2years old still have night bottle

2 years old and still have night bottles.....I am so ashamed about this!! I have weaned them serval times but everytime they get sick I have a difficult time getting them to take medicine...so i put it in a bottle w/milk and down it goes....

We have some pretty bad habits with bottles still...and I am seriously so frustrated!! The times i weaned them both I would just put water in them and with in 3 nights they weren't getting up for them anymore. And we would use sippies during the day. But now that they are older it is so HARD!! The CIO method isn't working anymore either! My one son will scream forever...and gag himself and puke...but if I go in and comfort him he either cries harder or he askes for milk...and when i am tired enough i cave in...but now its several times a night...and the other boy does this once or twice a night now too...So i am up 5 times or more. gulp.

I am concerned when new baby comes end of March they will relapse with bottles around (if i get them off them! yikes!!)...I keep wondering what to expect with a new baby when these guys beg for there bottles. I know "I" have started horrible habits with them...and now this time is so much harder to wean. We need crib tents to boot. With a baby on the way I can not handle the thought of them being able to roam around or even in there room as electricity is there #1 THING....plugs plugs plugs ...switches and more buttons of anykind. I am so over tired and overwhelmed today at the thought of a new born when i can't seem to get these guys to sleep through the night. We will be getting crib tents on payday...5th. So maybe switch them to water...for few nights then cio...I am not a wimp. But i am regarding this because its sooooo out of hand and I am so ashamed...any advice appreciated!! Cio is so hard...but seems to be the only answer...I almost feel like i need to leave to be able to handle it...hearing them cry for more than 10 to 20mintes is all i can take...

 

2 years old and still have night bottles.....I am so ashamed about this!! I have weaned them serval times but everytime they get sick I have a difficult time getting them to take medicine...so i put it in a bottle w/milk and down it goes....

We have some pretty bad habits with bottles still...and I am seriously so frustrated!! The times i weaned them both I would just put water in them and with in 3 nights they weren't getting up for them anymore. And we would use sippies during the day. But now that they are older it is so HARD!! The CIO method isn't working anymore either! My one son will scream forever...and gag himself and puke...but if I go in and comfort him he either cries harder or he askes for milk...and when i am tired enough i cave in...but now its several times a night...and the other boy does this once or twice a night now too...So i am up 5 times or more. gulp.

I am concerned when new baby comes end of March they will relapse with bottles around (if i get them off them! yikes!!)...I keep wondering what to expect with a new baby when these guys beg for there bottles. I know "I" have started horrible habits with them...and now this time is so much harder to wean. We need crib tents to boot. With a baby on the way I can not handle the thought of them being able to roam around or even in there room as electricity is there #1 THING....plugs plugs plugs ...switches and more buttons of anykind. I am so over tired and overwhelmed today at the thought of a new born when i can't seem to get these guys to sleep through the night. We will be getting crib tents on payday...5th. So maybe switch them to water...for few nights then cio...I am not a wimp. But i am regarding this because its sooooo out of hand and I am so ashamed...any advice appreciated!! Cio is so hard...but seems to be the only answer...I almost feel like i need to leave to be able to handle it...hearing them cry for more than 10 to 20mintes is all i can take...

 

Awww, it's so stressful, I know.
I think you really have to just quit cold turkey at this point though.
I'd give them sippies w/ milk only, but not even in bed.
Only water in bed. I'm sure you know this already but drinking milk in bed everyday/night destroys/rots their teeth.
At their age, they're starting to get a grip on logics. . . . tell them briefly why the bottle is gone and leave it at that. It may take a week, but you can't go any longer IMO.
You sound worn out
Just do what you need to do and try to take the emotions out of it. . . you gotta do it.

 

I'm no help, mine still have bottles at night, but I do understand your frustration. I have one that will go to bed without the bottle, but will wake for one in the middle of the night, and the other refuses to go to bed without it. Then he comes into my room around 3 a.m. and asks me for more. I let him drink it in bed, but then I remove it as soon as he is asleep. Needless to say, I'm up about 2-3 times a night. I'm hoping now that they can understand I might be able to reason with them. We also have a baby coming in April and i worry about the same thing happening if I DO get them weaned.

