Sleeping Through the Night - Des Plaines,IL

Start giving her the bottle less and less every few nights. 5 minutes for a few nights, 4.5 minutes for a few nights, until you get to none and then just try to pat her back to sleep. You don't say how old she is, it could just be a phase that will pass soon.

All the recent research says that forcing a child to scream himself to sleep is detrimental. Here's an article about it:
"Science tells us that when babies cry alone and unattended, they experience panic and anxiety. Their bodies and brains are flooded with adrenaline and cortisol stress hormones. Science has also found that when developing brain tissue is exposed to these hormones for prolonged periods these nerves won’t form connections to other nerves and will degenerate. Is it therefore possible that infants who endure many nights or weeks of crying-it-out alone are actually suffering harmful neurologic effects that may have permanent implications on the development of sections of their brain? Here is how science answers this alarming question:" (click the link to read the rest)
http://www.askdrsears.com/html/10/handout2.asp

We had the exact same situation as you. My son was about 16 months and caught a couple different colds/viruses that caused him to be sick on and off for a month. We also started giving him milk at night because he was hungry (and is low in weight anyway). Then after he was over the sicknesses, he still wanted the milk every night! Our ped pushed CIO too, but I just wasn't comfortable. I know people say it's not cruel, but you have to do what you feel ok with--no one else knows your child like you do. We reduced the milk each night, first by replacing a couple oz with water, then by reducing the total drink amout. (So we started with 8 oz milk, then did 6 oz milk/2 oz water for about 5 days, then down to 4 oz milk/2 water, etc.) It took about a month but he started sleeping again through the night all on his own and we didn't have the drama. It was a long month of waking up once a night, but that was a better alternative for me!

CIO is not cruel, in fact it teaches them self soothing skills they will need in life. That said, there is no reason to just let her scream. I used a timer and would wait 5 minutes. If my sons were still crying (which was rare) I would go in and comfort them without food or even picking them up. I would just rub them and sing or talk softly until they calmed, and then I would leave. If they started fussing again I would wait anther 5 minutes. Since your girl is older it may take a few times for her to get it figured out, but it will be well worth it is the end.

My little one was on the 2 am schedule for a long time - first to nurse and then for formula. I'm not sure what you are giving your little one in the bottle, but we finally broke the habit by offering her water in her bottle instead. Based on the results, the water wasn't worth waking up for and within a few nights she dropped that feeding without having to resort to any type of crying scenario.

Hope this does not make you feel worse but my son did not consistently sleep through the night until 19 months. I am not a member of the CIO camp either. Is your daughter actually drinking all of the milk? If so, I would just keep giving it to her if she is truly hungry. If not, maybe you can just try comforting her in a different way. I stopped night nursing long before he weaned completely but that was because he really was not drinking...just using it as cuddle time. My son would latch and fall asleep in a minute. In itself, this is not a big deal but he ALWAYS woke back up when I tried to put him back in bed. So I stopped nursing him at night and he threw a few fits for a while...but I just put him in his bed and would pat his back etc to calm him down. It was not easy at all at first..but eventually it was quick (just a few minutes to calm him back to sleep). I know you are tired..but you will survive it, I promise. It really does go so fast..at the time I wondered if I would ever be able to sleep more than 4 hrs at night again but now it seems so long ago that this was happening. Good luck.

No idea my 10 month old still gives me fits about sleeping at night. CIO is not something I am into and would like to check back for tips as well.
Are you nursing? I am and wonder if that is part of the problem.

How about breaking the bottle habit full stop, and offering water, in a cup?

How old is she? I would try homeopathics. Chamomile and small doses of melatonin are safe and they make special blends for infants and toddlers.

I would never use CIO. If you're tempted, please look at the latest studies regarding how this affects children- they are pretty devastating.

I co-slept with both of my children and found they slept better this way. One until she was 2, and then I still nurse her at 2.5 (sometimes during the night as she still does not sleep through) and the other until she was 3 and then nursed her until she was 3.5 yrs. My older daughter (now 9) did not sleep through the night until she was almost 6.

I just wanted to point out that some children are poor sleepers and it doesn't have anything to do with nursing.

I would, personally, continue the bottle and the 2am comforting if that is all she is waking during the night. It will soon pass and she'll move on to another schedule- it's what children do.

:)

My son is a great sleeper, but at 8 months, I decided to stop nursing him at 3 am. I jusat would go in and rock him with his paci until he would fall asleep. I called it "stare it out" because he would sometimes stare at me for about 40 minutes, wide awake. After about 4 nights, he stopped getting up and is sleeping 6:30-6:30. Good luck