Breaking Bad Sleep Habits. HELP

I would first start with putting water in her bottle. Water won't damage her teeth with tooth decay, but she will still have that comfort items for a while longer. The other suggestion is that because she is 2, I would stop using the bottle and start giving her a spill-proof sippy cup instead. We did this with my son starting at age 1 and it made a difference. Over time, instead of keeping the cup in bed with him, he started letting us put it on his nighttable. You still got the occassional wet sheets from a leeky sippy cup that didn't make it back to the nighttable, but by the age of 3 1/2, we established a no food or drink policy in their bedrooms. Hope this helps. Debi

I bottle fed my first,(son), because I just had no milk to breastfeed. I nursed my second, (daughter)until she was 3.5. Yeah, that was a little too long for me. My son gave up his nap bottles when his sister was born so he was just over 3 yrs. old. I think they really love their comforts. As I have said before on this board, as adults, we have our own oral comforts and we're adults. Coffee, gum, cokes...I just wonder if we ever get truly weaned. I guess enough to be socially acceptable. My point is, I think a cold turkey approach would be unnecessary and very tough. I think the word "wean" means to gradually take away. Other countries are not so fast to wean their children so I think it is more of a social/cultural thing to wean our children before age 3. (I know...I'm so shocking!) Best wishes.

My best friend just did this w/my god-daughter who is 2 yrs old about 3 months ago. She had a long talk with her and she told her that I would take her to buy a flower as a reward for being such a big girl and her grama n grampa would send her a surprise as a reward. We all told her how proud of her we were for her being such a big girl and My friend did such a great job of preparing her for the night-time. My god-daughter stopped cold turkey that night. She pouted a bit and mommy had to have a talk with her to remind her and they even decided together that they'd mail the bottles to her baby nephew because she was a big girl and didn't need them anymore (GOT EM OUTTA THE HOUSE!) She will get a drink before bed now if she wants one but doesn't ask for a bottle at all. She says it's silly for her to have one b'cuz she's a big girl.... E-mail me if you'd like I can get you in touch w/my friend. It was amazing how it worked for her. Good luck though!

Truth be told, we broke our kids cold turkey from bottles and pacifiers, and I won't say that it was truly the best thing that we ever did, because we did have to endure a lot of crying and screaming. Even though we did what we were supposed to do by breaking the girls of their bottles and pacifies when they were very small, they still have dental problems and are going to have to have braces, so I don't see where it made any difference at all. The only real problem that ever came up with giving them a bottle at bedtime was ear infections. We learned that the bottle was the culprit with my first child, and so the second child was able to get through babyhood with only one mild infection. In that instance, we would rock the babies to sleep with the bottles, then remove it from their mouths when we put them to bed. That was never a problem as long as they were truly fast asleep.

T.,
I would just take the bottle away all together. Give her a sippy cup if she wants something to drink but not in the bed. I didn't ever have any problems with my girls, they were close to being one years old and they just gave the bottle up. Then I just gave them a sippy cup. Bad habits are always bad to break, the sooner you do it the better. She is 2, just take it away. Good luck
S.

Well... I gave away all of my daughter's bottles so, the only option she has is a sippy cup or a "big girl" cup... She gets a drink of water when she brushes her teeth and then it's time for bed. That's it! If she cries, she calms herself and falls asleep.

Please get rid of ALL bottles if you are serious... offer only cups and NEVER for IN BED.

My 2 cents!

J.

Well, my daughter is 20 mos. and she did very well without the bottle. I introduced a sippy cup and about a week later I threw out all bottles. She did not do that well at bed time, but it only lasted aweek or so. Now she usually takes a small cup of milk before bed, but I don't let her take it to bed with her. Hope everything goes smoothly, good luck.

Elizabeth M

Why not give her a cup with a lid and straw so she still has something to drink during her book? I do that with my son. I love to have a cup of tea before bed so I decided that he should still have his milk, just in a cup with a lid and a straw. I've never had a problem with bedwetting so I've never stopped this nightly ritual.

I don't believe that we need to take everything away from our children. Most children will give things up on their own after they learn the necessary coping skills they need. I still let my son have his blanket whenever he needs it and he has made the choice to only have it at bedtime. My husband and I still lay down with him occassionally and about twice a month he asks to sleep with mama and daddy. I'm always getting comments that he's such a independent and secure little guy.

I would just wean her now. If you feel she needs the milk before bed, give it to her in a sippy cup. Then try and keep your routine as normal as possible without the bottle. Rock her for a little bit, read her a story, whatever you normally do, but don't let her fall asleep in your arms, that will just create new bad habits. THen put her in her bed. She probably will cry for a lot the first few days, but usually by about 3 days, and almost always after a week she will be used to going to bed by herself and the crying will be minimal. But beware, the crying might last for an hour or more the first couple of nights.

How about trying a sippy of water? It won't hurt her teeth and may help the transition.

I would also suggest a protein rich snack close to bedtime. Her tummy may be used to having the milk hold her over until breakfast.

I know it's tough to listen to the crying, but sometimes the faster you get things over with the easier it will be. Inmy opinion there is no point in dragging it out. My daughter is now 3 1/2. I took the bottle away from her when she turned one and threw them all away so there was no other option. At 11 months she only had the bottle at nap and bed time. She used sippy cups during the day. The crying at bedtime only lasted about 5 days until she was fine! Good Luck!!

I weaned my son by still giving him the bottle ONLY at night and ONLY with water in it. He would suck on it just long enough to fall asleep and eventually just gave it up all together. My friend did the same thing but with nothing in the bottle, just an empty bottle for comfort.

I have never been a fan of creating more trauma than necessary for my children. (However, you do have to wean them from things as they get older if they don't do it themselves.) I really liked the idea of the water in the bottle/sippy cup. Then, later at some point, you can get rid of the bottle or cup altogether. Who cares if she goes to bed with water? I guarantee you, I have never seen a "big" kid who goes to bed with a bottle... it will all work itself out when the time is right.

Another suggestion is to put a CD player in her room and get soothing music to play at night-time. I did this for my boys and they really loved it. I bought a CD by Baby Genius called Nature's Expressions. I usually lay in their room and read a book before I turn it on. They know now that when I turn on that music, it's bedtime.

Just some thoughts...

Well T. every child is different. But what I did with my son who also fell asleep with the bottle until he was two is just did the cold turkey thing. I figured if I reduced the milk by half and added water that might work and it did for awhile but then he caught on. SO I just decied to let him cry himself to sleepp and it took him about a week. Then all was well. Good luck I hope everything works out.