NO Bottle at Night

Her crying for 3 hrs straight doesn't make sense. You can't do anything to comfort her? Hold her? Get her up until she's ready to sleep? Mostly, I breastfed but the ones who were put on a bottle before a year gave it up by then and ate solid food and what milk they got was in a cup. Some kids are sensitive to milk and often they reject it, so if she's getting plenty of vitamins and minerals, incl. calcium, I wouldn't worry about that. I would never just let a baby scream. It sounds like she's passing into a new developmental stage at this age and needs to be with you more at night. Please meet this need! I know you're going thru a rough patch but she can't understand or control what's going on, so it's up to you. She doesn't want to go to sleep alone at this time.

What if someone forced you to eat or drink something you did not want. Would you take it willingly or would you refuse adamantly? Sounds like the baby doesn't want it. Why are you forcing her to take it?

My question is this: was she crying because you were forcing her to take the bottle or was she just crying and you thought she wanted a bottle so you offered it? Is she eating solids? Maybe she had gas....maybe needed to have a bowel movement but couldn't.

ANYTIME you feel you are losing control, you need to separate yourself from your child immediately. IF it means placing your child in her crib or playpen and shutting the door while you go to another room to "cool off," you do that. NEVER, ever take your frustrations out on a baby. Not ever.

You sound like a young mom. Is there a daddy in the picture? Friends? Family? Anyone you trust who can come over when you feel like losing it? It doesn't make you a weak mother to reach out for help. It makes you a responsible mother. Sometimes all a crying baby needs is his/her mother to hold/cuddle/sing/dance with him/her. Change of scenery, distraction, soft music, a warm bath.

Well, she doesn't need to be fed at night at all. She should probably still have a snack before she goes to bed, but it doesn't need to be a bottle. It can be some cereal with milk in it!

And also, she isn't too young for a sippy cup...really, she's too old. By that, I mean, if you haven't started one by now she is just a smart cookie and refusing it because she can. If you don't let up, and ONLY offer the cup, she'll take it. She won't starve herself, I promise!

This is basically what happened to me with my first...except she WANTED her bottle too many times at night! But I think if you can just stick to your guns and only offer the cup at night, that would be a good transition.

She may just not be hungry. She should be able to go through the night without eating. :)

Good luck!

My kids stopped eating overnight before 6mos. They say once they hit 6mos, overnight feedings are simply a habit, and not needed. So at 1yr, you definitely don't need to be feeding her.
My 6mo old DD goes 12hrs without a bottle. Down at 6 and up at 6. She's fine.

I'm a CIO mom, so I'd just let her cry through it to break the habit. You have to do what's rigth for you. But it sounds to me like some sleep training is needed to get her over that hump.
You should also consider that it might be teeth, since it's only been going on for a couple of nights.

I can give you advice on staying calm on the 3hr cry session ... I would place my son in his crib/pack n play where he is safe, turn off the monitor or turn it to low and walk away for a few min ... I liked to go outside for a few min then go back in and see if I can calm him down if not then I would do this again ... it's ok to walk away for a few min (5-10) there is nothing wrong with it.
On the night bottle my POV is that it is being rejected because it is not needed ... if you feed enough during the day then she is probably not hungry before bed.

if she doesnt want the bottle then she just doesnt want it. probably doesnt need it anymore or just plain isnt hungry. My oldest son, he will be 2 in a week, was totally off the bottle at 12 months. we didnt even do the sippy, he went straight from the bottle to a regular cup. Luckily, he loved it and went cold turkey no bottle. he never took a bottle to his crib. I'd give her a big bottle or cup of milk like 8 or 9 ounces in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. the rest of the day give her regular or baby food and water or a teensy bit of juice.

Don't freak out just yet. Being that she is 1 she is probably just ready to stop taking the bottle. You can try getting her used to a sippie during the day while she has her solids. I remember giving my first daughter a sippie around 6 months or so. However, she would NOT drink from it if I warmed up her formula. Anything in the bottle had to be warm and anything in the sippie had to be cold. I thought that was weird but it worked and helped get her off the bottle!

