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Old 03-19-2014, 10:35 PM
 
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Its just comfort and habit, give her a dummy.

Buy her a special Big Girl cup. Make it seem like something only "babies" have.

My friends invented a "dummy monster" who took away all the dummies, perhaps you need to invent a "bottle monster" who takes the bottles off big kids and gives them to the babies.
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Old 03-20-2014, 02:16 AM
 
Location: Finland
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I went cold turkey with my toddler (she was reliant on them to sleep too and woke up several times for one). She was a bit younger (20 months I think). A few days beforehand I told her that she was getting too big for her bottles and that they had to go away. I took her to the shop to pick out a new 'big girl' cup and on the day she helped me throw her bottles in the bin.

The night was horrendous but you can't give in so then the crying is all for nothing. As your daughter is drinking from other cups fine during the day hopefully she'll continue to drink enough, my toddler stopped drinking altogether and got a little dehydrated but ice lollies and fruits with lots of liquid can help counter that.
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Old 03-20-2014, 06:23 AM
 
1,192 posts, read 1,569,116 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BuckeyeAtHeart View Post

Here are my suggestions:
1. Find a friend who has a baby and ask if they would like your bottles (or maybe you could just "pretend"). You and your child deliver the bottles to this family, making sure your child meets the baby. When your child later asks for their drink in a bottle you can remind her about giving the bottles to baby ___, remember?
2. Go shopping with your child for a special sleeping buddy (stuffed animal?). This buddy only stays in the bed and is there to help with falling asleep (naptime or at night).
3. Maybe try a later snack for your child to eat before bedtime.
4. Your child should be old enough that they can understand your instructions. Let her know what she can do if she wakes up overnight (special books that are within reach, a special stuffed animal to snuggle with and talk with). But there are no more drinks or food because our tummies need to sleep, not wake up and eat.
Thanks a lot. Giving the bottles away in presence of my daughter is a great idea! I have my neighbor who has a 2 month old. Its probably good for me too, as I wont be tempted to fall back on when she is crying all night.
As for the snack, even now she has one before going to bed. Usually rice crisps with milk.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Aggiebuttercup View Post
My kids were off the bottle by 1 year old, but they were very dependent on the pacifier. The "pacifier fairy" came to visit on their third birthdays. The fairy brings the pacifiers to new babies that need them and leaves a "big kid" present in return. (D got a watch, I forget was S got). The child got to put the pacifiers in a special basket on the front table before bed and got LOTS of praise for being such a big kid. The surprise was in the basket when they woke up.

I would not substitute water in the middle of the night - that will be difficult with potty-training.
Thank you so much, yes, praising her that she is such a sweet big kid may work. I will have to start telling her over and over now that she is a big girl. Next Thursday is when I plan to start. So, I should start telling her from now itself.

Quote:
Originally Posted by ADVentive View Post
My daughter was also on the small side, always under 10% and often under the chart completely, and she still is at age 7. Some people are just smaller than others. Anyway, because of this, I also felt it was important to feed her through the night as a baby/toddler. I night-weaned her at 27 months (from the breast, not the bottle, but probably similar advice), mostly because I was pregnant and nursing all night was uncomfortable for me.
Thanks so much. It’s such a relief to hear that there is someone out there who was feeding the child during the night at this age. But I am not planning on going slow ADVentive. Knowing my daughter, it is going to confuse her. If I give her once, she will ask or cry until I give in. But when she is crying I certainly want to be there like you were; holding/cuddling etc.
I have one question though, was your child able to sleep without you being beside her? The reason I am asking is, mine is able to. I am a little bit confused if I should give her a favorite toy and walk out or just stay there until she falls asleep. I am worried if I establish the pattern of me rocking her starts again, she will forget to go to sleep on her own.

Quote:
Originally Posted by rrah View Post
She's not drinking the bottle for nourishment or even thirst, at this point. She is drinking for comfort. You need to replace the comfort object with something else--a blanket, an animal, whatever she might like. It might help to start talking it up now and plan to take her to a store to pick out something appropriate to replace the bottle. Make a big deal out of what a big girl she is now and that bottles are for babies.

