HELP PLEASE. When (and how) to stop bottle-to-bed?
My 15mth old loves his bottle at bed-time. He has 2 a day and settles beautifully in his bed with bottle and goes to sleep readily after it's finished. At my 12mth Maternal Health Nurse check-up I was told to stop all bottles at 12mths. I have found this hard to do and thought 18mths seemed more reasonable, but as 18mths approaches I am wondering how this is going to pan out. He would scream if I put him in his bed without his bottle. What do you think about age to stop bottle and how to go abou it?
Not sure if it's worth mentioning or not but my DS was initally breastfed only starting bottles at about 8mths of age. He used to be quite difficut to settle to sleep as I never used feeding to sleep in the first 12 months (did patting ect). The bottle has made it a joy to put him to bed and he doesn't wake overnight or anything. I am just worried that he is getting too old for it.
ie give the bottle sitting on your lap in a chair then putting to bed afterward... try for a few weeks so he stops the association of a bottle in bed?
then i guess the next step would be to not give it?
DD has a sipper cup of milk b4 bed but not in bed... it is her associate with nighttime and i am well aware of that but she wont take a bottle before her day nap.. lol so no idea what she is thinking
i breast fed sophie before her night sleep up until 18 months, yes it was tough, very tough for the first few night, she cried, needed more cuddles extra, but we introduced sing twinkle twinkle little star as her new bedtime thing and afte a few weeks she got the hang of teh change and now runs to her bed after singing!! id start something now such as reading a book then slowly cut back teh bottle until hopefully you only need to read a book ,and see how that goes
I don't think I'd be worried what the nurse told me, but if you really do want to stop, coiuld you maybe replace the comfort of his bottle with another, like a blankie or teddy? My DD (15mths) has her bottle cuddling with me on the lounge and then I rock her for 10 mins with her blankie and then to bed. She's usually asleep by then, but if not she often goes off herself, if not I rock again for 10 mins, to bed atc until she's asleep. Or as someone else suggested give him his bottle sitting up and maybe read a story together and then put him to bed. I think anyway you do it, it will be hard for him to change routines for a few days, up to a week or so. Good luck.
Thanks so much for your replies. Now that I think about it I used to give him his bottle on my lap, then put him to bed awake, which worked ok, however, I changed it to in his bed as he would then hold the bottle himself rather than want me to hold it (which was what happened when on my lap). Maybe I should go back to doing bottle on my lap (him holding it this time now that I know he can!) with a book then to bed awake as a method/plan to stopping it in the future? He almost falls asleep having his bottle in the bed so maybe I should change that part of it. Using a book would be relaxing but encouarge him to stay awake with the bottle. Thoughts?
Another thing though, how much milk do they need at this age as there is no way I could get him to drink anywhere near what he currently has from bottle if/when we switch to cup (he has about 350mls a day at present)? He drinks minimal water from sippy cup throughout the day and has refused to drink milk from sippy cup thus far.
The other girls had some really good suggestions and I too wouldn't worry about the age too much - I meant it's only milk and if it helps - well hey do it!
My only conern is that I have read many times that you shouldn't put babies to bed with their bottles because it is bad for their teeth - I think the milk lingers for longer and there may also be a health hazzard (drwoning which I know seems extremely unlikely but still...). I like the idea of giving bottle in chair or on couch - maybe with some quiet music or story.
HELP PLEASE. When (and how) to stop bottle-to-bed?
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