Middle of the Night Bottle!

My daughter did the same thing. My doctor suggested weening her off. Drop the amount given every couple days and within a couple of weeks he should be over it. For example start with 8oz, then drop to 6, then 4 then 2oz. They eventually realize it's not worth waking up for. It worked for me. Good Luck!!

i have a 3 yr old that does the same thing with her sippy and the best thing that i have come accrosed isfill the cup a 1/4 full of water and add a drop of food coloring so she don't know its water and it seems to work. its her sercurity blanket. she some times crys if she drinks it to fast . but it only last for like 10 minutes and then she falls asleep. just remember that crying will not hurt you shild nad as long as you periodically check on him and reasure him that all is fine . hope i could help. H. c , mother of 2

Been there done that! It will not last forever, trust me, they know very early on what they can get away with. You need to go in when he cries lay him back down and tell him to go back to sleep do not bring a bottle eventually he will know he is not getting a bottle and will not wake up any more it make take a week or so but it will stop Is he still on a bottle during the day? He should have sippy cups for juice, bottle only for milk. Give him a drink before he goes to bed at night. let me know how its going...

C.,
I RECENTLY HAVE BEEN WEENING MY TWO YEAR OLD SON OFF THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT BOTTLE ROUTINE. HIS DOCTOR TOLD ME THAT HIS BODY GOT USED TO GETTING HUNGRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. SO, SHE TOLD ME TO DILUTE HIS MILK WITH WATER. EVERY OTHER NIGHT DILUTE IT A LITTLE MORE, THAT WILL BE A GRADUAL ADJUSTMENT; AND OVERTIME SINCE WATER ISN'T FILLING, HIS BELLY WON'T GET HUNGRY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT LIKE BEFORE.
I'VE BEEN DOING THIS FOR A MONTH NOW AND IT RELLY WORKED. IF HE EATS A REALLY GOOD DINNER I WATER DOWN HIS MILK BEFORE BEDTIME ALSO. HE USED TO WAKE UP AT LEAST TWICE EACH NIGHT. NOW, HE ONLY WAKES ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK AND WHEN HE DOES HE ONLY HAS A FEW SIPS OFF THE SIPPY CUP (NUBY) AND GOES RIGHT BACK TO SLEEP.
IT MAY ALSO BE HELPFUL IF YOU SWITCH TO THE NUBY SIPPY CUP. I DID THAT SEVERAL MONTHS AGO AND THE DOCTORS SAY TO "SAY GOOD BYE" TO THE BOTTLE AROUND ONE YEAR. I PERSONALLY THINK IT IS DIFFERENT FOR EVERY CHILD, IT'S YOUR CALL.
GOOD LUCK,
A.

have you tried putting cereal in his bottle for his last *feeding* it may hold him over till the morning if he is waking up hungry. Sometimes children also wake up in the middle of the night to spend time with you. Being as you work full time he maybe tring to get some more time with Mom. When bed time comes try to make sure it is a calm ending to his day. A warm bath a story and a bottle with cereal in it rice is the best since it doesn't get clumpy. Read him a story rub his for head just calm calm calm. Good luck.. B. Mom of three children 11years 9 years and 3 years...

My son did the same thing. I could not stand to hear him scream and cry like that. I tried cold turkey a couple times and after an hour I gave in. Finally the doctor put it to me this way, which may seem very blunt and rude but it helped. He said to just let him scream and cry no matter how long it takes don't go in there. He said it usually takes a week but after a week he will give up and learn how to put himself back to sleep. He said he can scream, cry, he can get himself so worked up that he throws up, but who cares its his throw up and its not going to hurt him. If you really want your sleep back its the only way to go. As mean as that last part sounds its kind of true, your not hurting him he will be fine and you will both sleep better at night. I finally gave in and did this. The first night he cried for maybe 2 hours, I just turned the fan on high in my bedroom to try and drowned him out and I started this on a weekend so if he kept me up it was ok. Then on day 6 he woke and I heard him cry for maybe a few minutes and then that was the end of it. No more waking in the night! If you can't stand to hear him cry try the fan or moving to a spare bedroom farther away or sleeping on the couch so you can't hear him. He will be ok and he will be a more rested boy not waking so much at night.

keep the water thing and have your husband bring it to him.. if you do try the cry it out thing, I suggest a Friday night so you have the weekend to deal with tireness!! good luck!

