am I nuts for introducing a bottle to dd at 13 months?

[deaconblue]

She gave up her bedtime bf a while ago and has been drinking a tiny amount of whole milk in a cup since. The result is she wakes up at 5am starving hungry for the only bf she has in a day. We also recently went cold turkey on her dummy so the only chance she gets to suckle all day is the one bf.
so this evening I've given her a bottle for the first time and she guzzled 8oz and was so happy being able to suck for a good 20 mins.
But is it madness to start bottles now after getting to this age without using them? Don't want to reintroduce bf at bedtime as am in process of slowly giving up altogether.

I don't think it's madness, no. Do what works. Keep up the cup during the day, and reserve the bottle just for bedtime and see how you go...

Could you use a cup instead? Better for her teeth.

Are you planning to wean her? And are you ready to give up her feed? It may just be a growth spurt or teething that has changed her habits. She may well return to nursing quite enthusiastically DD goes in spells like this even now. DS doesn't care about nursing when he's teething and then is mad about it a few days later?

Why did you ditch the dummy btw?

personally I would rather breastfeed than give a bottle. (better for their teeth than a dummy or bottle for one!)

if you're definitely, definitely, definite about giving up the bf though I don't really think it matters if she has one bottle a day.
ds2 had his bedtime bottle for ages.
I always felt that if I was breastfeeding iu'd be happy for him to use it for comfort, and as he didn't have that then he had an alternative instead

Don't see what's wrong with it. Seems to work for you and her. If she still likes a bedtime suckle and you are giving up bf seems the perfect solution. DD self weaned from bottles when she was about 2. DS (3) still has one at bedtime - helps him snuggle down and goes to sleep very happy. DD2 (1) is keener on a spouty cup at bedtime but Dh or I feed it to her for a big cuddle too. My rule book has one rule which is if it suits you and your household, and everyone in it is happy and healthy, you've got it right.

can she drink full fat cows milk from a beaker? I stopped bf my DD at 12m and she is now 13m and after some probs at first drinks milk from a beaker.

Think a beaker at 5am doesn't have the same effect. I guess she wants the comfort of suckling, not the drink. If it gets you all a bit more sleep go for it. It won't go on forever. If she still likes one at 16 she can get it herself.

she had a cup at bedtime but would only drink a few mouthfuls. I think it's the suckling action she enjoyed and has been missing and the added bonus is drinking more milk (or so I hope, we'll see at 5am). she has a breast feed when she wakes in the morning and then cups of water the rest of the day.
ditched the dummy because she was waking twice a night for it. Has been much better in the night since. Also she has a tongue tie and I was worrying that prolonged dummy use might make a potential speech problem even worse.