I would recommend you leave the room much as you do now. You don't want to replace one bad habit with another. Again, those middle of the night wake-ups are not because she's hungry or thirsty. She wants to be comforted with the bottle and probably your presence. If she wakes up, give her the cup, remind her of her new animal or blanket, and leave the room.
Rrah, absolutely. At this point it’s no longer for nourishment. It’s plainly for the comfort. She loves her Mickey stuffed toy. I am planning on keeping it beside her. You know rrah, I never wanted her to fall asleep with breast/bottle either. But since day 1 of her birth she always used to doze off while nursing. As she grew up a little bit, I started her routine earlier in an attempt to have her awake. Even at 5:30 PM, she still used to fall asleep when I feed her. Basically, she started associating drinking with sleeping.

One question: Do you mean to say I walk out giving her the stuffed toy? I know she would be in the process of grieving for her bottle. Am I abandoning her by taking away her primary source of comfort (during night) and walking away?


Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
I've raised 4 kids from infancy. Three were adopted at 3 months, 6 months and 4 months. Your ost brought back lots of memories- not all of them positive.
Thanks so much for sharing your story with 4 kids. A lot of my girlfriends are telling me that it’s really hard to see the kids cry but it’s for every one’s benefit, including theirs. Looks like you are telling me the same thing. You wouldn’t believe it but since the time I fell pregnant (3 years ago), I have not slept more than 4 hours in a stretch. I am dreading to even think of a second one with this one waking up. My husband helps a lot but he works nights. So its just me. At 2 years+3 months, she will understand if I tell her things right? She is a smart kid but I am so stressed thinking about all the crying.

Quote:
Originally Posted by parentologist View Post
Drinking water from the bottle at night won't cause cavities, but it might cause buck teeth. Is she currently drinking milk from the bottle during the night? If so, if you just cut her off, she'll be hungry at night. If she's just drinking water from the bottle at night, just let it be for the moment. You could try switching her to a sippy cup at night for the water - if you do it, do it cold turkey. But if she's still getting milk in the middle of the night, you have to wean her off the milk by watering it down gradually, or she'll be hungry in the middle of the night. Start with 3/4 strength milk for a few nights, then half strength, then quarter strength, then straight water. Again, you don't have to take away the bottle of water from her just now - that can wait a little bit.
Thank you. I haven’t thought about her being hungry during the night. Yes, she is drinking milk during the night. Even after a snack just before going to bed, do you think she will be hungry? If yes, then I still have 7 more days to go cold turkey, I can start watering down the milk from tonight it self.
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Old 03-20-2014, 06:33 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
I don't think at 26 months this child needs nourishment or drink in the middle of the night. She is most likely sucking for comfort. Soon she will show some interest in potty training and this will be next to impossible if she is allowed any drink in the middle of the night.
Its way past the stage of drinking for nourishment. Also, she is perfectly fine drinking from an open cup or straw cup or sippy. Its just during the night.
Quote:
Originally Posted by glamatomic View Post
Following this for suggestions!

I'm trying to wean my 8 month old off the bottle already, as I want him fully off his bottles by 8 months. Like the OP's daughter, he will take sippy cups during the day and also drink from straws, but not at night to get to sleep, or to go back to sleep!

Another mother suggested a transitional sippy cup- so I recently ordered two of these: Nuk Learner Cup. So far so good!

Good Luck! ♥
Oh good luck! I heard about this NUK training cups. When you say so far so good, is the baby still waking to drink from it as often as breast/bottle?
Quote:
Originally Posted by shaylahc View Post
I would just put water in the bottle and let it go. Not a battle worth fighting at this age IMHO. If she cries at night, I'd just wait 5-10 minutes and see if she settles down on her own. I had one kid that was getting up at night at age 3, she wanted ME. So I started sending my husband in instead. That ended that real quick lol. A 2 year old is old enough to be sleeping through the night. If the only thing standing between that and a full night's sleep is a bottle of water...i'd give her the bottle of water. At age 3 you can do the "bottle fairy" (like the paci fairy) and do "weaning" then.
shaylahc, this was exactly what I was doing until now....its just a bottle was my thought and before I knew she is 2 years + 2 months. Where did all the time go? The only reason she is even waking up is because of the bottle. I have strong feeling she will sleep much better if the bottle is off limits. I could be wrong, but this is what I feel.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cindersslipper View Post
Its just comfort and habit, give her a dummy.

