Breaking baby from the bottle.

[Riot_Queen]

I breastfed my daughter for a little over 8 months, woulda been till she was a year old but I found out I was pregnant and had a hard time providing for 2 babies.
Ivy will be a year old on Saterday and I'm starting to try to wean her from the bottle now.

She used to drink about 5 10oz bottles of formula a day.
I cut back to where she only got it at nap time and bed time.
Now she's only getting it at nap time cuz she pee's too much at night and her diaper leaks and I got tired of having to strip down her crib, clean it up, put new sheets on, throw the dirty ones in the wash and then clean her up first thing in the morning.
Tonight is the 2nd night she hasn't gotten a bottle at bed time and it's hard for her.
She gets put in the crib at bed time and refuses to go to sleep, just sits in there bouncing around either jabbering away or screaming bloody murder cuz she wants her bottle.
Tonight was a little bit easier.
She still keeps waking up every few hours crying. But she goes back to sleep after a few minutes.

Do you think I did it too fast?
Anyone know a better method or should I keep going the route I'm already going.

Any input and/or stories on how y'all broke your tots from the bottle would greatly be appreciated.
I hate to see my daughter going through this, but I gatta start somewhere.
I know her bottle is a comfort to her and helped her fall asleep.
I let her take her favorite stuffed animal to be with her to try n help sooth her, and she snuggles with it, but it doesn't seem like it's as much of a comfort as her bottle was.

I just don't want her to get ear infections cuz her doc says after they hit a year old they're more prone to ear infections from the sucking on the bottles.
She gets plenty of fluids during the day. She can drink from sippy cups, she can drink from straws and even from a normal cup you and I use everyday if I hold it for her.
But she still wants those bottles and I really don't want her to have them for much longer.

[pinkbelle]

what i did was just took the bottle.. i decided one day that it was time .. she woke up in the am to a sippy cup and she was fine with it.. she did ask for a 'ba-'ba' a few times but i didn't give in... she is 17 mths old and has been bottle free since 13mths = )  now she is learning to use a real cup instead of her sippy.. honestly this is what worked best for us.. a friend of mines daughter is my daughters age and she tried to slowly take it away .. meaning just one bottle a day  but she is still on the bottle.. emmalee expects that one bottle a day so its harder for her to break from the bottle..

[Riot_Queen]

Well the whole point of breaking her from the bed time bottle first instead of her nap time bottle, was because I don't want her having any fluids after bedtime because her diapers leak and I am tired of having to strip her bed first thing every single morning.

Tonight she did AWESOME with bedtime.
She actually went to bed all by herself by 11.
I was doing a puzzle with my MIL and she was off playing, and came up and kept tapping my leg and sucking her thumb [[she ***** her thumb when she's tired.]] letting me know she wanted to go to bed.
I finished up what I was doing and by the time I went to put her to bed, she had already climbed into my bed and went to bed.
lol it was too cute.
So I went and put her in her crib and she didn't even fight me she went right down and has been asleep ever since.

I guess it's just that 3 day hump.

I'm gunna continue down the path I'm going at and hope for the best.
So far so good.
In a couple weeks I'll stop the nap time. But replace that with a sippy. It's not like at night time where she doesn't get a diaper change all night, it's just for a few hours, so she can have some water with her nap.

[smjmekg]

I switched DS from a bottle to a sippy cup of water when he was eleven months old. He's now fifteen months and he's done fine since the day I started. Water stays good all night, and it's better since he has teeth now to put him to bed with water instead of milk. Try giving her a sippy with water. I wouldn't even bother with the bottle at nap time if you can get her to take a sippy instead. DS is now starting to go to bed and not drink anything, occasionally it has a little out of it. He mostly drinks it now when he first wakes up in the morning. Good luck! I'm lucky it was easy to switch DS to a sippy from a bottle, I'm gonna start breaking the sippy in bed habit when he's 18 months, if not sooner.

[BTS1022]

I always start breaking from the bottle around a year old. It can cause some issues for their teeth if kept on it to long. Once I start breaking from the bottle I do it slowly...I introduce the sippy cup during the days...and will allow them to have the bottle at night until they learn to use the sippy cups. Once they have the hang of the sippy cups, I start putting water only in the bottles at night, so they get used to water instead of milk..which can cause future tooth decay if done for long periods of time. Once they get used to the water at bedtime, I switch it to a sippy cup of water. Eventually they wont need it when they go to bed..but atleast there is some water there if she wakes up thirsty.


I would also bump up the fluid intake during the day, so she stays hydrated at night, cut fluids down after 6pm or depending on bedtime, this also helps keep her bladder empty and can help with future potty training. By 18 months my children no longer have anything to drink after 6pm and they usually go to bed by 8pm. You have to stick to whatever plan you choose. If you give in and let her have the bottle it will just be harder on all of you in the long run. It stinks to hear them crying for it, but it will be so much easier if you follow through.

Good luck Riot on the bottle breaking and the new baby!

[Riot_Queen]

Yes ma'am she sure is!
She LOVES her groceries!
She usually doesn't eat 3 pieces but she had lunch at noon and took a LOOONG nap so she didn't get to eat until we finally got dinner at 7. She was bouts to starve! lmao
Atleast she thought so! lmao

She was born 10.13 lbs so she was already born half grown! lol!
She's a big mama but she's healthy and the doc isn't displeased with her weight because she's growing normally, just she weighs more cuz she was born heavier.

[JoyRenee]

Holy Toledo! She is a hearty eater!!!

[Riot_Queen]

She eats plenty I can say that much.
She's 27lbs and over 30" long. She's a big girl, so she gets her groceries. lmao
She always gets whole plain white milk with dinner, and gets as much as she wants until 9:30pm which is bedtime.
I can't see how she can be waking up hungry TONIGHT of all nights.
We had a late dinner, and she porked out on 3 pieces of digorno [[sp?]] pizza, a small cup of milk with that, plus had 2 cups of pedialyte since then [[she's got a small case of the poo's today and yesterday.]] I porked out on 5 pieces myself and I'm STILL stuffed and wish I didn't eat that much!! lmao

She eats 3 square meals a day and gets little snacks like cherio's and goldfish n what not throughout the day. She gets plenty to drink. I always make sure she has a drink available for her whenever she wants it because I know I wouldn't like it if I was thirsty and didn't have any access to something to drink.
I think for her it's more of a comfort thing and she's been getting a bottle at bedtime for 4 months now and like me with a cigarette, it's a comfort and a habbit, and I don't like it when I can't have one.

I'm sure she'll be fine, I'll be breaking my habbit in 5 weeks too so I feel for her! lol

[JoyRenee]

She probably needs something in her tummy still. I'd give her a little sippy cup of milk (whole milk) and see if that helps her settle down and sleep. She's most likely waking up hungry. You could give her some crackers with the milk, too.  

Otherwise just keep on doing what you're doing because it's definitely a habit that needs to be broken and soon. It's hard but in the long run it'll be best for her!