18 Month Old Wont Go to Bed

Poor thing, and poor you! Sounds like a really difficult time!

I'm surprised you've gotten such harsh responses so far. Nothing wrong with co-sleeping and cuddling a little child to sleep, if you ask me. Even though she's crying, at least she has you there with her so she doesn't feel afraid or abandoned. 

Can you try cutting the bottles back to just one so it's not so sudden? I guess that doesn't help the tooth decay problem. Hmmm... How about diluting the milk slowly over time with water?

Sorry I don't have any good suggestions. (My daughter breastfed forever so we never used a bottle.) Just wanted to say that I wouldn't let her cry it out, and she certainly won't hit you in the face when she's older because you are there for her now as she has trouble adjusting to no bottle. Can't believe that suggestion...

We tried letting our little girl cry it out when she was a year old and it is the biggest regret I have in the 3 years we've been parents. It didn't work and we went the opposite route, to laying down in her bed with her until she fell asleep. Much happier for everyone. And we managed to have a little brother for her who just arrived 4 weeks ago. ;) 

Now that she's 3, sometimes she ends up in our bed in the middle of the night, but mostly she sleeps in her own bed all night. 

Hang in here, hope you all get to sleep soon!

H.

Can you give her some milk/snack after her bath and before bedtime? Make sure her tummy's full before bedtime!

This may sound harsh, but you created this problem by letting get away with the tantrums, and now you're going to have to fix it.

She needs to be sleep trained. However you want to do that is up to you. She's crying because you're paying attention to her, and that's how she keeps you in the room.

Go through your routine, put her down, and leave.
Whether you choose to let her cry until she gives up (which she will), or you want to go in there a few times to comfort her is up to you.
She's going to have to do some crying to get it out of her head that she can have her way at bedtime. It's just up to you to be consistent. It'll take a couple of days, but she needs to get the message that you are in charge, not her. She'll get tired of the game when she realizes that you're not playing anymore.

It's also unclear as to whether or not she's still in your bed at night. I, personally, feel that she should be in her own bed for this process, but of course that's a personal decision for everyone.

If you give her one bottle normally, then one bottle it is! No more! If you give in to her tantrums then she will expect it to work every time, and keep on doing it.

If she cries herself to sleep, .... Let her. : / You have to show her that the behavior shes showing wont do her any good and then she will stop.
A lot pf people say that you cannot tell a child no at that early delicate stage, but then you look at their children down the line and those kids are the ones that are smacking, or hitting their parents in the face while throwing tantrums later on.

One thing that worked wonders with my daughter was the Fantasia sound track. Give her her bottle, put her in bed. Turn on the music and night light, off with the lights, close the door and let them be regardless of screaming.

If she's still sleeping in your bed I'd say this is a -great- time to get her her own little crib, or even a little playpen that she cant get out of while throwing these tantrums. (That way you dont have to worry about her running around the room when you close the door.)
Good luck to you!!!

You could try putting a chair beside her crib, and just sit with her to keep her laying down. Everytime she tries to get up, put her down, rub her back, and shush her. Don't talk to her or look at her, just keep a hand on her. She'll get the idea that she has to lay down. Pretty soon, she'll get tired and fall asleep. Letting her go on and on works her anxiety up, and makes it harder to go to sleep, so you stop her before she gets all wound up. Good luck.

I have dealt with this as well. The only thing that worked for my daughter was to let her scream. We would put her to bed and tell her, "I love you, and I'm right downstairs, but I'm not coming back in here tonight. I will see you in the morning". It took a while, but she finally began to cry for shorter periods of time, and then eventually fell asleep without much of a fuss at all. All kids are different, but this worked for us.

It sounds like she is still sleeping in your bed. No judgment here, but this is part of the natural consequence of this decision. Since she is having a difficult time anyway, here is my suggestion. Take the time now to start her in her own bed. Let her be with you when you choose the bedding, etc. Then adjust your expectations. Expect to spend at least 3 weeks of concentrated, loving, patient time putting your child to bed in her own bed. A complete consistent routine such as: dinner, bath, snuggle time on the couch, a good night to objects (pictures on the wall, couch, tv) as you go down the hall to her room. Then the reading of her book in bed, a night light left on ... and YOU beside her on her bed rubbing her back, cooing, singing, FOR AS LONG AS IT TAKES until she is asleep. You go to her bed rather than her coming to your bed. THREE WEEKS minimum. Then start fading out SLOWLY. Each week choose one piece of the routine to shorten up. Notice that this is like an 8 week process. But you have given her 18 months of being in your bed and something to suck on to fall asleep. So this is a natural consequence of that choice. If you EXPECT to spend this kind of time, your patience will be there and your calm and relaxed vibes will come through to your child. Sweet dreams!