Weening a 8 Mo. off a Bottle

If the ONLY reason she is trying to wean is because of ear infections....I heard that if you raise the baby's head even slightly, it will decrease the amount of infections. I read that the baby's ear canal is not fully developed and doesn't drain properly if the baby is lying on her back drinking. I think they said something like...some of the fluid may get into the ear and cause the infection. I always held my son (propping up his head) and I think he had 1 ear infection in all of his 19 months.
Although it may be time to wean, I think I did it around 11 months, but every baby is different. It did take a while and was a little tough. I tried the water thing also and it didn't work, he would get practically hysterical. But eventually he learned that he just wasn't going to get it any more. I did (and still do) rock with him a little before putting him down. I know it probably isn't the "correct" way of doing things, but they are only little for a short time and I enjoy the quiet time we have together. Before I know it he will be a teenager and not want anything to do with me (ha,ha).

Let her cry it out. It is not the most fun way of doing things and you really need to be strong. You can not give in even one day or you will have to start all over again. I went through this with my son, only it was to get him to sleep through the night. He was waking up several times a night still months after he turned one. Go outside for a while, call and talk on the phone. But stay out of the room! It shouldn't take more than a couple nights depending on how stubborn of a child you have, not more than a week and and you will be home free!

I agree with an earlier post. If the only reason your friend is weaning is to decrease ear infections, you can simply elevate the baby's head a bit so that fluid does not back up. Her child will eventually decide that a bedtime bottle isn't needed, especially if she watches for the signs that the baby isn't really interested. My son stopped nursing all together (to my horror) on his own at 13 months. The little boy I watch just isn't interested in a bottle at night unless it's offered more than once. Hope this helps!

Ferburizing, or crying it out, is not a method I would reccommend. Dr. Ferber himself, has actually withdrawn his statement that this method works. Ferberizing increases the chances of bad self esteem, because at a very young age, it shows children that their needs are not important to you. Infants can not manipulate, and are crying out of need, because they have no other way of expressing themselves. I do not have a lot of weening advice, as my son is 22 months old, and still nurses on occasion, but I would seek an alternative method to do so. Dr. William Sears has a website, that you may find very helpful though, as I have found his advice very helpful in my times of need. Just type his name into the search engine, I can not recall the name of the website.

Find a different way to put her to bed maybe rocking her or patting her back etc.

Or do it the hard way let her scream it out, after a few days it will not be so hard.

Stick with it. Weening is a breeze for some kids and horrible for others. I'd start giving her juice only in a sippy cup (we only let my daughter have formula in a bottle to avoid confusion when weening) and leaving the bottles to strictly formula. Don't even give a nuk at bedtimes - that's just switching the habit from bottles to pacifiers (which is even harder to break, in my opinion).

I know there are a lot of debates about the safety of stuffed animals and children under two, and I'm all for listening to the experts, but what worked for us to get rid of bedtime bottles was a stuffed animal. I'd lay my daughter down and hand her a stuffed toy. She hardly fussed at all. She'd sit up for a while and just rock her "baby" like we would rock her, then she'd lay herself down and just drift off to sleep. After a half hour of quiet, I'd go in and remove the toy to avoid potential suffocation problems.

She just turned a year old this week, hasn't used a bottle in over a month (we put her formula into her sippy cups and offered it at the table with meals) and goes down to sleep without a fuss at all. She still, of course, wants her "baby" but there's no more screaming and tears. :)

No matter what, though, tell your friend to be consistant. It's going to take a few weeks to get the new habit going, so be patient and know that it will get better. :) Best of luck!

I just took my one year old off the bottle at bed. Make sure to feed her a bottle right before bed so you know she not hungry and then lie her down in bed and let her cry. I like to call it the five nights of hell. It doesn't hurt them to cry it actually is good for there lungs. And it is really hard not to go up there and get them out of bed but you CANT. Thats the worst thing you can do. B/C everytime you do they will cry the next time thinking you will come back and get them. It does take a few nights, but you will be suprised that it does work. Mine now just for a week is now going to bed w/ a fuss for like a minute and then hes knows i'm not going to come back and get him and he goes right to sleep. Your baby may be teething too. I got those teething tablits...work like a charm for my son and that helps them sleep as well. Oh yea...I also replace that bottle w/ a spill proof sippy cup filled w/ water.
A. H.

Instead of going straight to water, she could try watering down her milk little by little until it's finally all water. I've heard this works well for some babies.