I have a two year old daughter who wakes up 3, sometimes 4 times at night wanting a bottle. I do not know what to do to stop this. I have tried to just let her cry, hoping she will just go back to sleep-NOPE- not happening. She eats well during the day and I have even started giving her some sort of snack before she goes to bed. I really am at a loss for what to do. Any suggestions??????
Tell your daughter that as a special treat, she will have a sippy cup (spill proof) that normally only 3 year olds can have, beside her bed at night. Tell her that it is only for her, and not for just 2 year olds, and that she can only have it if she wakes up at night. Make it an especially pretty cup that she picks out for herself.
Hi M.,
Ok, I am no expert on this because I have 2 great sleepers. From what I remember reading about this for younger kids, one approach is to water down the bottle and to keep increasing the amount of water while decreasing the amount of milk. Keep in mind that milk in a bottle at night can be very damaging to a child's teeth. I also remember reading that it usually takes 3 nights to change a child's sleep habits, so if you wanted to take a cold turkey approach you have the long weekend to try. I used one of the Baby Whisperer books with my kids when they were babies, but I'm not sure if any of the books apply to 2 year old sleep issues. You could see if they do or even try the message boards at thebabywhisperer.com to see if anyone has posted something similar. It could just be that she needs to learn a new way to soothe herself to get herself back to sleep. Maybe a lovey, if she doesn't have one already.
Good luck whatever you try,
C.
M.,
Giving you daughter a bottle at this age and development during the night is not a great idea. Her teeth will become filled with caries. If she needs something during the night it should be a sip of water. What did you do for your son? Does he sleep all night? I'll bet you have the answer. She is acting like a trained night waker. I wish you all the best, being tough and telling her she is to sleep when the family is sleeping can be tough.
A.
Yikes! You must be tired. Bottles at night are such a bad idea for several reasons. One, bottle rot is a problem. Make sure she is not getting milk at night. If you can't get her off the bottle right away just give her water. Two, potty training will be very hard if she is constantly drinking because she will go potty so often in the night. I'm sure you know about these already :)
So, heres my idea. Get rid of all the bottles in the house. Do it in the morning and let her watch you gather them up and toss them out. She is big enough to drink out of a cup. I have one year olds drinking out of cups. Oh, and I mean cups not sippy cups. She may be upset at first and refuse to drink out of them but if there are no bottles in the house she wont have an option. And you wont have the option to give in either. So get rid of them! When she wakes up in the night just let her cry it out. You may think it wont work but there are no bottles in the house so there is no reason to get out of bed to give her one.
My second idea is to give her the bottle but take off the nipple and just give her the bottle with no lid. Have her drink out of it like it's a cup. That way you will break her habit of sucking on a bottle to sooth herself back to sleep.
Sleep is so important for a child's development. Her bad habit is robbing her of the sleep she needs. Listening to crying is never fun. Us moms are programmed to fix little crying children but try to keep the long term goal in mind. She will be healthier, well rested, and happier once this is over.
I wish you the best. If you have another kiddo try to get rid of the bottles all together by the first birthday. Most babies at 10 months will happily drink from sippy cups. Some even take them sooner depending on their motor skills.
Take care,
E.
