How Much Milk- Bottle vs Sippy Cup vs Cup?

When we switched my son to milk he would not drink it cold either. We gave it to him only in sippy cups - usually no spill so he could drink it on the couch with us - and we would stick it in the microwave for 25 - 40 seconds, depending on the amount of milk in the cup. Everything that I read says to give around 24 oz of milk per day. My son quickly put together the milk in the microwave to the point that he would point to it when he wanted milk. We also did a countdown from 10 to the bell, which resulted in his learning the word "done". He is now 20 months, and takes it cold just fine, but I didn't see any issue with the warm transition.

Breast feed until she is 2 years old. It won't be as much or as frequent the older she gets. Forget the cow milk and give her water to drink when she is thirsty. She doesn't need formula or juice, just breast milk and water and solid foods.

By the time my son was one he had already been drinking milk and water from a sippy cup. At one they should be getting 12-16 oz of milk a day and if they want more than that give them water.
By the time my son was one I had cut his bottles down to two a day (morning and night). Maybe you could cut out a few bottles if you wanted to and offer the cup instead. After that I but out the morning one and then eventually the night one. He was all done with the bottle about 14 months old. He just didn't want it at night anymore. Isntead of a bottle at night he gets a snack.
I guess it just depends on the child. If it comes down to it and you want her to stop the bottle just take them away and she will have to drink from the sippy.

Good luck!

S., Milk can be a good thing. My daughter now 6 drank a lot of milk at one. It's good for their bones. Gradually over the years her milk intake has lessen and now she drink a lot of water and milk a few times a day. I didn't completely remove the bottle until two. One is still early to get rid of it. You could do the sippy cup with a soft nipple like I did. Then eventually go to a harder nippled sippy. I also only gave my daughter a bottle in the morning, just before naps and bedtime. First the morning bottled was replaced with a sippy, then the naptime and finally the bedtime one. It's a process but well worth it.

Warm milk at one is o.k.. Just think she has been breastfeed and given warm formula. Why wouldn't she want warm milk in her bottle? Some adults like warm milk at night to help us sleep? I also gave my daughter soy milk(vanilla) which she loves to this day. It was a good thing because if we ran out of cow's milk the soy would subsitute until we went to store next. Soy travels well.

S., what I did when my children turned one year old was to put the bottles up and went to sippy cups for a while then into drining glasses for children. If she doesn't see the bottles then she will realize that she has to drink out of the sippy cups. I also did this with my grandchildren. If you allow the child to dictate to you what they want and do that then they are running you and being the teacher. You need to do is do it your way and she will learn quickly that she doesn't have any other options. As to drinking the warm milk as to cold milk, you can go slow at crossing over or just tell her that now that she is a big girl drinking milk like mommy and daddy then she needs to drink it cold just like mommy and daddy. Your children learn from what you teach them and talking to them as little people verses babies you will be surprised at what they will do and how much they learn. I wish you the best of luck with your daughter and know that we all go through this with our first one. Remember you are the adult and the parent first. It will make raising your child easier. Once again good luck and congradulations on being a new mom.

B. mother of two grandmother of seven...

S.,

You could be talking about my daughter. She turned 1 on March 13th, and we're doing a similar thing. She hates her bottle of milk for nap time cold, won't touch the thing. I usually put the bottle in the microwave for about 30 seconds to take the chill off, then she's fine. She does do a sippy cup that we usually have water in, she'll drink that just fine, but put milk in the cup and she doesn't drink it as fast.

As for advice, we're taking our cues from her. We try to keep a sippy cup of water available to her all day so she can drink as she feels the need. She also just recently learned how to drink from a straw, so hopefully the bottle is on its way out.

Don't know if this helped or not, we're kind of in the same boat even though my daughter is my second. Her brother hated bottles.

Melissa

you are doing fine! I would let my child set the pace just keep giving her milk in the cup with meals then water in the cup with no meal.

