When to Stop Bottle Feeding at Bedtime

I have a 2 and 1 year old and what I did was give them a cup of milk and a snack. There are a lot of opinions about bedtime snacks, but according to pediatricians, they're supposed to have 3 snacks a day, including bedtime. I hope that helps.

Hi S.. You should do what you feel is right. A lot of people wont agree with what I did, but my daughter is going to be 3 at the end of this month and she just gave up her bottle a month ago. She has been drinking out of sippy cups and regular cups with no lid on them for a long time but I guess I was being selfish and wanted to have our cuddle time as long as possible. One day at her grandma's house she just decided to throw them away. She did at home that night too and we have had no problems since.

Good luck!

S.

Do what is best for you and your baby, but the longer you wait to stop the bedtime bottle, the harder it will be to break him of the habbit. What I did with my two daughters (they are 4 and 1) is offered a sippy cup with a little bit of water in it at bedtime. I still do this with my one year old. Usually, while I am getting her ready for bed and reading a story is when I offer it to her. Sometimes, I even lay her in bed and let her have a couple of last sips, then I take it away right before I leave her room for the night. She is 14 months now, and lately I haven't even been offering the sippy cup with water to her and she has been fine. If your son cries for his bottle at bedtime, I would hand him a sippy cup with water or milk and act like it's nothing different. He my protest this for a few days, but he will eventually be fine with it.

I didn't want to run into your problem, so when my daughter started crying to be nursed when she was tired, I put a stop to that right away. She eats when she wakes up, then plays, then when she gets tired, she gets her paci to go to sleep. If I were you, I'd feed him first, make sure his little belly is full, then give him a pacifier to go to sleep with. Or, you could try giving him a sippy cup with water in it, which is much better for his teeth.

I'm pretty sure you're doing what we do -- giving him a bottle before bed, not IN the bed. My daughter is 15 months old, and we're still giving her a bottle before bedtime, just the one. A paci was not really an option for us since my daughter didn't like them, and I think that's a harder habit to break anyway. The dr. recommended slowly starting to stop that one bottle, too. Honestly, though, I'm not too worried about it since, if she was breastfeeding, everyone would think it just dandy if I was still nursing her before sleep. I think I will let my daughter decide when she's ready to give up that one bottle, within reason. I love the extra cuddle-time and she seems to sleep so well I hate to mix things up. Just do what is best for your child, regardless of what the "rules" are! Good luck!

Hi,

My son's pediatrician told me to start taking him off of the bottle when he turned 1. He is 16 months old and he must have a bottle to go to sleep!! Nap time and bed time. So good luck getting him off the bottle. I can't seem to do it unless he's dead tired (like he was after being at sea world for 6 hours) which doesn't happen very often.

My son was broke from his bottle when hw was 11 months old. He just didn't want it anymore. I had started giving him those Nuby sip cups with the chewy end and he would have much rather had them. My friend also used these cups and had her son off the bottle at an early age. They are probably the cheapest thing you can try. They cost a dollar at Wal-Mart. Good luck!

Start out by giving her the bottle only for half the time she would normally have it. Replace the rest of the time with a favorite toy or blancket. keep weening her in half time over a weeks period at a time. this worked for my 3 but keep in mind they are all different and not one solution can fit every situation. Give it a try, and good lock. God bless
T. T.

I don't know about your's but my daughter was easy. Around 12 months, maybe a little before we started eliminating bottles throughout the day. The night time bottle was the last to go. We have a snuggly bedtime ritual. We always turn all the lights off in the house. But insead of a bottle, she had her paci and her stuffed animal and she would sit on my lap and watch a little bit of TV(maybe 5-15 minutes) depending on how much she needed to settle down, then flip her on her belly on me and pat her butt(I was turned sideways so she could still watch if she wanted) then after another 5-10 minutes, I told her it was bedtime and I would lay her in bed and turn on her toy that makes soft wave noise. We still do that to this day:)
Just try out what you think will work for you. But our doctor said to have her off all bottles around 1, the latest 15 months. Good Luck!

I started giving my son cereal bottles later in the evening at 1 year old. By the time he was 18 months, he no longer got a bottle at night. Once I started giving him the ceral bottles, I was very careful about brushing/wiping his teeth in the morning to avoid the milk-sugar build-up. I think it all depends on the child and if they are ready to let go of the "security" of the bottle. Good luck!

the day my son turned 1 is the last day he had a bottle period! he cried a little but was fine about 3 days later... the longer you wait the harder it's going to be.... going to bed with a bottle isn't good for them anyway.... STOP asap!