Bed Time Help - Pflugerville,TX

First, I know you say you set up a routine, and without seeing it, I can only tell you what I did. I believe every child is unique, so I will only tell you about my experience. Also, Supernanny does have some good tips, but at 14 months I would not follow the routine she uses, at least not most of it. It is important that you set up a routine that works for you and stick to it, though. Right now, the routine that works is with a bottle. You need to be comforting in your change of a routine. When my daughter was about your daughter's age, I started our bedtime routine by putting on pajamas, brushing teeth, reading a book, and then singing a couple of songs. I made sure to tell her what we were doing every step of the way. It is important to let her know what is coming next. For example, I would say, "It's almost bedtime, so let's go brush our teeth and then we will put on our pajamas." I let her hold the toothbrush and did not put toothpaste on it. Then I would say, "We finished brushing our teeth, so now it is time to put on our pajamas for bedtime." Continue saying what is coming next each step of the way. Then, we would sit in the rocking chair and sing a couple of songs. After that, I would tell her that it is bedtime and she is a big girl and needs to go to sleep. I would put her in her crib and I would sit in the room near her and I would read a book of my own. I would tell her that I will stay in the room with her if she could be a big girl and I would have to leave if she cried. And I followed through. If she started to cry, I left the room. I would leave for 5 minutes. Then I would go back in and console her, without taking her out of bed, and tell her that I would like to read in the room with her. If she could calm down, I would sit and read, but if she started to cry, I would leave again. I increased the amount of time I was gone each time I left, too. (First, 5 minutes, then 7 minutes, then 10, etc.) After a couple of nights, she understood the routine and I had NO crying. I slowly, over time, stopped reading in her room, and only needed to put her into her bed after reading to her and let her read books on her own. It is really important that you prepare her for whatever is coming next. It is also important that you be near her, at least initially. I would never take away the comfort of mommy AND the bottle at the same time. Everything that is happening at this age is new and unexpected. Imagine how scary things are to you when you are thrown into a new environment and no one tells you what is happening next and then on top of that, they take away the only things you are familiar with. I would probably scream, too! Oh, and it is also important that you remain calm, because they can tell when you are upset, too.
Good luck and let me know if I can help with anything else.

My first was easy at bed time although now I have another and not looking forward to that time. I used to watch Super Nanny and one of the obstacles most parents would face was bed time. If I remember right she suggests something like this.
1) lay them in bed say good night and leave the room.
2) first time they get up/scream you lay them back down say good night and leave the room.
3) second time up and from then on you lay them back down but don't say anything.

If she's still in a crib I saw one episode where after the 2nd time they had the mother sit in the room but not look at or talk to the child. The child did cry for a little bit but it wasn't long before the child layed down and went to sleep.Hope that helps.
I wanted to add that having a routine always helps as well. With my first it was bath, brush teeth, story then bed. We did the same thing every night and continued that until recently and he's now 7. He used to tell me that it was time for nite, nite. This may also help your daughter get into a routine and not need the bottle. And tell her what yall are going to do ahead of time. Let her know that since she is a big girl now this is the routine you are going to do every night and if she goes to bed quickly then the next night she gets an extra long book. When my son wouldn't lay down for a nap I used to tell him that he doesn't have to go to sleep but he has to lay there quietly. He would lay quietly and then would be out shortly after. Just a few more ideas. Good Luck

I know that my response won't be popular, but here goes. Just help her fall asleep. She will only be 14 months for a little while. She will only be 2 for a little while. It is not going to scar her to be "helped" to bed while she is a toddler. I tried the "sleep training" with my oldest (4) and honestly, it didn't work. I decided to just sit and rock my now 2 year old, and you know what....he falls asleep easier than my older boy! Every kid has different personalities...there is nothing wrong with soothing your child.
P. S. I know that you don't get to see you child very much during the day because of work. Just go with what feels good for your child and you. Enjoy the time instead of fighting it.

So sorry you are going through this. Does your daughter like to read books? My daughter loves to be read to and if we are not reading to her, she loves flipping through her books. When I put her down I put a book in the corner. I lean over then bed for a minute and read with her and then just leave her. She will read herself to sleep. She is 11 months old and has done this for about 3 months. When I know she is asleep, I will go in and put the book back in the corner of the bed so she doesn't lay on it. It sounds strange I know but it has worked for us. She never crys before bed and she always wakes up in the morning or at nap time and pulls her book out of the corner to read. Just make sure your daughter isn't eating her books. :-)
Sometimes I even leave her door open so she knows we are there and I close it after she falls asleep.
Good Luck! And I was never a cry it out mother either and our way worked just fine.