Hi C........My son just turned 3 and is still hooked on that night bottle some nights. I did see another mother post that to get them off the bottle that a good idea was to delute milk more and more with water and then finally when its just water they dont want it.....I know what you mean about having to get up and you feel giving the bottle with make the night smoother, I have done it at times as well. Some days I just tell him no you had a drink and your not getting a bottle he may fuse but does tend to give in to me....Also one mother said tell them they are too big for a bottle and give them a water bottle by their bed........or some say go cold turkey and throw out all bottles.....With the fusing at times Im afraid to do this.....I wish you luck ;)

Hi C.. I know what you mean about them crying with anger. Mine did the same. He's almost 4 now and it wasn't easy for us getting rid of that middle of the night bottle...then turned cuppie. I threw out all the bottles cold turkey and then resorted to a sippy cup when I couldn't take it anymore. But in the end we still had a problem to deal with when he was 3 and peeing through his diapers at night (while fully potty trained in teh day). It did affect his teeth...I know some people swear it did nothing to their children's teeth, but we weren't so lucky. Every child is different. I would suggest putting an ounce less every other night and see if that works...or ever 3 nights or something. If you get to the point where he's mad about that then I would suggest cold turkey. You have to do it at one time or another.

Hope it works out okay for you...Hang in there...it's just a season. It will pass and then he'll be sleeping great! really!

don't worry C....my opinion. keep brushing and i feel everything will be okay. it was fine for me. my eighteen year old has not one cavity and for that matter not one of my boys have problems with their teeth. so if thats all just give him a bubbie if thats what will make his little world seem a bit more stress free. okay?? he may just need it. that suckie suckie...lol it will pass...i promise. and then its the next thing to worry about. lol i hope i brought you some comfort. i never worried about the bottle. it was never an issue for me. babie and little ones need that sucky sucky...it releases some sort of hormone for them...in the beginning i know for sure and then as they get a bit bigger its for comfort...so chill and enjoy. and of course brush the teethies...lol bye for now...J.
p.s. and i would just give a bubbie of water for the night time. i use leave it in the crib so when he woke up he would just drink it. sometimes he did and sometimes he didn't. so its a thought. and dilute the bottle half and half...h2o and milk. but try h2o...it may work may not. just half one prepared in the frig and try and get some sleep...good luck!!!!

Just put water in the bottle and thats that

We had this problem with our daughter as well. Finally I just decided I wasn't going to give in anymore. I threw away all her bottles, I let her help me pick out a new sippy cup that she liked, and that's all she got. She had screaming fits in the middle of the night but I wouldn't give in. After 2 days everything was fine, she totally forgot about her bottle.

I have to agree with you about worrying about his teeth- night milk pools in the mouth and feeds the bacteria that causes tooth decay. Some kids are fine (mine was), but others suffer severely from painful, rotting teeth. I see so many little ones with blackened front teeth that can only be treated with surgery. And this can also affect their permanent teeth later on. So is it really worth the risk? The strategy of gradually diluting with water is great, as well as gradually decreasing how much is actually in the bottle. Say, lessening the amount by 1/2 ounce every couple of days. Good luck!

Hello C.,

have you tried getting him a sippy cup and placing fruitjuice in it n leaving it near him so he can just reach for it in the night when he wakes up... i took all my kids off their bottles by the time they turned 1 and the sippy cups worked wonders for them.. i would put watered down juice in it, so the sugar wouldnt give them that rush to keep them up n it worked wonders for me

I think we all go through situations like this. I only wish children came with Instructions: LOL...Anyway, here is something to keep in mind; the message you will be sending your beautiful child is Scream and Cry and you'll get what you want.Right now the screaming and crying is for the Bottle, next it will be for something else. Sometimes we just have to walk away and ignore that behavior. We as Adults don't like to be ignored, however have you ever noticed how a situation changes when you change how you react? Trust me I can only imagine how Screaming would make you want to pull your hair out! Put a Cd player in his room and play some nice relaxing music as soon as he lays down (not just when the Screaming starts)... (you are re-directing his attention from the crying to something else) and then you walk out of that room! Also, you can get Audio Books-- bedtime stories! Continue to think of Creative ways to Re-direct behaviors, I have been doing it for years with my children, sometimes they don't even realize it, and other times they do (they are 9 and 14 yrs old!!) Good Luck, let me know how it goes...C.

my sons was the same way i just stoped letting him have a bottle period he had sippy cups in the day and snake just before bed and yeah he fussed but just ride it out it wont take that long