My pediatrician told me that my son only needs 16 ounces of milk per day. He also recommended that I start to transition him off of bottles by 12 months at the latest because it just gets harder to take them away as they get older. Unfortunately, I still can't get him to drink his milk out of a sippy cup. The main reason that they tell you to stop giving them the bottle is because it leads to tooth decay. I always make sure to brush his teeth after he is done with his bottle. I got this off of babycenter.com

How much milk should my toddler drink?
Your 1- to 2-year-old child should drink 16 to 24 ounces of whole milk a day. While you'll most likely have to work to make sure that she meets the requirement, keep in mind that it is possible for her to drink too much milk.

If your child drinks more than two to three glasses of milk during the day, she may not have room at dinner for the other foods that she needs to round out his diet. (She needs plenty of iron-rich foods like leafy green vegetables and meat, for example, because milk, unlike formula, does not contain iron.) So if your toddler's thirsty, get her in the habit of drinking water throughout the day, too.

I got rid of the bottle at 1 year for all three of my kids for several reasons one it is not good for their teeth, and second my doctor recommended sippy cups when they hit a year It will be hard the first three days to just get rid of it but that is what I would do. the longer you wait the more addicted your child will be to it. Then the harder it is to ween them from it. Then before you know it youve got one of those children who still have a bottle at three years old. Yuck! God bless you and good luck with this!

I transitioned my oldest two kids to a cup when they were 1. Thier last bottle was on thier first b-day! I just did it slowly.......1 bottle per week.
My son hated the sippy until I found the Nuby brand. The spout feels sort of like a bottle nipple so it seemed familiar I think. He also didn't like milk cold at first so I transitioned slowly with that as well. His sister had no problems with the adjustment at all. She would take whatever cup we gave her and would drink the milk warm or cold.
Anyhow I didn't worry to much about how much milk they got because they got plenty of other dairy by eating yogurt and cheese. I still gave them milk 4 times a day like I did with the bottle.
To this day my son still is not a big milk drinker. My daughter on the other hand would drain a whole cow if I let her lol.
It sounds to me like you are doing a great job and just keep following the path that works best for your kiddo.

I think it depends on the child my first and second child were almost 2 before they got off the bottle and all they used was a bottle but my son who is 18 months is only on the bottle for naps and bedtime I got one of those sippycups at walmart that have the silicone top its spillproof and they like the texture. he still gets his bottle warm and drinks milk out of a cup better if i heat it for like 10 seconds in the microwave you ust shake it up and then they seem to drink it better as for getting her to drink a cold bottle I started out with milk as warm as the formula like warming it up for 40 seconds then in a few weeks 30 seconds and so on and so forth. I know they say you shouldnt warm a bottle in the microwave but as long as you shake it up and watch how long you put it in for like no more than 40seconds you should be fine. Good luck

Hi S.,
We never used a bottle. At 13 months we went from the breast to sippy cup. He never used a bottle as a nursing infant either. For some reason I could not pump more than 2oz in a single day. As far as how much he gets, I give him 3-8oz cups a day. I have to space them at least an hour away from meals because he is anemic. Also our Dr. recommended no more than 24oz. a day. But again he has a medical condition. He gets calcium from other sources too. Yogurt, cheese, he also really likes beans and broccoli, which are high in calcium.

Every child is different. My niece at one refused to drink from a bottle and would only drink from a cup. My son is 16 months old and in the last 2-3 weeks has been going to bed without a bottle. We were giving him cups of milk through out the day and then a warm bottle at night. We fianlly tried no bottle at night and that has been working out great. But, Your daughter will let you know if she is ready or not in her own way. I say just go along with the flow and get introcing the cooler milk to her and she will start drinking it that way when she is ready. Good luck.

