HELP!! 9Mo Old Cosleeping and Bottle to sleep.....how Do I Stop?!?

Hi,

I would suggest the a routine would be a good start. Not just at night, but durring the day. It doesn't have to be a super strict routine, but at first it might need to be just so she can get used to it. It seems once they have a routine they can stray from it and come back to it easier. For bedtime maybe start a routine and lay her in her bed sleepy, but still awake. For us, we did allow our son to cry and it seemed to be the only thing that worked. We don't let him scream and scream. But I would maybe let him cry and go in there every 5, 10 or 15 min depending on how he was crying and maybe talk to him a little and comfort him some. But I know that isn't for everyone, and you need to do what you are okay with. It was hard letting him cry sometimes, but it seemed to get worse when I would hold him and rock him etc. And there are still times everynow and then where he is having a bad day or night where he needs more. But anyway, I definatly think a routine is a good place to start. I hope find something that works.

Let me tell you. I understand your dilema. Both of my children have co-slept with us. With my first daughter I made sure she also had a bit of crib time to get used to her crib so she did sleep in both and I would bring her into our bed to feed her. With our second daughter I made the mistake of always letting her cosleep with us and she will not touch her crib at all. The moment she hits the crib she wakes up. For soothing during the night I just rub her back and she usually goes back to sleep without a bottle. Sometimes she needs a diaper change and she's off to sleep. She is usually down by 8pm. I rock her in our recliner and put her in our bed surrounded by pillows. We have never had a problem with her falling out. I would suggest right away to try to start putting your baby in the crib to get them used to it. Then try putting the baby in at night when they are asleep. Let me know how it works out for you!!!

To key to getting this taken care of is consistency...

let her cry for 10 minutes before you go into her room...if she is still crying go in lay her back down, tell her good night with a gentle voice. then leave again, next time give her 15 minutes...then 20, then 30...

this will take a couple of weeks to 'perfect', the hard part is the consistency and your emotions in listening to her cry (because it is hard to listen to it for 10-15 or more without feeling like you SHOULD be doing something...)

...be glad your doing it when she is 9 months, not 2 or 3....

1 thing at a time.
Make shure she gets lots to eat before bed time and make a bed time routine

ex 7pm dinner
play
bath, sing, or read...
8 pm lay her down say good night
I am 23 with a 3yr ,2yr , and 8 mo old. I am also a stay at home mom. If all else fails you can e-mail me personaly. ____@____.com I hope that you all can rest easy soon.

When we had issues with our toddler getting to sleepI got the book "The No Cry Sleep Solution for toddler and preschoolers" the author also put out a book call "The No Cry Sleep Solution" which is for infants and babies. It gives you help on how to creat a bedtime routine and offers advice on things. I love the book and recommed it to everyone

I'd choose which one is more important to you and then do one at a time. If the co-sleeping is more important, then, get her to transition to her own bed before you take away the bottle. Then,...once she is moved into her bed at night, then start reducing her bottle feedings so that pretty soon, she'll be bottle free and sleeping in her own bed. But, make sure you do this one at a time. (I'd even wait a few weeks inbetween just to make sure she is aware and comfortable with the new process)

I've also been made aware, that it takes kids 2-3 weeks to become accustomed to any new processes, so be sure to give it time, and be gentle on yourselves if the transitions don't happen overnight.