/education/culture/background) the power to change or affect YOUR son's life?

The first response came from a lady (Sabine) whose daughter is overweight - and she blames the bottle.
Now it's VERY difficult to make an informed observation without knowing everything about her child's life, but it's going to be very difficult to make a child fat on the contents of one bottle a night alone. And then it would have to contain some SERIOUS kilojoules - meal replacement formula comes to mind. And I don't know anybody who puts that into a child's night bottle.
Anecdotal 'evidence' of obesity that is blamed on one night-bottle a day is questionable at best. Obesity is a direct result of too many calories, combined with too little exercise, taken in the context of the individual's metabolism.

Rather ask yourself:
is my child healthy?
Is my child happy?
Is (whatever) causing him harm?

And then remember he's YOUR child, and it's YOUR right to make decisions, based on what is best for HIM, about what to do (or not).

Don't let peer-pressure, or societal-pressure, convince you to do (or stop doing) something which affects you and your family.
Do what makes your child happy and healthy, and keeps him happy and healthy. Ignore anything that doesn't suit you and your family - your first responsibility is ALWAYS to your family.
Always put your family first, society/friends/family and their opinions second.

Finally, remember this - if you follow somebody's advice, and it results in your child becoming unhappy and/or unhealthy, who are you going to blame? Them? Or yourself?
If you're honest and mature, you'll blame yourself for a bad decision - so then rather make that decision based on your OWN knowledge and instincts.


Good luck!