If I remember right it is 24-32oz milk per day. They do recommend however NOT to give milk or juice in sippy cups. It is bad for their teeth. Has she had her first dentist appt yet? I read that you should start giving your kids a regular cup at meal time. So @ 5 months my son was drinking for a regular cup, then one day I let him chew on my straw and viola' it took a couple of times but then he took to a straw which when they are little helps get more in the mouth than on the floor. So anywho, maybe try a straw they are fun, and the have sippy cups with straws that don't leak. Good Luck
S.

When we started giving our 1 year old (cow's) milk, he also would only drink it warm. He also would only drink water out of a sippy cup. But after a few months of trying and offering milk to him in a sippy, he finally started drinking it. It was warm at first but eventually he started drinking it cold (that was a nice day!). He still has a bottle of milk before bedtime and he'll be 2 this week. The doctor says she doesn't mind at all if he still wants a bottle, just brush his teet afterwards before putting him to bed. I see no rush to get them to cold milk out of a sippy right away. I don't think you NEED to give her that much milk, but I also don't think it is bad for her or will be bad for her either. If she wants milk and drinks it, that's great! She will eventually start to wean herself off bottles. Or you can try dropping one and a few months later, drop another one until you're done with them (or like us, down to just the one before bedtime).

Hi S. - I am dealing with the very same situation right now with my 2nd daughter. My first had no trouble transitioning from the bottle to a sippy cup the day she turned one. My second, however, has put up a fight.

She is now 14 months old and is drinking out of a sippy cup most of the time. I am still giving her one 6-8 oz. bottle every late afternoon between her nap and dinner. That's when she's the most cranky and still wants her bottle.

My doctor told me that she only needs 16-20 oz. of milk per day now, and if she doesn't even get that in one day, not to worry about it. As long as she's drinking enough most days and growing ok. I started out doing three 6 oz. bottles a day when she turned one, one in the morning (when she woke up), one late morning (after her nap) and one at night (before bed). I gradually made them cooler. I then took the morning one away , and then a week later, the mid-morning one, and still gave her her comfort bottle at night. Then I switched the bedtime one to between her afternoon nap and dinner (still doing this). This way, she's still having the comfort of the bottle, but not before bed.

At this point, I want to make sure she doesn't have milk sitting on her teeth before she goes to sleep. She will drink the rest cold out of her cup now. I let her play with some sippy cups and I could tell which ones she was most interested in. I started by putting warm water in them to get her used to it, then gradually made the water cooler, then once she drank the water cold, I tried milk and she was just fine. She will drink about 6-8 oz. throughout the day now from her cup. Then I make up the rest with the afternoon bottle. I figure, what's the rush in giving up one bottle in the afternoon? This is my 2nd, and last, baby. I treasure the times I give her bottles. My goal is to have her totally off the bottle in the next 4-6 weeks. I hope that this helped you a little bit. Take care. T.

Hi S.,
In some ways I have become a frist time mom also, as I waited 30 years to have another child, so now I have 2 with my oldest being 36 and youngest being 5 both in May. I have had to call my daughter for all kinds of advise as she has a son who will be 7. This is strange I know.
Anyway, I think it is O.K. for her to be on a bottle at this age as you are starting the change over. Just keep offering her the sippy cup, and tey differnt kinds. It took awhile for my son to find one he liked. They do make the 1st step cups, I got mine at Walmart and I beleave they are also at Target. It's a hit and miss game till you find the right one. If you are giving her juice, that is a good thing to give in the cup, but remember to cut juice in half with water, I did not know that until I was told from the WIC office that juice now has more surger in it because of the compatition with soft drink comapanies. You actually want her to drink juice out of a regualr cup ASAP as the sugar hits the teeth and that is very bad for decay.
Now myself and 12 other people can give you all kinds of wonderful advive,
Please keep asking,
but on the matter of amount of milk she should be drinking ect.. I am unsure of the area you live in , but a good start would be to call your local WIC office 1-800-841-1410.
I have become a person of lots of information, not always right, but when I am in doubt I can refer you to the right area.
Also have you tried your local MOPS group, mothers of pre schoolers, this also includes infents, they were a great help to my daughter and to me.
Good luck
and you can always e mail me for help.