Good luck !! We're both fighting the same battle !!

 

I agree with Amanda. Cold turkey is the only way to do it. Hopefully when the new baby arrives you can explain to them that bottles are for little babies and that they are big boys now. Good luck and hang in there.

 

A few questions first

1. Do they get their bottles in their cribs?
2. Do they take sippy cups the rest of the day?

And second, lots of hugs sent your way! We had a very difficult transition with bottles to sippys because of oral aversion issues. Everyone said cold turkey was the only way to go, for us the first attempt practically landed us in the ER for dehydration (no fluids for about 24 hours). So I gave up and tried again a few months later, same result and lots of continued temper tantrums. So I gave up. I finally decided on a new tactic. (keep in mind we were on all bottles at this point at 20 months). I let them have a bottle with every meal & snack, but ONLY with water in it, and with a slow flow nipple (to discourage them more). Sippy cups were also given at every meal & snack ONLY with milk in them. Since milk is their drink of choice, I figured it would encourage them to use the cup. First few days they only drank water. Day three they took about 2-4 oz of milk. Day four we took away the bottles and only let them have milk in sippy cups. We had a few big melt downs, and I was able to deal with this by giving them the bottle with water, with a gerber cap on it (basically a bottle turned into a sippy cup, these are avaliable at BRU). It didn't give them the sucking that they wanted, so they got mad and threw it. Eventually we got over it and were completely off bottles. This idea is now being used by the feeding clinic we went to, because it worked so well. I highly recommend it.

If you are giving bottles in the cribs though, that is another battle too. YOu need to start giving all meals/snacks/bedtime snacks in a highchair or booster seat. They need to know the crib isn't for eating in. These will be two hard transitions, but you can do it, and I think it will be easeir than you think. You are pg and exhausted. I recommed waiting until a w/e when DH can help. Leave for the evening and have him start the new routine, if you have to. Then let him do it and see what the results are. Sometimes kids know they can get away with more from their moms.

I am sure the night wakings are related, as they want the bottle to fall asleep. I think the cold turkey method for CIO is best by this age. They will just get more worked up if you go in and you might give in because you are so tired. Keep in mind sleep habits take week for every year of age to change, so this could take up to 2 weeks. I would highly recommend doing this soon, so you can get a little sleep before the baby comes, and have a solid routine before the baby comes.

If you have any questions please feel free to pm me. Also, once mine gave up bottles for good, seeing other bottles didn't bother them to much. Espeically after a few weeks. It was like they didn't care anymore! It will be okay, IF you make the transition now. HTH!

 

Also, a lot of this is from How to Solve Your Child's Sleep Problems by Richard Ferber. It is a great book and used by the sleeping clinic we went to at Children's Hospital.

Also, if your child wakes up and pukes, you can go in, clean him up, change the sheets, and put him back in his crib matter of factly. No extra attention that would encourage this behavior to continue.

As for meds, just give them in a syringe, or there are also med nuks out there (at walgreens, I like the munchkin brand as it holds more and is like a regular nipple). This shoudl help with the medication issue.

 

thanks so much for everyones input!! I have really been through it today deciding my plan of attack. At least I am finally ready to make some changes!

Amy...wow it really sounds like you have really been through this with your boys. To answer some of your questions...yes I would give them bottles in bed...and they do get sippies during the day but I also would give bottles too...I just havent made a clean break. I appriciate all your good adivce. I was confused as to what a gerber cap is though??? I am so glad it worked out for you and would love to hear more about the gerber cap?? The boys are in bed as we speak...and I did decided to put them down with water bottle...and my son that is a little further along developmentally had a harder time tonight with it...he asked for milk and I said its all gone, no more milk in bed. Then handed him his buddy, blankie and bottle of water...he was ok for few minutes then cio for 10min i went in a told him its night night time..he asked for milk i repeated it then put him down he was fine...then started cio off and on for 25min,. so now we shall see how many times tonight they both get up. 2 weeks huh...ugh. LOL.. My plan is sippies during the day...and bottles of water at night until they give it up...if they dont seem to make any progress in the two weeks i will switch over to sippies of water at night and see how that goes... wish me luck...and thanks again for your post it was very informative!!

