How can I make this easier for her and ensure I am not traumatising her.

[Curiousgeorgey]

14 month old DD has had 1-2 bottles during the night since she was born. HV advised it was time to stop it and she would eventually stop waking.

Over the last month ive watered down her bottle very gradually. 8oz milk 1oz water, 7oz milk 2oz water ect.

Last night she woke as usual and I made a combination of 7oz water 2oz milk. Usually she would drink this and fall asleep but she was able to tell the difference and did not like it. Kept trying to drink it but making it obvious she was unhappy.

I need to heat the bottle too as she wont take it cold so I tried to reheat a couple of times but she was having none of it.

She cried and cried and cried. I held her, rocked her and sat with her and after 2 hours she fell asleep. Usually I hand her the bottle and head back to bed so im exhausted today. Shes never slept tthrough the night however so I would love if this was the way to do this.

She then woke up 2 hours later and again cried and cried but eventually fell asleep about 20 mins later.

Am I doing it right? Worried about traumatising her. Will this perseverance pay off and will she eventually stop waking for a bottle?

My nephew is 2.5 and still wakes for a bottle of milk so I do want to stop. Just worried im doing it wrong. I hate to hear her cry especially when I know it could be stopped by offering a bottle.

I know what you mean about not wanting to upset her and do it in a nice way. I am sorry that I do not have any advice. I kept going with the bottles feeling sure my ds would stop wanting them eventually and he stopped around 15/16 months. But I can understand why you are concerned when your nephew is still waking for bottles at 2.5. I hope you get some good advice

I often regret taking my HV so seriously when she advised on things like this. You also need to do what feels right, and if your DD is not ready to give up bottles, that is okay. She is still tiny and needs to have her basic needs met.

Thanks. Do you think I should just continue with the bottles for now then?

I absolutely would, but then again DS was sleeping through the night by then. I can understand that you must be knackered and would appreciate a good night's sleep! But what I never quite understood about these Gina Ford-type techniques is, what about when the baby is having a growth spurt? I much prefer the idea of feeding on demand.

It sounds like you want to keep going so I would. My son is quite an anxious person. He needed bottles until he was 16 months and would not sleep in his own room until he was much older. I ignored all the criticism from others and gave him what he needed. Now he is much older he is great, very content in his own room and sleeps all night. You need to do what you feel is right for you and your dc.

When she woke last night I handed her a bottle and we we were both back to sleep within 10 minutes. Definitely beats multiple wake up and constant crying and refusing to sleep for two hours!

I will continue for now and hopefully she may stop in her own time.

Most people wean off night feeds by gradually cutting down the amount in the bottle not by adding water, many children use the empty bottle sucking as a sign they have finished. Might be worth a try?

Hmm yeah that may be a good idea actually. I just imagined that when then bottle finished earlier than expected that she would get upset but that happened anyway when the bottle got too watery, so might be worth trying.