R.
____@____.com

S., I was always told not to give your child more than 24 oz of milk per day. My child will hardly drink 12 oz...but that's another story.
I had the same problem with the sippy cup/bottle. I didn't want to give him more bottles than he got when we were weaning the nursing, so he only got a bottle before one nap and at bedtime. I weaned him off of the bottle by decreasing the amount of milk each day until it was nothing...it worked great! Then, I would offer him more water during the day in his sippy cup. He wouldn't do milk in the sippy cup except for a few sips here and there. I found that NUBY makes "sports bottles" that looks like a large sippy cup with a "straw". It worked great! Now he will drink milk out of any sippy cup I give him.

I hope this helps!

Hi S.. Congratulations and happy birthing day to you for making it through the first year!

My first response to you would be, why the rush to a sippy cup, regular cows milk, and having it cold? I realize that pediatricians these days will act like suddenly everything changes on the first birthday, but that just isn't so. Each baby has her own timeline about what changes she's ready for, and she does (as you probably are well aware) have her very own distinct personality with strong feelings and preferences, security and bonding needs, etc. Maybe she still just is a little on the "younger" side and isn't ready for all these changes at once. There isn't any NEED to do it, nothing bad will happen if she isn't weaned immediately, and most babies worldwide go much farther than their first birthday nursing--many until 3-4 years old (not all for nutrition, but as supplementation and comfort). There is a great book by Joseph Chilton Pierce, called "Magical Child", all about the growth stages of brain development and how that relates to emotional, social, and physiological stages. One thing he talks about is "matrixing", meaning that what one has learned up to a certain point is the comfort zone or basic matrix of knowledge and understanding. Any new learning must be somehow tied back to that matrix for it to move forward in a healthy and easy way--so that matrix must be strongly developed as a jumping off point. It may be that your little one is just not quite there yet, and she's letting you know.

Best,
Fiora

my son was 16 mo before i took him off the bottle. We switched tothe nubby sippy cup which is mroe like a bottle and that worked well for us. you can get them at Walmart and Target and they are pretty cheap. It sounds like you are giving her the right amount of milk. As far as warming it up? I say whatever works to get her to drink it. She is young and will probably grow out of it in time.

Lisa
Mother of Three!

Hi S.,
With my first two kids and what I plan on doing with my third is just letting them learn how to use the sippy cup for a couple of days then I just go cold turkey with the bottles. The only time my kids were wanting thier bottle was just before bed, and it took a few days before they really forgot about the bottle. With my daughter Natilee I stopped the bottle when she was about one and a half, it was just about 4 months before her brother came into the world and started using them if I couldn't feed him myself. For my son Eliyah, I stopped the bottle when he was one because he was only 6 months when we found out we were expecting Avrum our now 4 month old. I found that the quicker I did it the sooner my child was over the change.

S., I have three girls and my youngest now 16 months, is in the same situation you described. She only will drink her milk warmed up and never from a sippy cup. I am giving her the exact same ounces you are throughout the day. This is all very normal, she simply PREFERS her milk warmed because from nursing and warm water for formula this is what she knows. The warmth and bottle are simply a comfort issue to her thats all. I have tried giving her juice or water that is chilled in a sippy cup to start getting her used to that as well and it is hit or miss depending on how thirsty she gets. There is nothing wrong with your daughter's preference so I would keep her happy. Hope this helps.

S.

don't give her cow's milk at all! it's not a good food for humans, in spite of all the dairy industry propaganda. and I wouldn't worry about giving her any kind of milk, as long as she is eating nutritious foods and drinking water. If your milk hasn't dried up, I'd recommend continuing to breastfeed until she weans herself in another year or two. But if you do want to give her some other kind of milk or formula, I would let her have it warm in a bottle, that's much more like breastfeeding, and children naturally nurse for 2 or 3 or more years, so there's no reason to try to get her to stop using the bottle, she'll transition when she's ready.

