Dropping bottle/feeding to sleep for toddler

[Doxylox]

Hi,

Wondering if anyone here has any tips of how to successfully drop night bottle feeds - they are kind of ruining my sleep! My daughter is 2.5 and drinking about 4 bottles full a night. I've always just lined a couple up for her and she's not woken me up ... until now because it has really ramped up recently and no nappy can hold the wee so having to change bed etc. Can't decide if I'm going to try and slowly reduce or go cold turkey - either way I'm anticipating a hard couple of weeks.

Anyone been here and know what worked best?

I haven't been in your situation so can't give advice but is she eating enough in the day because 4 bottles a night is ridiculous and bloody expensive I'll bet😅 I'd try giving her porridge or Weetabix before bed and see if that keeps her asleep. Hopefully this bumps for you

There's no way she should be drinking this overnight.

What is her eating/drinking like during the day? How is her weight?

Does she eat well in the day? That's so much milk for a 2 and a half year old.
Mine had dropped all night feeds by 13 months and was breast fed. He fed till 2 and a half but not in the night.
I'd figure out why she's wanting that much milk first and then work on cutting them out.

One method so that people use is to either reduce the size of the bottle, so if you're giving her 6floz, do 5floz and reduce it like that.

Alternatively you can swap a floz of cows milk for water and a few days later swap out another Floz for water until it's just water she's having.

If you don't fancy with of those there I'd this gentle night weaning method from Dr Jay Gordon. It's aimed at parents who BF but it's easily adaptable if you're bottle feeding.

You can obviously go cold turkey. She may be distressed or she could just start to sleep through when she realises that there's no milk

100%

I would assume she’s not having enough during the day? Try a carby meal for dinner and a second course. How have you coped like this for 2.5 YEARS?! The lack of sleep would send me crazy

So sorry you are going through this. How have you managed doing this for so long. Advise is you can start dropping night feeds from 6 months.
I was also told to stop bottles altogether at one years old.

Forgot to add. If you're struggling dropping the bottles I would talk to your HV.

Can you give us an idea of what she eats in the day now?

Thanks for all the support and the lack of judgement! 😍 She is a healthy weight, generally eats at least 1 good meal a day often asking for seconds at nursery. Then about half her plate for dinner.

Any ideas how can I get her to want to eat more at dinner? I do pretty healthy food and nothing sugary for dinner but she goes a bit mad after eating and im a bit and a bit worried about it pushing back bedtime? We only get home from work/nursery at 6.30 some days and still have to do dinner/bed/bath/night routine.

I knew she was drinking way too much and feeling too guilty about it with HV tbh. The last appointment I had was a bit of a lecture on quite a lot of things that I should be doing 🫣 I had postpartum depression I think and so kind of avoided the 2 year review and just did what I had to do instead.

On a good note though I've managed to cut down milk consumption by 2/3 and tonight was the first night that she has gone down without milk immediately before bed and we've done brush teeth and a snuggle instead. It only took an hour with not much drama...they always surprise you don't they?!

Reading your answers now im not sure how i coped, i thought this was more normal?! haha...and also questioning is this the reason I'm poor and really tired 😅

Hi op, no advice I just wanted to share solidarity with you, I can’t believe there is another child that still has night feeds like my 2.4 year old! I’m actually relieved. She often would get through 2 mam bottles of milk during the night (used to be more a while ago!) but thankfully seems to be drinking less either where she’s had a bad cold or I’m really really hoping is growing out of it. She’s perfectly healthy, eats well during the day and so I feel like it’s more a comfort thing for her so been reluctant to stop as hoping she’d drop feeds herself.
Similarly to you I had PPD and feeling extremely guilty that I’ve struggled to muster up the strength to go through stopping it and potentially getting even less sleep.

You’ll feel like a new woman when you get to sleep through!!

do you cook pasta/ rice/ potato dishes?

do you think it could be comfort rather than hunger perhaps?

Thank you so much, your reply made me feel so seen! Exactly the same here i think it is a complete comfort thing. I think having a really rough time post partum has personally made me more reluctant to 'rock the boat' because i don't want it to go back to it feeling that shitty (excuse my French but can't think of another way to say it). Kind of like parenting PTSD?!. And don't even get me started on mum guilt.

Sounds promising with yours, hopefully she is growing out of it. Either way she is healthy and i reckon we are still doing good. But more sleep for us please!

Omg yes please I'll take some of that. Yeah stuff like sausage and mash, pasta and veg sauce, cottage pie etc. A few nights of fish fingers/pizza if I'm too tired to cook. She'll eat about half a plate normally.

Think its a bit of both comfort and hunger. She wakes up about the same times each night and comes in my room... even when there was a bottle right next to her.

Any ideas how can I get her to want to eat more at dinner?

Yes, stop the night time feeds

If you're getting back from Nursery at 6.30 though I'm not sure I'd bother with Dinner. Is she having a meal at Nursery?

I think I'd just give her something like Porridge and banana or cheese on toast with something like halved tomatoes on the side.

She'll be tired and wanting to get to bed. Just make sure she has lots of cuddles before bed. The waking could be because she needs comfort rather than milk?

I'm sure that you'll feel better once she's sleeping through. If you're worried about your PND returning though id talk to PANDAS Foundation or your HV