 

Just reporting in to say last night was NOT RESTFUL...lol ....they were good sleepers until about 12am...then there was someone crying throughout the ENTIRE NIGHT, there was a quite hour or two!! And my boys have there own rooms to provide more quiet...but anyway...i went only twice to offer water and they were mad to say the least...this isn't going to be fun and I am praying it doesn't last an entire two weeks.
ya all have a great day...zommbie girl here ...boys seem so happy and normal and rested this morning...hard to believe they survived the night. I was and anxitey ridden mess letting them cio. But would go in and say its night night time....tuck and leave. But that need for the bottle was relentless...i see why this should be done when they are younger...

I will be back later for more updates....te he

 

Hi! I was just reading your post. I wish I had some good advice for you. I have a very difficult time with CIO, I just can't stand to listen to that level of crying! I guess that's why my girls STILL don't sleep throught the night and they will be THREE next month. Yes, I said three years old- crazy, huh? So, that's the reason I'm posting to you...don't wait until they're three. It's horrible. I'm exhausted and sleep deprived. You don't need to be doing this next year with three year old twins and a one year old. I wish that I had done something sooner, I just didn't have the nerve.
If you do it now, maybe you can get some rest beofre the baby is born.
I'm sorry that you are going through this. I KNOW it's so hard. Take care, stay strong and keep us posted!

 

Stick to your guns, you are doing great!! You will reap the benefits! I think the bottle of water is a great idea to try, are they drinking the water? Or are they just mad they aren't getting the milk? We tried water in the bottles to, but they drank it right down. So if they aren't drinking the water you are on the right track, if they are, you might just have to pull the bottles (my guys were very stubborn).

The gerber "cap" is hard to explain. I tried to find it online to show you but it's not on there. If you go to the local BRU, they sell them by the sippy cups. They come in a two pack and screw on the bottle and have a short part that sticks up with a flexible plasic part inside (like a sippy cup). That way they still have the bottle, but not the sucking motion. Since your'es can take sippy cups though, I don't think this is the issue as much. Mine craved the sucking more than anything. I think you should probably take away all bottles during the day, and give them a bottle of water at night in their cribs. Then cut that bottle of water out.

Yes, we have been through the ringer. They had bad reflux with made them horrible babies to deal with. This resulted in an oral aversion, and prevented us from getting them off bottles and eating well. This then caused them to wake at night because they really were hungry and not eating enough. This turned into a bad habit even after we got over the oral aversion. We did CIO several times and finally realized that something else was wrong. Their night time wakings decreased, but they were still waking at night crying. We finally tried zyrtec for allergies (found out they were allergic to friends pets, and the previous home owners of this house had cats) and then they slept through the night as soon as we started that. We went to the feeding clinc, sleeping clinic and GI dr. - but we pretty much figured it all out on our own - as what worked for others didn't work for our guys. So I figure the reason to go through all of this is to help others!! Otherwise it's all in vain. It took us 21 months to figure it out though, and thank goodness they now sleep through the night.

Please keep posting updates, I want to know how you are doing! Stay strong!

 

How's it going tonight Dawnie?
We're all pulling for you!
Consistency is KEY!!!

 

Good Morning? LOL

Well I have one little guy (Bridger) that is really all about the sucking motion (but can still do the sippy, finally took awhile)..his speech is very delayed and his all over development which makes it hard to not baby him....ahem..lol...Yesterday they only got sippies and did great. Then at bedtime we do the brush teeth routine and a song and in bed usually with a milk bottle but i offered the bottled water, again...Bridger complained and sucked only for min..then just cries then he finally went to sleep with not much of a problem!!...so they will drink (very little) of the water. So I think I will keep doing the water.

