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Original poster

Bottles during the night

27 replies

Dearbhla · 02/11/2006 11:04

Hi everyone,

I have a 22 month old who has had a bottle during the night for about the last six months (I know, bad habit!) In the last week, this has increased to two and I know she can't be hungry, she eats well during the day and has an 8oz bottle before she goes to sleep around 8pm. Last night, she work at 10.15, looking for another bottle. If she doesn't get the bottle, she throws a right tantrum and we just give in to her for a quiet life. I know it is just a comfort thing but does anyone have any suggestions on how to drop it? Will she grow out of this eventually? Many Thanks

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Leandevil · 02/11/2006 11:07

Probably not what you want to hear but you have got to stop giving in to her for a quiet life, yes she will probably scream for a couple of nights but hopefully after that she will realise that no matter how much she screams she wont be getting a bottle.

shatteredmumsrus · 05/11/2006 07:47

dearbhla. I am in exactly the same situation as you. My 22mo son has never slept through the night, ever!!!The only thing that will get him back to sleep is a bottle of milk. It didnt bother me when this was just once a night but now it is at least 3 times a night. Usually 12.30, 3 and 5.30 then up at 6 for the day. It is really getting us down. We are rowing about it and am totally knackered. Have tried not giving it him but it is an absolute nightmare. He will not give in and will scream for over an hour!!! Need help desperately. Dread bedtime. Have you tried anything?

carol3 · 05/11/2006 07:56

you could try watering the milk down a little each night over a week so on water by the end of the week then incentive to wake up isn't there. This worked with dd1 also i threw the bottles away and she chose a big girls drinking cup which she loved but did'nt use a comforter the same.
hope this helps

shatteredmumsrus · 05/11/2006 08:09

thankyou might try this then. dh has agreed to go in this week. He has never done this before!!! Maybe an authoritive voice may help? Not sure which to try now???

jambot · 05/11/2006 13:20

I think you're going to have to bite the bullet on this one, and it's probably not going to be much fun. I would get DH to offer her a little water in a sippy cup - not a whole cup. She's not going to be happy, but think you'll just have to put up with some unhappiness for a night or two until she gets the message. Don't give in or you'll have to start again. Just try and stay calm, lay her back down, offer her the cup and leave the room. Don't lose it with her, no matter how much her crying is getting to you. She's understandably upset, but think at this age, (same as my DD), she's able to understand enought to get the message.
Just think how easier it will be to potty train her over the next year if her liquids are limited overnight.
Good Luck.

shatteredmumsrus · 05/11/2006 17:04

i know thanks jambot. I am dreading it i really am. Its so noisy. Not even wine and cotton wool helps!!!I know he doesnt need anything to drink.its just a bad bad habit that needs to be broken!Do i do the cc thing and go in every 5, 10 mins etc. Please help before bedtime???????***

jambot · 05/11/2006 20:24

I would treat it similarly to a CC situation and use the basics of that technique. What about offering him something to replace the bottle, such as getting him to chose a special soft toy to take to bed with him, or a blankie as my DD has?
Hope it's going ok tonight.
Think you and DH have to sit down, agree on a strategy and accept that it may take a few nights to change the habit. Just have to bear in mind how blissful it will be for him to sleep through without that BLOODY bottle

shatteredmumsrus · 06/11/2006 07:54

Thanks jambot the thing that is hard to understand is that he falls asleep no problem with his soft book!!!he loves that book and wont sleep without it but when he wakes up that doesnt work.Me and dh spoke and he ended up sleeping on the living room floor and i slept with cotton wool in upstairs!! ha ha. Last nights evens are on another thread. I like to keep my readers in suspense!

shatteredmumsrus · 06/11/2006 07:55

the thread is called how are you supposed to succeed.......

LadyOfTheFlowers · 06/11/2006 08:11

ds1 is 16m and has a bottle or two at night. im going to be tackling it soon but not atm as we have just had a new baby and i dont feel this is the reight time for him, but when i do, i intend to try the watering it down method until it is water, hopefully he wont want it anymore.

lasaucisse · 06/11/2006 08:54

I am having the same problem with my 7mth dd. She was sleeping through but then stopped again and now has a bottle in the middle of the night before going back to sleep until 7/8am. I hate the idea of leaving her to cry so just give her the bottle which I suspect is a habit because she can go all the way through sometimes. I will try watered down milk, water etc but I was just wondering if anyone thinks 7mths is too early to start. Should I wait a while longer before trying to tackle it?

shatteredmumsrus · 06/11/2006 09:10

Ladyoftheflowers - 1 bottle wouldnt bother me but it crept up to 3 and sometimes 4. It seemed the more i gave him the more he wanted.Dont blame you for waiting tho with your new arrival.congratulations
L - I wouldnt have tried it at 7mths but thats probably mine is 2 and still wakes up!!! Go for it you can always go nack to how things were?

Original poster
Dearbhla · 06/11/2006 10:54

Hi girls, thanks for all the replies. Over the weekend, instead of giving her milk, I have given her very diluted juice and she had only had one bottle during the night, she will drink half of it and then the rest later on in the night. Someone was telling me that milk gives them a false hunger and they just want more and more and I know that water is supposed to fill you up so I will carry on with that and see how it works. I also forgot to mention that she is ends up in our bed every night and also she is still on bottles for her juice, I have tried so many times to give her juice in a cup and she just won't drink it. I seem to be doing everything wrong! Any suggestions?

