Sleep - How to Stop Giving Her Milk to Sleep....12 Month Old

Switch to water in the cup. We did that for a while and then he just gave up that last cup before bed after awhile.

those are big changes for a little one! I think I would tackle them one at a time. First, the sippy cup at bed. I would readjust so that she drinks her milk before you put her in bed, then just put her in bed, tell her night-night and leave the room. It will be just like breaking her from the bottle or the breast. It will take time. After she has that one down, then I would move her to her own room. I would start that by having her sleep in her own room for naps. After she gets used to that, then I would move her to her own room permanently.

I have a 2 1/2 year old and did the exact same thing as you includeing the Nuk cup and all. It's trouble and you will regret it - it's not so much about weening them off the bottle it's weening them off the milk to fall asleep as well. First of all don't do both at the same time or your setting yourself up for failure. I would put her in her room with her milk first until she is happy with that. Read baby wise about how to teach her to be independent and not rely on you to sleep. She needs to go in her own room now - the longer it lasts the worst it's going to get.
Once she is comfortable you have to teach her to self soothe herself to sleep - no bottle, no sippy, no milk at all what so ever - read the book for more information. I let my daughter go to sleep with a sippy cup of milk (Nuk) until about a month ago and we went to her first dentist appointment and she has 8 cavities and will need caps on her four front teeth. I thought I was doing good by her being off a bottle at age 1 but clearly that didn't matter. I feel awful and the worst mom ever. I did it to avoid crying but now it's going to be so much worse in the long run. Take her to the dentist - they should go at age 1 anyway and get her off the milk - they can only have water after they brush their teeth at night. Read the book and it will help you but you will have crying at first buy eventually they learn - they are a lot stronger than we give them credit for.

Hi K.:
I'm almost in the same situation. My son is 11 months old and I'm starting to think about that time when I can't (or shouldn't) use a bottle to get him to sleep. He's already drinking out of a sippy cup.....but do you have to stop giving them milk at bedtime? I mean I know they don't "need" it, but is there anything wrong with milk before sleep? I know it's a soothing technique so I'll have to stop it eventually but I don't see the need to hurry it. (Sorry I have no advice just thought you like to know someone's in the same boat!) Good luck! S.

One thing at a time. Just give her a small sippy cup of milk then tell her it is night night time and lay her down. Once she adjusts to that move her crib to her room. Give her a stuffed animal or something for security.

I also watered down my girls' bottles, gradually. I started with replacing about 1-2 ounces of milk with water. Then after a couple days, I increased the amount of water by another ounce for a couple days, and so on. By the time it was almost all water, they barely sipped it and then didn't want it anymore. It took a couple weeks. To help the whole transition into her own room...maybe try giving her a special blanket or a stuffed animal to get used to now, so when you move her to her room, she will have that special thing with her still. And give her extra snuggles and try to be confident about the change so she feels more comfortable with it as well. Good luck!

My daughter was already in her own room at 12 months but I agree that doing both adjustments at once might be a struggle. I would move her into her room first then a few weeks or so later work on the milk issue. Our daughter was getting a sippy cup of milk until she was about 18 months or so. We slowly started replacing her "milk time" with book time and just gave her the milk after dinner. Now, at 2 1/2 years old, we give her a sippy cup of milk after lunch and just books at night.
Good luck and I'm sure it won't be as difficult as you might anticipate. =)

K.:

I would recommend avoiding making both changes at the same time. I would first focus on getting her in her own room. Once that has been accomplished and you see that she's accustomed to it, I would then tackle the “milk before bed” issue. To ease the transition (and avoid her waking up hungry), I fed my daughter her dinner late (Dinner @ 7:00 pm/Bedtime @ 8-8:30 pm - you can adjust the times to your schedule) and followed it with a sippy cup of water. After all that worry, it went surprising well. No problems at all.

Good luck!

L.

Hi K.,

We are going through this ourselves and just giving our daughter time to transition. We didn't water the milk down but give her half of her milk before bedtime, then the rest while we rock her. Soon she has gotten into the habit of finishing the milk then falling asleep (rather than falling asleep on the bottle, which she did for a long time). On some occasions when she has drank a good amount of milk prior to bedtime & is very tired, we have been able to rock her to sleep without it. But I think more than anything, it helps her to relax (& she is a VERY busy girl!). We plan to move the milk to before the bath in the next week & see how she responds.

I would definitely take one transition on at a time. These things might not seem huge to us, but the routine is what makes up their entire world. It may take a few weeks for her to get used to not drinking milk before bed and a few more weeks before she feels comfortable sleeping in another room. Just be patient.

Good luck!

Hi K.!

Well, you've began a "soothing" routine, that might be hard for your daughter to do without :o) What a loving mother you must be :o)

I was a "rocking mother", and gave a bottle while rocking to go to sleep. So, I understand your need for changes. But, I really enjoyed bedtime....it was very bonding and sweet memories I will never forget.

Your daughter is still pretty young for the soothing need to stop, but it is a good time to try your changes.

I think the move will be just fine for her. She may even sleep better :o) But I don't know if I would take the sippy cup away.....yet.