But with Hunter lastnight at bedtime...he cio but was not calming down and we caved in and gave him a milk bottle...ugh....

We didn't go in once lastnight though...and I did hear crying twice through out the night...and they were happy and fine in the morning...I still am a stress ball in the night as I have trained myself to JUMP when I even hear as much as a peep. So we turned on our fan for some white noise of our own.

Ok...One of my main reasons for caving in with Hunter is my inlaws will be babysitting tonight and they will be putting them down...I figure we hardly EVER go out...so this is not the perfect time to ween...(not that there ever is) but we are picking back up on Sunday...but we have still made great progress because no bottles during the day and no bottles during the ALL NIGHT LONG stuff....
I hope it wont confuse Hunter to much getting that milk bottle...i did offer him a sippy with milk first (when i was caving) but he wasn't having it...and i honestly thought "I can't have his parents going through this? Ya know? Its our job.....so I hope ya all don't think I am a big loser....i am just being honest...

Amy...did your boys seem like they had allergies??? runny nose etc? I was just curious because the previous owners had a dog. And we just moved here in Oct. My boys seem healthy tho...they both had extremely sever reflux until about the age 1 but stayed on previcd until they were 15mon. Which they were never great eaters either but are starting to do better... Less milk they are getting at night makes them better eaters I can see just in this two days!!

So there is my big update....ugh...ttyl..thanks so much for your support!!

 

Awesome, way to go on no bottles during the day and no bottles in the middle of the night. Also, congrats on the right direction with Bridger. No, I don't think you are a failure for giving Hunter a bottle of milk. It is hard!! And since your in-laws will be having them tonight, I understand. I would encourage them to try it without a bottle first though and if it doesn't work, then offer the bottle. Sometimes a change of environment/people helps break bad habits too.

Mine were on prevacid for quite some time too.

I would bet you'res probably just have an issue with the sucking and bottle. If you do CIO for two weeks starting the FIRST night you officaly take away the night time bottle and don't give in (the moment you give in you are back at square one because they know they can get what they want if they just cry long enough), and after two weeks if they are still waking up, then something else might be going on.

No, mine didn't show to many signs of allergies. They would wake up crying at night and be all stuff when I went to check on them. I figured they were stuffy because they were crying so much. Eventually we were at a friends house and Josh was kissing the cat and broke out in a rash all over his face, similar thing happened with a friends dog. So I put two and two together and realized the previous owners of our house (which we had been in for a year by this point) had pets. So we saw the Dr. and she thought they had other signs of allergies (very red inside of their nose, and lower eye lids), so she figured it was allergies. We started them on zyrtec and my life hasn't been the same since!

And YES, eating will drastically increase as the amount of milk decreases (which is also a good thing).

Keep me posted . . .

 

Hi...i will keep you posted....turns out they did put them down with bottles. But still sticking to sippies so today so far so good...thanks again for the encoragement...I am so glad you got their allergies under control.


dawnie

 

Just wanted to give you some support -- hang in there! It sounds like it's working! It will be so great to get them off the bottle and out of the night waking habit before the baby comes.

 

Hang in there. I was embarassed too when I was still Breastfeeding on and the other had a bottle at 2 1/2. I quit BF then she switched to a bottle. One night we jsut took them away. In order to replace the comfort (we do not do CIO) we laid in bed with them till they fall asleep. Probably not one of the best habits for us to start and at age 4 we still lay down with them till they go to sleep.

Do not feel bad at all about your parenting styles at all everyone does their own thing. Getting rid of bottles is so rough. Hang in there.

 

sorry, b ut we're right there with you. the only difference is I dont feel the need to lose the last bottle. maybe in another 4 or 5 months, but not now. I dont see a reason to.

 

How is it going??

