"Falling Asleep with Bottle"

We had the same problem and I felt like a failure too! Keira is our first and she is turning 2 this week. It was hard to hear her cry so we gave in to everything for the first 18 months until I started feeling like a bad parent. First I switched to the soft nuby sippy at bed time which took a few nights to getused to. She was pretty mad for a while which really hurts to hear but it only lasted a 4-5 nights and then she was ok with the sippy. Now we are weaning her off a sippy which has been easier. She will sometimes wake up and want her sippy and then we give it to her (so we can get back to bed) but most of the time she goes right to sleep. Sometimes she cries for 10 minutes, but it is just a tired cry. I have realized that you have to just let them cry which has been a hard lesson for me. We are expecting our second in Feb 2008 and I am determined to change some of the things that I did with Keira. Another thing that worked for us was to give her a cup of milk before bed. Also if she is really crying...let her cry for 10 min then go in and lay her back down for 15 min...if she is still crying then we usually got her up, but 9 times out of 10 she went to sleep. It works, but it is hard on us mommies and even harder on dad!
Good luck!

I had the same exact issue with my 20-month old daughter. She would drink anything out of a sippy cup, but milk. I would hand her the milk in a sippy and she would throw it across the room and cry once she tasted it. I tried everything - different cups, hot, cold, and yes flavors even though I told myself that I wouldn't. I called my ped. and she said to only give her water no juice and offer milk. She said that she would drink when she was thirsty. She also said that she doesn't have to drink milk that she could get her required fat and calcium in other sources such as cheese, yogurt and even calcium fortified O.J. She also took a bottle at bed and it was a struggle. I would offer the milk in a sippy and she would refuse. I never thought that providing only water and milk in a sippy would work, but after 4 days she just started taking the milk out of the sippy cup. It still needs to be warmed and she likes to sit in my lap, but hey I'll take that>

Best of luck!

Sorry I don't have any advice to really help you but I thought I would share this with you...when I was baby my mom said that once she took me off the bottle, I would not drink milk. To this day, I still won't drink plain milk and rarely drink chocolate milk.

None of you are bad Mom's for letting your older babies have a bottle. But, it is urgent that babies with multiple teeth not fall asleep with bottles and cups. I have seen children in my family have full mouths of rotten teeth from "bottle decay". Your baby may cry a few nights but her teeth will thank you. Is your baby eating well during the day? I find that if they eat three meals and a snack or two, they will be so full and satisfied that a bottle of milk will no longer be a main priority. That will allow you to fufill her calcium needs well before bedtime. If she must have milk with flavor added in order to drink from her sippy cup, make sure, it's well before bedtime and cut back on juice because of the added sugar. After the before bed beverage, make sure to brush her teeth. If she already eats very well during her meals, just give water when she's thirsty at night and let her deal with the change for a few days. She'll be fine and remember, you're the parent and you know what's best. Good luck !

Hi Y.,

I'm not a pro, but I have observed with my kids and others that they really like their habits and breaking bad ones is so hard. I have the same problem with my baby who wants to nurse before sleeping and through the night. It's his only means of comfort and it's like an addiction because he shouldn't need to eat all through the night. The only way I have been able to break habits I didn't like with my other kids was to be firm and wait out the crying for several days or nights before they got the idea that I was not backing down. Having to go through this tested me as well. Hope this helps.

Hi Y.! I am a SAHM to 3 (almost 11, 8, and 3-in-1-week). I have to admit that I did not have this problem with any of my children. We got rid of all bottles by their first birthday. But I think it was easier because we did it so early. On a similar note though, my youngest loved his pacifier. He would not sleep without it. When he finally lost the last one and I refused to buy any more for him, we just let him cry it out. He eventually learned to be comforted in other ways and has never looked back. He was almost 2 when this happened. He is none the worse for the wear. ;-)

I guess my point is that I agree with the other comments already made. Your daughter is just going to have to quit cold turkey. To try to make it easier, you could talk to her ahead of time and tell her that on a specific date (mark it on a calendar where she can see it) that the two of you will be getting rid of all her bottles and she will have to drink her milk out of a cup just like everything else. Then, on that day, both of you get a garbage bag and put every bottle and nipple in that bag. Make a big deal out of it (she's going to be such a big girl, etc). Now, please don't get me wrong. She is probably still going to cry when she wants milk and gets a sippy cup. But eventually she will want it enough and realize that you are serious enough, to give up and drink from the cup.

Best of luck!

T.

Y.,
yes and no. yes as in my kids used the bottle til they turned 2, and no they didn't use it to fall asleep.
but i'd say it is time for you to stand your ground. take every bottle and nipple in the house, put it in a bag and throw it. that way you don't have access to them when things get rough. and then offer her the milk from a sippy cup. that's what i did with my twinkies. it took a few days. immediately after they refused it so i put the sippy cups with milk at their hands' reach. the second day they drank just a bit. by 4th of 5th day they realized if they wanted milk they needed to accept the sippy cup, which they did.
but even so giving milk to fall asleep is not a good idea. you might try cio with her. although i don't recommend taking away the bottle AND CIO at the same time. that would be too much. take the bottle away and he there for her until she falls asleep. once she has transitioned to sippy cup then start working on her to soothe herself to sleep. so basically you're looking at like 2 weeks of rough bedtime for you and her and then things will get back to normal. as for tooth decay...i didn't realy believe it when i would hear that it could happen until a few months ago i met a 6 yr old child with metal stuff covering all his front top and bottom teeth. mom explained that his teeth are decayed and these would prevent from losing them to the level of the gums. not a pretty sight i tell you :)
good luck
vlora