Buy her a special Big Girl cup. Make it seem like something only "babies" have.

My friends invented a "dummy monster" who took away all the dummies, perhaps you need to invent a "bottle monster" who takes the bottles off big kids and gives them to the babies.
Oh ya....i probably have to talk about monsters taking away all the bottles. I am planning on getting her to give the bottles away to neigghbors son (2 months old) but I know I will have to rely on monsters when she would ask me to bring her bottles back.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Natsku View Post
I went cold turkey with my toddler (she was reliant on them to sleep too and woke up several times for one). She was a bit younger (20 months I think). A few days beforehand I told her that she was getting too big for her bottles and that they had to go away. I took her to the shop to pick out a new 'big girl' cup and on the day she helped me throw her bottles in the bin.

The night was horrendous but you can't give in so then the crying is all for nothing. As your daughter is drinking from other cups fine during the day hopefully she'll continue to drink enough, my toddler stopped drinking altogether and got a little dehydrated but ice lollies and fruits with lots of liquid can help counter that.
natsku, did she start sleeping better and longer after the bottles are gone? Also, how long did it take you to train her fully? I know each child is different but I just want to prepare myself for what is to come.
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Old 03-20-2014, 07:06 AM
 
Location: Finland
6,418 posts, read 7,227,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maila View Post

natsku, did she start sleeping better and longer after the bottles are gone? Also, how long did it take you to train her fully? I know each child is different but I just want to prepare myself for what is to come.
Yeah she did start sleeping better, not immediately but there was some improvement. She stopped napping at the same time which also helped her sleep better and longer at night. I can't actually answer how long it took because she ended up having to go to her dad's a few days after I stopped the bottles for two weeks and I never did ask him how long it took before she was fine without the bottle.
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Old 03-20-2014, 07:20 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Natsku View Post
Yeah she did start sleeping better, not immediately but there was some improvement. She stopped napping at the same time which also helped her sleep better and longer at night. I can't actually answer how long it took because she ended up having to go to her dad's a few days after I stopped the bottles for two weeks and I never did ask him how long it took before she was fine without the bottle.
Natsku, you made an excellent point about naps. Mine at this age sleeps any where between 2.5 to 3 hours during the afternoons. Could this be one of the reason why she is waking up so many times during the night? Could it be that she is so rested, she doesnt feel the need to rest during the nights?
While I do understand that every child reaches this milestone of no naps at different ages, mine at 26 months naps for 2.5 hours to 3 hours (between 11 AM and 1:30-2 PM).

Yesterday (it was pouring here), she woke up at 9:45 AM ( slept at 8 PM the night before). She again slept from 1 PM to 3:30 PM. woke up 4 times during night. At my age, I look like I am 50 years old...with under eye circles and all.

She goes to a daycare and so, I have to take her day care providers opinion into consideration too. There were very very few days when she didnt nap or napped only for an hour and needless to say, she goes to bed sooner at nights (but still woke up for milk out of habit).

So basically it took anywhere between 1 to 4 weeks for you....correct?

I wish my mom were here. She would have known what to do.
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Old 03-20-2014, 07:35 AM
 
Location: Chapel Hill, N.C.
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I don't like the idea of MONSTERS. They are very real to young kids and quite scary. Go with Sweet Fairies who take care of new babies if you can't bring yourself to tell her the truth--that your neighbor needs them for her new baby and that you and your daughter will go to her house and present them to the neighbor. have your kid actually hand some bottles to the mum or put them in the crib. monsters????absolutely NO.

My first kid didn't sleep through the night till about 2 months after his new sister arrived...close to 30 months or so. Then new baby didn't sleep thru the night till she was past 2.5 so i went more than FIVE YEARS with no real rest. I was a zombie. Thank god I didn't have to get up and go to work but i did have some kids in my home for child care and it's a wonder I didn't conk out while I had responsibility for that many kids - sometimes 4 more than my own 2 but not always.

I'm not sure what watering down milk will do except confuse her. She isn't drinking for nourishment you agree ...so even with watered down milk she is still on the bottle. i disagree with that plan.