Children age 1 are suppose to get about 24 oz. of whole milk per day. I think the choice is completly yours, choosing to use bottles or sippy cup. I personally think you should still offer the sippy cup everytime before the bottle because bottles are so hard to wean from. Friends of mine have had the warm/cold issue also. They just give the mild cold in the sippy cup (they tried several: spouts/strawa/hard/soft) and eventually their kiddo drank it. At night they give them warm milk in the sippy cup and hold them so they still get that night time snuggle routine/bonding. Good Luck!

I still give my son, who is two, bottles. He really likes them and it doesn't bother me to have him on them still. I think it is a comfort level you need know for yourself; in otherwords, what is right for you. I have 7 month old baby girl and I know to start the bottle fight now would be an uphill battle because he won't understand why she has bottles and he doesn't. Watch out for ear infections. Often children get ear infections because of drinking cows milk. We are the only species to continue drinking milk after weaning.
Good luck!!

I have 2 girls ages 2 and 5. When both girls turned one I took them into the kitchen and told them we needed to give the bottles to her baby friends. They proudly threw the bottles into the bags. From then on it was sippy cup only. Once they turned 2 we did the same thing with the sippy cups, now it's big girl cups only. It may sound mean and harsh but if we don't have any bottles in the house then it's cup or nothing. I give my girls water during the day and milk only at meal times, otherwise they won't eat thier regular meal since they fill up on milk. As far as warming the milk up...I only gave my kids cold formula and milk so I don't have any advice on that one. Good luck!

Hmm...I'd be interested in how people respond to this one! Around 12 months, we switched my breastfed baby to whole milk (warm) in bottles. She's 18 months now. She'll sip milk out of a sippy cup (cold) only if her cousin is doing it with her - got to be like Cousin, right? Otherwise, she has 2-3 bottles a day, warm, anywhere from 6-10 oz. at a time - usually after she wakes up, just before her nap (this one is flexible...she doesn't always want it) and right before she goes to bed. I like the snuggles...but I've noticed lately she's upping her liquid intake in other areas. She never used to drink a whole cup of water during a day, and now she's finishing one or two before bedtime! We went on a road trip a few weeks ago, and she refused milk the entire two days...I'd just let your baby let you know when she's done! (My husband is Chinese and clearly remembers having a warm bottle of milk before he went to bed...all the way up to age 5! It was in a sippy cup by then, but...you get the idea.)

You are supposed to get children off bottles at one. However, sounds easier than what it actually is. My daughter is 18 months and she still wants a bottle. Drinking milk or juices out of a bottle can cause tooth decay, so I put water in her bottle. My daughter doesn't want the bottle to drink out of she wants to suck it, I put water in the bottle in the morning and it stays in it until nap time (she gets milk in the bottle then). She never drinks any of the water but you can hear her suck throughout the day on it. She will not take a pasi. Another thing too, warming her bottle will eventually end-both of my kids started off like this but aren't like that anymore. I think you are doing a fine job and just let your motherly instinct take charge.

Hi - I would not worry so much about the temp issue, since she has just turned one...I think that will eventually work itself out. I still warm my sons first morning bottle a little bit for him. I believe my pediatrician told me that 16-18 oz of milk per day was good amount, the max being 20. If it gets to 20 then they are probably not eating enough solid foods.
As far as the bottle goes, I have been trying to wean my son from bottles as well. He is 14 months old. Somewhere I heard that you should get them off bottles by a year old, so I missed that mark. I just think the longer you dont get them off, the harder it becomes for them to do it. He is in daycare so I had to have help from them to not give him a bottle as a snack. I give him milk in a cup at meals, and some at snack too but not a bottle. Just be patient and keep trying the milk in the cup. Dont give up.Keep offering the cup with milk whenever you can, meals and snack. I would also talk to your pediatrician about the amount per day of milk just to make sure.
Hang in there! Just keep offering the cup!