Let her adjust to her own room first, then once you've mastered that, then you'll feel more comfortable to start weaning her from her cup. She may not be ready to let go of her cup until she's a little older.

Just continue to be a good mom and listen to her needs. You'll figure it all out for her :o)

:o) N.

Dear K.,
I would deal with one adjustment at a time. Already last week she adjusted to the sippy. If there is any way possible, if you know someone that is storing a crib and not using it right now, see if you can borrow it for your daughter's bedroom. When my son was a baby, we had a crib for him in our room and one in his own bedroom. Our house was situated in such a way that the top floor was our master bedroom and away from all the other rooms. He slept in our room at night because of the logistics. But during the day, he rested, got changed and dressed, etc in his own room downstairs. Borrow a crib if you can. That way, you can give it back when you are done with it and are ready to make the final move of your daughter's crib to her own room. In the meantime, you can familiarize her with being in her own bedroom a little at a time. Let her nap there during the day or lay in her crib while you play a music box or something. If you have the space, maybe put a rocking chair in there so that's where you spend your "calm down" time. Then, worry about giving up the night time milk. You can also try water in the sippy instead of milk.
But again, I would kind of tackle one thing at a time.

Best of wishes.

Hi K.,
Personally, I would break the milk at bedtime first. With Early Childhood Caries on the rise in the U.S. (used to be called baby bottle rot but is seen in breastfed babies as well) it is important to put children to bed with clean, brushed teeth to lessen the risk. Here is what I did with my daughter. I started by taking Paige to meet the dentist, then I found a really cool cup by Playtex that has customizable inserts and I decorated it with her name and frogs. I told her that her dentist said she wasn't supposed to have anything but water before bed once her teeth were brushed. I showed her the new cup and told her it was her "special sleep cup" that could only be filled with water and she could only have it before bed. She asked for milk for about 3-4 nights and I would remind her that her dentist said it wasn't good for her teeth. If you stand firm and stick to your guns, she will give in. There may be some crying, but this won't be the last thing you do for her own good that she won't like. :-)

As to sleeping in her own room, you can either go cold turkey and just do it (after the bedtime milk issue is resolved) or start her with naps and work up to bedtime. If you are going to just move the crib she is currently sleeping in to another room it shouldn't be that big of a deal. Expect some protesting, but continue the same routine and she should follow your cues. I HIGHLY recommend "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child" by Dr. Marc Weissbluth for any and all sleep issue/questions. The man is amazing!

If you want to email me I would be happy to give you suggestions on getting her to fall asleep on her own. My mom never taught me how to as a child and it continues to be a problem for me at 35 yrs old!
Sincerely,
L.

You might want to try slowly watering down the milk. That is what I did and it worked after a while....about 6 weeks or so. Mine was more of a waking during the night and only a bottle getting my baby back to sleep. By the time I got it dwon to just water she stopped waking durning the night. There are times she still wants a sippy cup of water at bedtime...but she mostly just holds onto it and lays down...seems like a sense of security.

I agree that I would tackle one issue at a time. First move her to her own room and then tackle the milk at bedtime. All of my kids have been milk at bedtime kids and none of them have had any problems with their teeth.

I watered down my daughter's night time milk. Eventually, it was just water. She didn't seem to mind and eventually didn't want it after a while. I wasn't worried about milk rotting her teeth at night after we made the full switch.

Our son is 16 months and he still gets his milk in a sippy cup before bed (he gets a cup in the morning and a cup before bed). Our routine is bath, PJ's, milk, brush his teeth, book and then into bed. We have always (with the exception of bad days here and there) been able to put him in his crib and say good night. He'll put himself to sleep. I would try this. Maybe in the beginning lay her down in her crib and stay with her for a while. Just rub her back to let her know your still there. She will start to sooth herself in time. Good luck.

Not sure if I can add anything new, but here is what we did with our now 17.5 month old son. I too was concerned about weaning the bedtime feeding (both breast and eventual bottle). Well, at 12 months I just basically stopped and rolled with it. I had already transitioned him to sippy cups at all three meals and then bedtime. Finally, I said it was time and well, I just eliminated the bedtime feeding and ya know what, he truly didn't even notice the change : ) I then ensured we continued with all other aspects of our bedtime routine: bath, teeth brush, story, and then rock for a bit and then into the crib and off to dreamy dreams. And if he wants anything to drink between dinner and bedtime, water it is...keeps the mouth clean and well, fills his belly just as well. I think as parents we are more concerned about transitions and well, don't give our lil' one's enough credit in their ability to adapt. Just give transitions a whirl and go from there. Obtaining advice and experience from others is indeed a great place to start. From here, do what you find works best for your family. Also, I too agree with no bottles in the crib due to teeth rotting. Our son switched from the bottle / BF at age 12 months and we haven't looked back. We use sippy cups for water during the day and then straw or regular cups at meals with his milk. We haven't introduced any kind of juice due to the sugar content. As a health educator, I always suggest to parents if they are going to give juice, the ratio should be 1 teaspoon juice and the rest all water. Good luck and I know your lil' one will do just fine. Hang in there! Take care.