Surely my 4yo DD has to give up her sippy cup with choc milk in it soon. I honestly can't do it. I am currently sitting next to her bed. She has been in here for 50 mins and is still awake. How old were your children when they gave up their milk at night? I have tried everything
In my experience, they often won't unless you make them.
I took the bottle off dd1 at 17 months old. That was it, gone. Dd2 on the other hand, was 4. I tried, then went to a pop top, nothing worked. I can't remember what I ended up doing. But she struggled to go to sleep for a long time after.
I weaned DS from the boob just before he was 2 & that was it for him... Dd3 was the same age. 8 weeks of screaming later & I gave her a bottle. That went to a sippy cup after a while & she was over 3 before I got rid of it. I just kept 'forgetting'. She had milk too. But plain milk, watered down with warm water. She didn't taste full cream milk til after that.
Sure have hot1. She won't drink water at the best of times... I have to 'forget' to buy cordial and juices....
I think my boys were easier to wean than this one. I wanted her out of night time nappies before this baby arrives.
Id suggest not having it in bed, have it on the couch or something before, make it a special thing, eg you both sit and have a "cuppa" before bed, use it as a nice quiet wind down time, maybe talk about what she did that day, or plans for the next day, or read a story with it. Then take her to bed.
You need to be firm and stick to it though. Talk to her before hand about the new plan (like in the afternoon) then do it and that's it, keep at it. It might take one night, it might take weeks of her fighting and being upset about it. But she still gets her milk and make it special.
Please don't take this the wrong way but choc milk in bed is asking for cavities!!!
Try taking her for a dental appt and get the dentist to explain why big girls don't have milk in bed, that or you're going to have the possibility of decayed teeth.
Otherwise explain that it's not happening anymore, take it away and be strong and not give in, she knows that if she complains enough you'll give in.
Sometimes we have to be tough about stuff. It isn't good to have choc milk at bedtime but she clearly likes it; it's going to be up to you to make the change. She's going to yell and so on and you'll probably have a harder time at bedtime for a while, but then she'll get used to it. The teeth/health argument might help, combined with moving the drink to the table, pre-bed and teeth brushing, and then replace with water in bed if she's thirsty.
Do you have help at bed time?
Mine weaned from breast to nothing, so don't have specific experience, but we've all had to limit something that our kids would rather have all the time. I think the key is being prepared for the response and just pushing through till you're out the other side. Good luck!
Loosing a bedtime battle
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