This is a FAQ post. These are the most popular answers to a real question asked on The Imperfect Mum.
My son LOVES his bottle to go to sleep, but we both feel it is time to go. We are tired of having to make bottles in the middle of the night also. Any suggestions to make this easier for us all?
Laurene:
My mum (who has a bachelor in children’s services, did home day care worked in child care centre’s and for the department of children’s services) gave me some advice once when I was complaining about my youngest still having a bottle.
She said ‘they are only little for such a short time, let him go and he will give it up when he is ready, how many 4/5 year olds do you see with a bottle, this seems to be a little bit about you wanting him to give up his little creature comfort than about him’ guess what – she was right! He handed it back to me one day and told me he was a big boy, he was 3. Good luck
Yvonne:
Throw the bottles out, if they aren’t there you cant give it to him, he’ll learn pretty quick once he has no choice. Good luck
Louise:
Start with a smaller amount but honestly eventually you are just going to have to say no and let her scream it out till she goes back to sleep. Stressful but it’s the quickest solution, 3/4 nights and its done.
Meg:
They are only babies once & he’ll decide when he’s good & ready to give it up.
I have a 20mnth old daughter who is currently deciding if she ‘needs’ a day time sleep. Most days it’s yes & then there are days like today where she doesn’t. She’ll be asleep nice & early tonight.
She still has 2-3 bottles a day, never finishes them, but it’s just her comforter for when she’s going to sleep…
Let him be, each child is different & never feel like u need to ‘parent by the book’
Jessica:
A couple if months after my son turned 2 the ‘bottle fairy’ came to visit. We left the bottle out for him, made a really big deal about it, and when he woke up there was a small toy in it’s place. He asked the next day for it back but I explained that I didn’t have it, the bottle fairy did, and I couldn’t get it back.
Has his milk he’ll now sit up and have what he calls his ‘special milk’ (cup of milk with a straw) first thing and at night but also drinks milk normally through the day too.
To me it wasn’t a big deal about the bottle specifically, I was more concerned about his dental health by going to sleep straight after or whilst drinking milk.
Clancy:
Start reducing the amount of milk.
Camille:
Both mine gave up bottles at one yr. I’m surprised you are letting your child decide. Part of teaching them is having them know they do what you say (lovingly)
Take it away, your child will get over it
Peta:
If you don’t want her to have it, don’t give it to her. He will soon realise again that night time is sleeping time, not eating time and she will stop asking.
Sarah:
I also look at it as though they are only young for such a short time. My son fought sippy cups for what seemed like forever but I picked one up from Kmart an he took to it straight away. He was prob around 2 as well by then. Before that it was ONLY a bottle he would take. I don’t believe on “take it or nothing” as a child can be very determined and go without despot being thirsty and I don’t think that’s good for them.
I took the bottle off my daughter at around 7-8 months and used the same sippy her brother uses and she never fussed. My son is now nearly 3.5 and he still takes his sippy to bed. I’m not fussed cos I know it won’t last. He will get to an age where he will just want cups.
Sharee:
At that age I would bypass the sippy cup and try to get him to use a normal cup.
1 Replies
I have a 2 year old too and I am contemplating when to temove her bottle. She has never had a dummy or any other comforter and after reading fellow comments I will let her decide when she is ready.