 

HI all...ok i defantly have some imbarrassement associated with this because I wasn't very excited to report. LOL.... GOOD NEWS:So far only sippies in the day and still no bottles through out night. They are eating better and I am letting them CIO in the night, which is getting less and less!! So they are learning not to get up in the night...and the cio hasn't lasted longer than 20min.

but I have been giving them that last bottle to go down....I know its terrible for there teeth...and we brush before bedtime which must undo it all...but things have really improved with only the one bottle. I was going to go cold turkey but it ain't happenin, I just don't have it in me....so one bottle in there crib. I worry some, but on the same note don't see the big deal....I know I should probably get rid of it all together...it is just so hard to have them so upset before going to bed...and they go down no prob with the bottle....ok let me have it...gulp....I can take it...

 

Hi there,

Don't stess over the last bedtime bottle. If they are on sippies all day, and water or nothing at night, then let them have their bedtime bottle. It is a comfort and not the end of the world. When the new baby comes, it may make them feel better and that is ok. Just make sure that they brush before bedtime and then they're fine. We were on 4 bottles, plus sippies just before age 2 and then only the bedtime bottle for a few months after 2. We left a sippy of water in their beds if they got thirsty around a year, and we still do. Sometimes they use them still, but it is always there. Give them a chance to adjust and they will.

You are doing fine.

 

Good job. You know when my girls quit they were down to just the bedtime bottle as well. You know what is best for your kids. Do not feel super pressured.

 

thanks ladies,

I do feel better about things..as things were WAY OUT OF HAND a couple weeks ago..or was it just one week ago...I know we are coming down the wire...and they will be saying bye bye to there night bottle soon enough. Thanks for your support. I know I am probably just dragging out the inevidable...(sorry about the spelling..) but we all do what we gotta do.

 

I am glad to hear you are having a good response! I am a cold turkey kind of person, but I do want to explain why having a milk bottle can be so bad for their teeth. When they drink milk to fall asleep, the last bit tends to not get swallowed. The saliva in the mouth causes it to break down and then basically bathes the teeth in the sugars while they sleep. I am just pointing this out, because brushing before bed won't stop this from happening. Maybe you can try disassociating the last drink with the bed. Like cuddle on the couch with a bottle or sippy in another room and then put them down in their room--that way they will swallow the last bits of milk.

Good luck!

 

quote:
I was going to go cold turkey but it ain't happenin, I just don't have it in me....so one bottle in there crib. I worry some, but on the same note don't see the big deal....I know I should probably get rid of it all together...it is just so hard to have them so upset before going to bed...and they go down no prob with the bottle....ok let me have it...gulp....I can take it...

don't be embarrassed! We all have our little 'things'.

One question; is this last/final bottle a milk bottle?

Like Sharon said, it can/will ruin their teeth.
I have seen this 1st hand unfortunately.
My sister jas always exclusively breastfed and was sort of taught breastmilk is perfect and yadayadayada. . . well fast forward to 3 yrs old, 2 of her kids needed serious dental work due to nursing them to sleep for just 2 yrs each.
I mean, anesthesia - the whole nine yards.
Please do not allow them to go to sleep w/ milk.
Can you just give them water in a bottle instead?
Also, isn't the milk funky about an hour later?

 

ok...i will try to have last bottle before brush teeth time...what do you mean after hour milk is funky? in there tummy? or what? lol I don't want to wreck there teeth...ugh....thanks guys...

 

I mean, like, doesn't the milk go bad after an hour? If they wake up and drink it again 3 hours after they fall asleep, isn't it spoiled?

 

Ohhh...i think it takes a little longer to go sour. But my boys suck them down FAST...and chuck the empty bottle. They drink it up then settle into sleep...but defantly got to change things. There teeth look healthy to me...but i am wondering how much damage has already been done...ugh...

 

aaah, I figured you meant they snacked on it all night on/off.
My sister's kids' didn't get the bottle rot you see such graphic pics of, but they developed a few permanent spots and some cavities between the back teeth from falling asleep while nursing/eating.