OP posts:
shatteredmumsrus · 06/11/2006 13:06

Take her with you to choose her big girl cup - barbie etc. Make it a big deal for her and pretend to throw the baby bottles away with her watching??? Or just go in the deep end and chuck them away, then you have no choice!

jambot · 06/11/2006 16:04

Dearbhla - You're doing fine. I was lucky with DD, she loved a sippy cup from early on and was taking her milk from one by 10 months. But I know a lot of children just won't take to them. The idea about taking her to chose her cup and making a big deal about it being a big girl's cup might work. The only thing I would recommend is that you try to give her only water at night, not the juice, purely for the reason that milk or juice taken lying down from a bottle or cup is very bad for tooth decay.
Keep at it though, you already seem to be having improvements.

Original poster
Dearbhla · 07/11/2006 12:08

Thanks girls, last night, she had two bottles of very diluted water and she was absolutely soaking this morning. She seems to be waking every couple of hours for a bottle and she doesn't need them. She is a bit young yet to pick her own cup but I do have lots of beakers from DD1 who is now 6. Shall I start giving her milk in a beaker as well and cut out the bottles altogether? Another thing I was going to do is that she always drinks her bottle after her bath before she goes to sleep and maybe if I give her the milk when she has her tea? She is probably associating going to sleep with having a bottle. What do you think? I feel like I am a first-time mother sometimes but I really don't remember DD1 being like this.

OP posts:
shatteredmumsrus · 07/11/2006 19:44

dearbhla, dont be fed up with yourself you are doing fine. Some may say that giving diluted juice is not progress but i definately do. My son wouldnt even have that! He insisted on milk.Keep diluting it and it will soon be just plain water and they may not bother waking for that. I know what you mean about being soaking wet. I regularly have to bath mine in the morning when he wakes up and he leaves his bed smelling of it!UUGGGGHHHHH!I would carry on giving them milk after bathtime, its a good winding down process and i think thats ok to associate that with bed. DOnt be so hard on yourself! x

jambot · 07/11/2006 20:10

DD has a full cup of milk after her bath and just before getting into bed. This has always been part of her routine and she still glugs that milk down like there's no tomorrow. When I start to potty train her next year I think I'll see about moving her milk earlier so that I can try and get her to make a wee before bedtime. At the moment her nappy is absolutely sodden every morning from her bedtime cup of milk.

shatteredmumsrus · 07/11/2006 20:15

think we are on the same wavelength jambot x

Rosybumpily · 08/11/2006 08:34

Oh hello! I've got a 22month boy with the same story and also 3 year old girl addicted to her bottle for comfort and a baby on the way. Dh works away, I am so exhausted that I'm not really coping well! And that's before I have a newborn!
When expecting the last baby I got dd into a great night routine but when the baby arrived it all went totally pear shaped.
ds has never slept well because he had bad excema (grown out of it now though hurray)I only started to get some sleep when at 1 yo I brought him into my bed.
A few weeks ago I put him in his own bed and he loves it but is used to my reassurance when he stirs and wants more and more milk. I've been watering the bottles...

So I've come to the sleep section this morning and already feel better to find others in the same boat!

shatteredmumsrus · 08/11/2006 09:39

Rosybumpily - have replied to you on the other thread. You are definately NOT alone! x

Original poster
Dearbhla · 08/11/2006 11:09

Hi girls, I had a real breakthrough yesterday with her. I threw out all the bottles (well, I kept one, but she doesn't know that!) and she is now drinking out of a cup, milk as well! I gave her a beaker of milk after her tea and before she went up for her bath and she settled to sleep fine without having the bottle. She came into our bed at midnight, looking for juice and I said that juice was all gone and she cried for about 20 minutes and kicked up a fuss but I kept cuddling her and she finally went back to sleep. She woke again around 2am looking for juice and I said the same thing and she went back to sleep straight away and I had to wake her up at 7.30am this morning! I was so delighted. I know it is only the first night and things could be very different tonight, but I am going to stick to my guns. At least she has got off the bottles without any problem. Many, many thanks for all your help and suggestions. I'll keep you informed of what happens.

OP posts:
Rosybumpily · 08/11/2006 12:39

Dearbhla that is really encouraging to hear your progress!

shatteredmumsrus · 08/11/2006 12:47

Here here!!! Well done, let us know what happpens tonight then....

Rosybumpily · 09/11/2006 10:28

Well last night was an improvement!
Both sleeping by 7.30 no problemo,
then both up at 11.30. I gave them really really watery milk.
Then ds2 was up at 1.30 then 3 no new warm bottles but the last dribbles of watery milk.
He settled back quickly, no upset.

Then dd came into my bed at 5ish and ds didn't get up til 7am nice and fresh.
They both asked for milky bottles put I put them off and gave them breakfast.

My plan for now is to keep on distracting them and reducing the milky bottles subtly.
I am hoping that once they are off the bottles that will solve the problem and they'll sleep all night. (fingers crossed)