72 hours cold turkey on bottles. Help me stay strong

[Nosleepforthismum]

On advice from the HV I have gone cold turkey on giving my 18 month old bottles of milk and he is now only allowed water or milk in open/Sippy cups. It’s hell. He LOVED his bottles. He’s been okay during the day time. Even nap times have been somewhat manageable but overnight has escalated into (last night in particular) hysterical sobbing on and off until sleeping with exhaustion at 3am. This was with me attempting to soothe him by rocking, cuddling, offering water, singing (desperate at this point) and holding his hand while he got bitey with his teddy in absolute rage.

I cannot crack now, it’s gone too far for me to turn back but fucking hell it’s horrendous. He’s currently asleep but I’m bracing myself for a wake up at around 11pm with another round of sobbing for four hours.

Anyone done the cold turkey method and survived? How long did it take? Currently hating my health visitor right now and cursing her and her advice!

Jeez that sounds tough. A but like dummy removal in a way. He must have had comfort from the sucking.
Hang in there or maybe taper off rather than cold Turkey - I'd have caved by now but I think 18 months still "feels young "

Health visitors mean well but they don't need to put up with the reality of their advice! If I were you I'd remove all bottles during the day and let him keep one at night for now, then look to remove in a couple of months once he's got more used to cups.

I think I'd go mad after 4 hours of screaming. You must be exhausted. Sometimes it's a case of doing what works best for your family. It doesn't mean he's going to be a 10 year old who still has a bottle.

Why has the HV told you to stop them? I know they mean well, but they do often forget that not all babies and children are the same I think!

To be honest, I wouldn’t be entertaining a 4 hour screaming fest at night when it’s easily solved.

You can stay strong in the day time if you wish, but give him his comfort at night. He’s only young and will eventually grow out of it.

Totally agree with the above, hes still so little, no need to make it so hard for yourself!

Whats the reason for her advice? I allowed mine to have a bottle after breastfeeding for years (almost 4) when they naturally didn't want it anymore. Both have nice teeth if that's a concern, we are very set on proper tooth brushing. I'm sorry it's causing so much distress for you, I'd be tempted to go with my gut on this over the HV...ifs just a bottle of milk. Good luck

Just give a bottle over night and drops the others. He will be hungry, thirsty and exhausted.

My dd still had a dummy at 3 years old. We tried cold turkey one night and heavily regretted it. Our confident, bubbly girl disappeared into a shell of herself. She wasn’t sleeping and just crying all the time. We gave it back. It was strictly a night time and nap time thing but just doing that, she was back to her normal self.

A few months later, she was actually ready to give it up. Not looked back since

You need a transition cup!
It has a soft rubber teat like a bottle but it’s free flowing so they learn to sip and not suck.
My DS would only take milk from his bottle till I changed to one of these. They don’t seem to make the one i used anymore but something like this is very similar.

I would be happier giving him a bottle tbh.

Why did HV say you needed to stop cold turkey? I exclusively pumped for one of mine and he LOVED his bottles as he hadn't known anything else. We carried on till about 18mo and then slowly phased them out.

I'd also be giving the bottle. He'll drop them in his own time and if the alternative is screaming then no thank you. Also going cold turkey is really harsh for a few that age who has no concept of why you're doing it, all he knows is that his comfort has been removed.

Thanks everyone. Feeling a lot less terrible about maybe reintroducing the bedtime bottle (if tonight goes just as badly as last night at least).

HV recommended it because I’ve been struggling with my DS not having much interest in food. He’d just have two teaspoons of weetabix and two blueberries for breakfast for example. He’d hold out for a bottle and if I withheld it from him during the day he would be waking a couple of times overnight for more milk because he was hungry but he’d never eat more during the day. To be fair, there’s been a solid improvement on eating over the last couple of days and he’s been tucking in to quite a variety of food which has been lovely to see!

I think the bottle is very much a comfort thing for him much like a dummy. He’s been completely uninterested in drinking his milk from a normal cup and surprisingly happier with plain water.

He had quite a big bowl of tomato pasta for dinner and is currently snoring away so I am going to get my head down for a couple of hours and will update you all in the morning 🤞

OP, you're strong, well done!

Both mine love a comforting bedtime bottle and little one is still going strong at 26 months... I agree with none during the day BTW, but I wouldn't have been as strong as you were last night, I'd have caved.

18 months is still so little and I really believe in letting them soothe with little comforts while they are small.

Wish you all the best tonight!

Give him the bottle. Address his eating issues separately. A bed time bottle is part of a comforting ritual. He's still very young

Feeling a little more positive today! He only woke up once at 2.30am but went back to sleep after a quick cuddle and a sip of water. I managed to get back to bed at just after 3 which was a vast improvement on the previous nights. He then woke up at 6.30 but was happy chatting away to his teddies before going in to get him up at 7. I’m not taking this one fluke night for granted though but quietly hoping the worst of it is over. Thanks for all your support!