I was told that 16oz was the amount a one year old should be at. I was using that as a target to get her to drink but in reality my Pediatrician said it should be the max. They need the vitamins from other foods and definitely should drinking water throughout the day as well. Also milk can be h*** o* their livers if they get to much. I would check with your ped!

I took my kids'(now 6 and 8 yrs)bottles away and replaced them with sippy cups on their first birthdays. If your concerned that she's getting too much milk, maybe ask your doctor if it would be ok to give her 2% milk instead of whole milk. (That's what I always gave my kids, with the doctor's ok.) Or slowly cut down on the milk in-between meals. Just a couple thoughts.

I think every kid is different on the bottle. My daughter had a bottle until about 22 months. My son gave it up at one year......as for the warm milk. My daughter is 3 1/2 and she still prefers her milk warm. I figure if that is the way she likes it, it takes 30 extra seconds in the micro. And it makes her happy! She will drink it cold if we are out somewhere and that is the only option.

Hi S.! I definately had this same issue with my daughter. I ended up doing it gradually, and I always had to warm up her milk in her bottle, then when we got rid of the bottle, we warmed it up in the sippy cup for awhile, and now she drinks it cold (she is 4) and I am not totally sure when she started drinking it cold...maybe around age 3? But I kept trying to give it to her cold, and one day, she just didn't notice it wasn't warm. Also, I think it helped that her friends that she plays with were all drinking their milk cold, and it kind of spurred her along! It will happen! It just may take awhile!

I have four kids of my own and did daycare for many years. It is very common for little ones to want their milk warm. They are used to warm formula and/or breastmilk. Also some little ones dont tollerate the cold very well at this age (its like biting into a frozenjuice bar to us). It sounds lik the amount of milk you are giving her is about right, and 2% should be ok for her to drink , as another poster had mentioned. As for the bottle, every kid and parent have different ideas. Now that she is one, it probably wouldbe a good idea to encourage the sippy cup more often. Try offering it during meals with some juice to start out with and gradually work it in more throughout the day. I have seen children wanting the bottle more than you had mentioned your little one takes it. They say it can effect their teeth but I have known a dentist whose little one was on the bottle till he was 2. Some kids see the bottle as a comfort. Personally I wouldnt worry to much about it. But it never hurts to run things by your doctor for his/her imput.
Another idea, try different types of sippy cups. My 10 month old prefers the NUBY brand from Walmart! The lid is made of silicone, like most of the nipples out there. She doesnt like the plastic lids. There are also different shapes too. Just an idea, maybe she just doesnt like the cup.
Enjoy your little one, they do grow up way to fast!!!

Kids will be kids will be kids. Bottle vs. sippy cup. My daughter always liked her milk warm as well, closer to a year and a half, she started taking the milk cold. But she absolutely REFUSED to drink milk out of sippy cup for quite some time. Only water and then later juice. I would give her the cup and she would take one sip and then throw it as hard as she could. She was also very particular and would only drink out of a particular type of sippy cup. I just kept trying a few times a week then daily, eventually she realized it was okay to drink milk from a cup. My son was just the opposite. Not picky about the type of cup (love the take and toss ones) and took to drinking anything and everything out of a cup quickly and was completely off the bottle just a couple months after turning one. Just keep trying every now and then and let her take it at her own pace. There are some really nice sippy cups that have silicone spout that is the shape of a regular sippy cup spout but is soft like a nipple. It is a great transition cup. Congratulations on your precious little one!!

I think you're spot on with the amount. You can stop bottles around age 1, but sometimes kids really like 'em. For whatever reason my son kept up with milk from bottles and water from sippy cups only until 15 months, and then he got a rotten cold/illness and we just dropped the bottles altogether. It worked for us. Good luck.

