Getting rid of bedtime sippy

My twins are 14 months old. Our bedtime routine has always been bath, hold and rock them with the lights low and give them their sippy, then they go right to bed. They don't drink much now, but seem to have to have something. Then they point to their crib to go to bed. The problem for me has been that there is no way I can brush their teeth before bed. They would get all riled up. I was wondering if I can give them water (if they will take it) before bed instead? Or should I get rid of it all together? That way, I can get their teeth brushed after dinner.

I guess eventually, as they get older, their bedtime routine should change. I would love to hear others routines at this age.

Thanks!

Lois

 

We still give milk before bed, and
what we have always done is
after they drink the milk (out in the LR)
we go back to their room and put on
their "sleepy sacks" (those sleep
sacks from Halo) it is during that
time that we brush their teeth.

I use the non-floride toothpaste so
it is ok that they swallow it.

At 14 months, I think we were still holding
them for that last milk bottle of the day....
maybe you could give them their milk then?

 

We stopped the nighttime sippy. We started doing the baths a little earlier and now they come downstairs for a bit and play, then we brush their teeth before we take them into their cribs. I think you just have to do it cold turkey, or give them water. Good luck, LoDog!

 

Hi Lois :wavey:

We have always done water before bed. Our "big kids" still have a little h2o before bed. I would switch to water and if they won't take it, well ten they don't need anything. I would still offe rit for a week or so in case they are just being stubborn abou thte change.

Good luck!

 

Hey LoHoHoHoDog,

We still have the before bedtime sippy. Good luck with that!

 

My oldest DD still gets a small glass of milk before bed and she is 7. My twins get a sippy of milk before bed too. I don't see any reason to get rid of it, if you don't want to. So I guess you could say, we haven't, with any of ours, given up that bedtime drink, it is part of the routine.

 

At about that age, we inserted tooth brushing in between sippies and bed. I was afraid it would mess up the whole routine, but it hasn't been that much of a problem. It does sometimes get them riled up, but we've always put them in bed even if they are wide awake (sometimes even if they are positively hyper), so it didn't change anything too drastically.

If you are really sure it would ruin bedtime to have them brush after sippies, then substituting water sounds like a good idea.

We're still doing the bedtime sippy, FWIW, but I'm starting to think of ways to phase it out -- not because there's anything really wrong with it, but because I want them to get used to drinking out of regular cups. My first step has been to use a "big kid cup" at breakfast, but sippies the rest of the day. I'll gradually replace sippies with cups at mealtime, but probably keep the bedtime sippy for quite awhile, since it's going to be a huge change in the bedtime routine for them not to be able to drink while snuggling.

 

We do the sippies of milk out in the living room while they watch a DVD, and then tooth brushing is right after that. They look forward to brushing their teeth and it's part of the whole routine. I think if you just start it and allow the time, it shouldn't disrupt too much. You can brush teeth in their room since the non-flouride toothpaste doesn't require spitting/rinsing.

 

We stopped milk at bedtime at 12.5 months. Their last milk is with dinner.

We brush their teeth either at bath time or right before bed on non-bath nights. They play downstairs until they are ready for bed, and they know when they are ready. They gather up their loveys and go to the the gate upstairs and whine.

I'd try water in place of the milk.

 

Thank you everyone for your great advice. I have a few ideas now that I can try!

Lois