my 18 month old is still having 2 or 3 bottles of milk daily mainly before sleep, at what age do i need to wean her off ?
weaning can be a personal choice. You do need to ensure that the milk intake is not compromising your toddlers nutrition. Even toddler formula can reduce appetite for whole foods and interfere with normal eating.
If you feel that your toddler is ready to move to an entirely solid diet and use water and milk from a cup as her fluid options, that there is no reason why she needs to continue with toddler milk then make the move when you are ready. Certainly, under normal circumstances toddler formula is not required (despite the very convincing adverts).
You can even transition slowly, for example, reduce the end of day milk feeds and move them to after meals and snacks during the day. Slowly swap the 500mls or so of toddler milk for 1-2 cups of water and 1-2 of milk over the day. Always offer milk or milk alternatives after meals and snacks as it has a lot of calories and can displace meals.
I have a fact sheet on Huggies on milk which will help with understanding just how much milk your toddler should consume.
Milk
http://www.huggies.com.au/baby-care/baby-feeding/nutrition/milk-intake
I hope that helps, all the best with the transition.
Cheery oh
Leanne