As soon as both of my daughters turned 1 I finished up whatever formula I had left and switched to whole milk. They would eat their last meal around 5 or 6 and then sometimes a light snack around 7 or so. I would give them a sippie of water to keep in the crib and they went to bed at 8 (after our bedtime routine).

If you are concerned about her nutrition just ask her ped. about it to validate. She should be fine though and it just sounds like she may be ready to leave the bottle behind! What luck...no weaning :o)

It may have been part of her routine up to this point, but nothing says she MUST have a bottle! If she doesn't need the bottle, then she doesn't need it. She should be getting close to giving up the bottle anyway and most babies her age can start practicing using a sippy cup, if they haven't been already. Every child is different but if she has up and decided she doesn't want it any more, then she doesn't need it. and it's not worth getting stressed out about. She should mostly be on solid food at this point anyway and just getting around 16 oz of whole milk a day. What was making her cry for 3 hours straight? If it was trying to get her to take a bottle that she no longer wants, then you need to just stop. Also keep in mind that it won't be good for her teeth to fall asleep with milk or juice still sitting in her mouth all night anyway.

By a year old she should be just drinking 12 oz. of breastmilk/formula/wholemilk/soymilk per day. Time to eat more solids, right? :) As far as the timing of her meals, she could easily be ready to eat the 3 standard meals a day like we do. Rejecting a nighttime bottle is not a problem, she can handle sleeping through the night without the extra calories, and its better for her stomach and life long habits anyway, so just go with it.

As for the sippy cup delema. Yes at a year old the bottle should disappear. And it needs to be gone for GOOD. Actually throw them away or give them away. You don't want to be tempted to give them back to her. I'd suggest using a nuby soft spout sippy cup. Its very similar to a bottle since its soft, but a different shape and she'd need to kind of bite it to get the valve to open. It was a good transition sippy for my oldest who struggled with sucking in every way (breastfeeding, bottle, straw, sippy, etc...). I got her to drink water from the sippy and milk from a bottle around 9 months old, and then at about 11 I threw away the bottles. She would have NONE of it, drinking milk from sippy! She threw a fit, screaming, flailing... It was a mess. And I KNEW she was able to drink from it since she'd been drinking water from it for months. It was bottle separation anxiety. I'm not suggesting you try to get your daughter to drink from a sippy before putting milk in it, but just letting you know this is normal whether they can drink from one already or not. My youngest didn't want to drink much out of the sippy as long as I was still breastfeeding her. Once that ended, she did fine. She did not struggle with sucking like the oldest, and she's been able to use any type of sippy cup, hard and soft spouts without any help from me. She even drinks from a straw without help.

Now as far as how I handled the screaming thrashing child who wouldn't drink from a sippy cup... :) Yes she did it the first day. She refused it at first, and got more and more hysterical. I got out a banana, and got her to eat that, it calmed her down and she was no longer "starving", then I gave her the sippy, held it over her mouth (she was laying back in my arms) and squeezed a few drops into her mouth. She then accepted it and drank it. We never had a problem again.

Expect a battle the first time, but do not give in! If you have to drip it into her mouth for 30 minuets to be sure she'll get fluids, do it. Don't go back to bottles ever. She'll know you're a cop out and will refuse to take a sippy. I've seen lots of grown kids with bottles because the parents couldn't deal with the battle. This is part of parenting and child training. They need to learn that you're the mom and know what's best for them. Stick to your guns, stay strong, and your daughter will get it.

Remind yourself (as she's battling you), that she is frustrated and you staying calm will help her to calm down sooner. Its a mental game and you just need to prepare yourself before you start and during it. Don't get angry or frustrated. Knowing its a struggle before you start can help you not feel so out of control. Its all part of the process. She will respect you for your calm strength, and this will apply to many other parenting battles you'll have in the future, so don't cave in. Its important in many ways. (Think ahead to things like potty training, naps, obeying, temper tantrums, etc...) What she learns from you now is that throwing a fit doesn't frazzle mom, she stays calm and sticks to the rules. Its worthless to fight about it.

Best wishes. I know its not easy, but you can do it! (You BOTH can!)

Could she be ill? Earache? Teething? My kids took the bottle long after 1 year. That was the very last bottle they gave up.