How to get rid of the pesky night bottle for 15 month olds

Unfortunately my hubby and I started a bad habit. And well, we probably can all guess why. They were just not sleeping in the 6-7 month time frame so we gave them a bottle in the crib and viola...they slept. All-Night-Long. Now I regret it because they are 15 months and still want that night bottle in the crib. We can give them a cup in their cribs during their naps and USUALLY that works. But we tried it one night without the bottle and it sounded like they were just gonna explode from the crying :gah: . I broke and gave them a bottle, and that was it for the night.

I would like to NOT put them to bed with anything at all but I don't know really how to do that. Should I just let them cry it out? I really hate that! They are good tots, and they are on a great schedule so they know at 10 am they are napping and 3 pm they are napping. Also they always get a wash up or bath at 7pm and down for bed at 730 pm. and Up for the day at 7 am. I just really would like to get rid of the bottle thing.

And yes, I do know bottles in the crib things experts speak of.

 

Are they getting milk or formula in their overnight bottles? My suggestion would be to start watering it down, or decreasing the amount in them each night. First few nights add 1/4 water and decrease the milk or formula. Then a few nights later, half and half. Few more nights, 3/4 water 1/4 formula, then a few nights later all water. At the same time, or you can do this afterwards, start decreasing the amount in them. First few nights just an ounce less. Then 2 ounces less, then 3....etc until they are getting less than an ounce of liquid. By then, their bodies have adjusted to getting those calories during the day and they won't be so desperately hungry overnight.

Both methods should work. I'm not going to say it'll be tear free but it'll be less stressful for everyone

 

I know you say you know, but they really shouldn't be getting formula bottles in bed (or at all at 15 months). Besides the teeth thing, I'd worry about it making them sick. It's not supposed to be left out all night. I'd switch to water and let them keep the water sippies (or even bottles if that's what you want to do).

 

We did the watering down method too, it took us about 4 weeks to get rid of the middle of the night feeding. BTW - we did not need to leave water available after that either. If you want to leave something in their crib, I would only leave water in a sippy.

 

I don't really have any advice for you sorry but I did want to mention that if they are on toddler formula or any formula, please don't water it down! It is highly dangerous and can lead to electrolyte imbalance not to mention water intoxication. Always follow the manufacturer's instructions. I don't know about cow's milk, probably be okay (be like light milk wouldn't it) but I would be sure to make sure to include other forms of extra dairy in their diet to make up for this time, cheese, yoghurt etc.

I wasn't sure from your post whether this is a middle of the night feeding or bedtime bottle but if it were me, I would probably do a big boy cup of milk before bed and sippy cup of water in crib. My 12 year old still to this day has a bottle of water next to her bed which she drinks from (just like mom!)

 

thanks for your reply. no they sleep all night for 11 hours, and they are only on milk not formula. we have watered it down a bit, but now im convinced its not the milk they like, its the bottle, i gave my one boy (who is the hardest to break from it) an empty clean bottle and he played around with it and eventually fell asleep. he simply puts them in his mouth and walks around. but he has never taken a paci. not since he was about a month old.

 

It had occurred to me that they took some comfort from the bottle itself. Again I have no real advice, just what I would do in the same situation, is do what you did do, give them the clean empty bottle and eventually they will get bored of it, it will end up over the crib (which my DD was notorious for!) and it will be an ease of transition without hopefully making any major change to your routine. Here's hoping anyway. You could also give them some milk in a cup before bed so they associate this as their new bedtime routine. GL!

 

The main issue really is their teeth... I'd really take a dentist appointment as soon as they turn two. Personally, I'd give them a bottle of water and let them CIO.

 

Their teeth is what I'd worry about, too. I gave Sabrina bottles at night for a long time. I knew it was bad for her teeth but she was not gaining weight and we found she did a little better when she got those extra calories at night. It was a trade off I decided to make. (I know it's impossible by definition to be negative percentile-wise, but by the dr's charts she was -15th %ile for weight.) Sure enough, before she was 2, she got this "chip" in her front tooth that kept growing and turned out to be a cavity. I would do it again in her case, but I know it's generally a very bad idea.

If they're happy with empty bottles, I don't see any real reason to not give them one. Little ones form attachments to all kinds of things and learning to self sooth, even with an item like that doesn't seem like a bad thing at all. If an empty one won't do it, definitely go for water.