16th to old waking for a bottle

[19MA96]

My LO is 16 months and still waking for a bottle through out the night I know he's using it as comfort, he has 3 meals a day and snack in between, but I think drinking milk through the night is effecting his eating through out the day. Tonight he's had milk before going into cot and I've just put him down without when usually he will go down with a bottle, he can go to sleep without a bottle as does it at nursery, is going cold turkey the best way or is there a better way to do this? Thank you!

I would offer water in a cup.

Through out the night when he wakes up?

Following as I am in the exact same position. How many times does he wake during the night? I've night weaned from feeds twice now with success for a week or two before we're back to square one. Also does he drink the full bottle that's offered?

Bin the bottles
Drinking milk at night is terrible for his teeth
Bedtime snack and milk, brush teeth and then story
Offer water in a sippy cup

Yes.
He will soon settle because it isn't worth waking for a sip of water.

Well what's the difference between BF a 16mth old in the night to giving a bottle? I used to BF mine in the night at that age.. well until the age of 3.. usually about 3 times.l know nothing of bottle feeding..

Exactly the same! We will have a week or so where he will wake once if that then it just seems to go back, sometimes he can wake 3 times he will often sleep till midnight ish then can sometimes be up every 2 hours. There is such a difference in the amount he will eat through out the day when waking more through the night then that leads us into abit of a bad cycle I think!

Ours had silent reflux which has resolved now but also has a dairy intolerance. When he sleeps through once in a blue moon I will try to replicate the same thing the next day going into night but no luck. It is so debilitating. I also have nighttime anxiety when he is sleeping because I'm just waiting on him to wake up and it affects me being able to get to sleep and get back to sleep.

@19MA96
That's why I suggested getting rid of the bottles.
He might be waking hungry, has a bottle, doesn't eat the next day, wakes hungry so it's a cycle.
I also think it's a sleep cue so break the habit and establish a new routine.
He may well be teething at 16 months and they are often grizzly and unsettled so some calpol might help.
Teething is miserable at times -for LO and parents alike

You’d be surprised, there’s actually a huge difference. The way the baby suckles during breastfeeding has a natural cleansing action whilst a bottle teat does not and can cause milk to pool around the teeth. It’s even worse when baby falls asleep on the bottle. Also the composition of breastmilk is different and it’s thought that it may contain antibodies that fight bacteria. The advice is to give up bottles completely at age 1 because of the association with tooth decay whereas there’s no such advice for breastfeeding.

OP I would give him a really filling snack before bed. Something he’s guaranteed to eat even on an off day. I personally rate weetabix with milk or toast with peanut butter and maybe also a banana or yoghurt as it’s low effort but still filling and healthy. But whatever you’ll know he’ll eat! Then offer only water in a sippy cup when he wakes overnight.

We also had reflux and have a dairy allergy! I feel like I've tried every way exept take the bottle away completely. He used to have a dummy too but he got rid of that himself I was hoping he would just do the same with bottles. It's so hard as when they have slept through you know they can do it! I completely understand that sometimes I feel like I go to bed just to wait for him to wake up!

I definitely going to have to I've tried every other way but never seems to stick he will have a few good nights and go back. It definitely does lead to a bad cycle as there is such a difference in how much he will eat through the day. He is teething at the minute which definitely doesn't help!

I'll start with a filling snack before bed he loves yogurt and bananas so I'll give that a go and cut out the bottle completely!

@19MA96 how coincidental! I've heard peanut butter is good for fats before bed to keep blood sugar from dropping and banana has natural melatonin to aid sleep so I've tried mashing a banana with a scoop of peanut butter through it but typically tonight he refused it because he's got a cold from nursery which brings its own problems for parents of children who don't sleep well. It's a vicious cycle!