My daughter never used bottles so I don't know when to move.
If your daughter isn't getting calcium elsewhere (cheese or yogurt) then she needs 3 cups. So you aren't giving too much. I know that dentists would say to give it with the meal to prevent possibility of tooth decay. The same might go for a bottle. I do give my 16 mo daughter milk sometimes between meals and I think its ok as long as the sweet/sugars from milk are always on her teeth.

You are doing just fine. Let the child set the pace for getting away from the breast and/or the bottle. They will let you know when the are ready. My kids were broke shortly after they were about 1 year old because they kept throwing the bottle away so I knew that they wanted either a sippy cup or a regular glass. It was easier for me to just transfer my kids to a regular glass. Why break them twice if you don't have to? If your baby wants the milk warm then warm it a bit; she will eventually get to taking it cold in her own time. My kids are now 38, 35 & 26 and they did just fine even my youngest who is both physically and mentally challenged did just fine. He did take a little longer then his older brother and sister did but that was because of his physical problems but since he had them setting the example of drinking out of a glass he eventually got to that to. I did use a sippy cup for him a bit longer then I did for them.

My daughter....now almost 5 was the same way she wanted warm milk foreveruntil she was almost 2 maybe even over 2 when we went camping and we told her we couldnt warm up her milk. She was a little mad but she drank it anyways out of a bottle. we didnt get rid of that til she was over 3. She only had it at night to go to bed with. Just give it time your baby will outgrow it too.

My daughter went through the same thing! She would drink everything else out of a sippy cup except for milk. This went on for a while and then her doctor said that we could just try the sippy cup and if she still wouldn't drink, then just to substatute her diet with cheese, yogart, etc., so that she would still get her calcium intake. Once she turned about 3, she would drink it out of a regular cup. We tried store bought bottles that are single serving size and she used that for a short time. Hope this helps! Good Luck! ~R.

Re: the temperature of the milk you give your daughter: consider the following.
According to Ayurveda, the 5,000+ year old comprehensive medical system of India, milk has an inherent property of coldness. This makes it difficult to digest unless it has been heated (usually boiled) and/or is drunk warm. According to this system, drinking milk cold is particularly difficult for digestion and is one of the problems in our western culture's poor digestive health.
Perhaps your daughter's aversion to cold milk is a good thing! If you want some more (& comprehensive) info on this issue, try this website: www.mapi.com. They produce products but also have a ton of info on the Ayurvedic approach to health, in which digestion is key.
Good Luck!
P.S. According to these ancient principles, milk should be taken alone, and not with other foods

I am a mother of a 20 month old girl that is still drinking her milk from a bottle. She loves her bottle and I havent had the heart to take it from her yet. She only gets one 8oz bottle when she gets up and one 8oz bottle when she goes down to bed. She drinks water/juice during the day. In the morning she stands in her crib and asks for her "baba" and at night she goes and gets her "baba" and gives it to me for me to fill up with milk. She even points at the microwave so I will warm it up for her. I always brush her teeth before she goes to bed so the milk doesnt sit on her teeth. I really can't understand what the harm in this is? My goal is to start getting rid of the bottle before 2. My plan is that I will just tell her that she is a big girl now and no more bottles and she will watch me bag them up and put them away for the next baby. I am sure she will cry for her "baba" for a few days. Anyways my advise is to relax, if your baby like the bottle give her/him the bottle. No harm done. :)

My little guy had would not take a sippy cup with milk and I was distraught! I bought the soft silicone toppped Nuby cups that have a top like a sippy cup or a straw. I just bit the bullet and one day took the bottle away thinking I would have to endure hours of screaming, but I didn't. I showed him the cabinet where all the bottles were kept and that they were all gone and these were his new special cups. He fussed for a few minutes off and on for about 15 mins, and then took the new cup realizing his bottles were gone. Hope this helps! Good Luck!