Toddler night time feeds - HELP

[doll]

hello
my little boy is 16 months old... when he wakes during the night i give him a bottle as its the quickest and easiest thing to get him back to sleep... he has always self settled at night time and also for naps really well by having a bottle in the cot (with me holding it, the lazy thing)... its then always been as simple as me saying goodnight and walking out and he goes to sleep...

the problem is i am fed up with him waking in the night and having a bottle(s), i know he doesn't need it and its just out of habit.

so i have just started to try phasing out the bottle in the cot. Now when he goes to bed he has a bottle in the loungeroom, then he goes to his cot... he is quite unhappy with this arrangement nevertheless he does go to sleep, albeit with a bit of shouting.

he usually wakes around 11pm like last night, so i gave him a bottle in the loungeroom again and then back to bed, no tears. then he woke at 4am, so i tried for an hour to re-settle him and nothing was working... in the end i left him to protest and throw his tantrum and he went to sleep... usually i would prob give him a bottle or let him come into my bed, anything to get us both back to sleep....

i suppose my question is, do you think i should go cold turkey and once he is put to bed, offer no further bottles even if its still in the evening (dream feed-ish) at 11pm... as it will be a more consistent approach... or do you think i will still see success in resettling him through the night, despite giving him a bottle on his first waking (11pm ish)? sorry i'm probably not making much sense..

i suppose my concern is if he gets to come out of the room and have a bottle in the loungeroom at 11pm, then its not very consistent for me to not offer that in the middle of the night.... ??

would like to hear from anyone who has stopped night feeding their toddlers... and is what i have been doing sort of 'feeding to sleep'? is that the definition...?

any help appreciated :-)

[Livinthedream]

Offer him water. If he is thirsty he will drink it.
Thats how we did it only took 2 nights and he stopped waking. GL

[doll]

Do u think it makes a difference whether he has the bottle in the cot or should I be trying to break that sleep association?

[farmgirl77]

Hi doll,
How is is all going?
DS is 22 months and we still give him a bottle at night sometimes if he wakes up. We dont let DS have a bottle in his cot. He has a bottle on the couch last think before bed, and then if he wakes in the night, I'll either bring him down to the lounge for a feed. We have gone through the process of weaning him from night feeds by offering water in a bottle to him (we stay in his room to do this to break the association and expectation of milk if we come to the lounge) - and as above, after 2 nights he generally stops waking - however, for those 2 nights be prepared for crying and an unsettled night - dont do it if you have important things on over those days as you will be tired! If DS gets sick then all bets are off and he starts waking again - and to be honest I still find it easier to give in than to cause a fuss!

Not sure if this helps, but belive me you are not the only one in this situation!
Good luck
FG