One thing I did when weaning all my kids was have their special stuffed buddy in my bra for about 2 hours. When we read at night the buddy was cuddled and right there. So it got my scent. Then when tucking in I kissed the toy and hugged it and transfered my love to it to take care of the kid during the night. My son actually remembers hugging his Ewok and feeling my love. At least that's what he says. I must have done a really good job of transferring my love and care to that Ewok.
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Old 03-20-2014, 08:24 AM
 
Location: Finland
6,418 posts, read 7,227,317 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Maila View Post
Natsku, you made an excellent point about naps. Mine at this age sleeps any where between 2.5 to 3 hours during the afternoons. Could this be one of the reason why she is waking up so many times during the night? Could it be that she is so rested, she doesnt feel the need to rest during the nights?
While I do understand that every child reaches this milestone of no naps at different ages, mine at 26 months naps for 2.5 hours to 3 hours (between 11 AM and 1:30-2 PM).

Yesterday (it was pouring here), she woke up at 9:45 AM ( slept at 8 PM the night before). She again slept from 1 PM to 3:30 PM. woke up 4 times during night. At my age, I look like I am 50 years old...with under eye circles and all.

She goes to a daycare and so, I have to take her day care providers opinion into consideration too. There were very very few days when she didnt nap or napped only for an hour and needless to say, she goes to bed sooner at nights (but still woke up for milk out of habit).

So basically it took anywhere between 1 to 4 weeks for you....correct?

I wish my mom were here. She would have known what to do.
Certainly within 3 weeks she had completely forgotten about the bottles but I'm pretty sure she adjusted sooner than that. Stopping naps certainly made a big difference - she would nap 1-3 hours and sleep maybe 9 or 10 hours (not counting wake ups, so even less than that with time spent awake) at night, when she stopped napping she started to sleep 13-14 hours at night. Its still most likely the bottles causing her to wake up though rather than the napping as that's a decent stretch she's having at night despite the nap.
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Old 03-20-2014, 12:00 PM
 
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At two it is no longer a need, but a habit. Just stop giving it to her and stop with any stimulation during the hours you expect her to sleep, like giving her drinks, etc..
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Old 03-20-2014, 12:19 PM
 
1,192 posts, read 1,569,116 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by no kudzu View Post
I don't like the idea of MONSTERS. They are very real to young kids and quite scary. Go with Sweet Fairies who take care of new babies if you can't bring yourself to tell her the truth--that your neighbor needs them for her new baby and that you and your daughter will go to her house and present them to the neighbor. have your kid actually hand some bottles to the mum or put them in the crib. monsters????absolutely NO.

My first kid didn't sleep through the night till about 2 months after his new sister arrived...close to 30 months or so. Then new baby didn't sleep thru the night till she was past 2.5 so i went more than FIVE YEARS with no real rest. I was a zombie. Thank god I didn't have to get up and go to work but i did have some kids in my home for child care and it's a wonder I didn't conk out while I had responsibility for that many kids - sometimes 4 more than my own 2 but not always.

I'm not sure what watering down milk will do except confuse her. She isn't drinking for nourishment you agree ...so even with watered down milk she is still on the bottle. i disagree with that plan.

One thing I did when weaning all my kids was have their special stuffed buddy in my bra for about 2 hours. When we read at night the buddy was cuddled and right there. So it got my scent. Then when tucking in I kissed the toy and hugged it and transfered my love to it to take care of the kid during the night. My son actually remembers hugging his Ewok and feeling my love. At least that's what he says. I must have done a really good job of transferring my love and care to that Ewok.
You are right. No monsters. To be honest with you, she doesnt know the concept of fear yet. I have never taught her that (never felt the need to teach fear to her). A monster for her is not a bad thing. It would have the same affect if I had said, "Dora took your bottles". I dont think I am even going to use the word monsters....she doesnt know what a monster is or what fear is. When I said monster, i was more referring to someone taking bottles away...I wasnt gonna say monsters.

Thanks for sharing your story. I can totally understand when you say you felt like a zombie. Thats another thing...my husband has slowly started talking about second baby and I told him I am in no way ready for one before this one goes to sleep through the night. She is such a darling...I hope she doesnt suffer too much in this process.
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