18 Months and Still a Bottle at Sleeping Times

Just put water in the bottle or give it to him empty. Give him the bottle before laying him down. I think at some point you will just have to let him cry. It will take 2-3 nights and each night he will cry less. Children you cry-it-out to sleep become better sleepers in the long run.

I am sorry but I am going to be very blunt. You and your fiance put your son to bed with a bottle and that is a very bad thing to do, period. Now I would suggest putting him to bed a little before you normally and let him cry it out. It is really much harder on you and your fiance than it is on you child. Trust me I made this same mistake with my first child, she is now 10. The first night was terrible, I will not lie. But it only got better. After 3 nights she learned how to put herself to sleep and it was great. Sorry again to be blunt, but your child needs to learn to fall asleep on their own. Even if the other things you tried worked, you would eventually have to wean them off that bad habbit. Kids sleep much sounder when they fall asleep on their own.

Good luck, nad I do sympathize with your situation. IT is tough. Remember it is harder on you guys than you child, just ask Supernanny!!

I have a 14 month old son and just recently stopped feeding him a bottle. I weaned him down to just a bottle in the morning and at night and gave him a sippy cup during other meal/snack times. Then I stopped the morning bottle and then nighttime last. I would give him a sippy cup with milk in it while I read him a few books/sang a song, etc., then it was time for bed. Nite-nite. He cried a bit for a few nights, but now goes down fine. The key is a bed time routine and consistency.

Gabe is going to continue the crying because he has learned that it works.

My advice: Quit cold turkey..it won't hurt him. I am hoping that there is not milk in the bottle. Giving a child a bottle at bedtime will cause tooth decay. He need to learn to go to sleep without a bottle. It is hard to hear your child cry, but he is trying to be in control of the situation. You need to be in charge of what he gets and when he gets it. It will make your life so much easier when he is older. At first, you can check on him when he cries and assure him he is ok, but he is not getting a bottle anymore. Then go in at 40 minutes. Keep adding time. Also, start on sippy cups immediately. Have him help you get rid of his bottles. Have a bye bye bottle party and tell him he is a big boy now.

I had the same issue with my daughter until she was about 18 months. Most people told me to let her cry it out, which I couldn't do. Eventually she just quit wanting the bottle. It was actually really amazing...she just got sick of it (kinda sounds like your little man is getting sick of it too). It is more of a comfort thing than anything and luckly my daughter loves the silky part on her blanket, which helps soothe her to sleep now. My advice would be to hang in their, he isn't going to drink out of a bottle forever. You could try diluting the milk or just switch to water and see how he reacts to that. Good Luck with everything.

With my first, I rocked him to sleep with a bottle and then set him in the crib with a pacifier. We went cold turkey with the pacifier at 2 1/2 and it only took 3 days, but was complete torture for all of us. He also still needs us to sit in his bedroom to fall asleep and he is almost 4!!! With my second, I rocked her for a few minutes, but always put her in the crib when she was still awake, with the same lullaby to listen to on her mobile. She does not need me to be there to fall asleep and has all-around been a much easier baby re: sleep. So, all this to say that you will probably do it differently with your second child :) For now, since you couldn't bear to do cold turkey, I agree with the other mom about gradually adding water, but also gradually remover yourself from helping him fall asleep. Make rocking times shorter and shorter, put him in the crib when he is more and more alert. Stay in the room to verbally reassure him if needed, but then maybe just talk to him from outside the room, etc. (That was going to be my plan with my first child, but we are in such a comfortable routine of resting with him in his room at night, it's a hard habit to consider breaking for us...) Anyway, I've been there (I am still there, in a way) and Good luck!

L.

When I was weaning my first son from a bottle, I replaced milk for water. He could have water in the bottle or milk in a sippy cup. At first, he did not like it, but those were his choices. I also took this in steps. You can try getting rid of the bottle at naptime first. When you move on to getting rid of his nighttime bottle, he will cry, as you have heard. After a few days, this should be for shorter periods of time. I hope that this helps.

A little about me:
my oldest just turned 5 yrs this month. I also have a 2 1/2 yr old boy and an almost 7 month old little girl.

All i got to say is get rid of the bottles all together!! 18 months is way to old to be drinking from a bottle and not a sippy cup. Quit cold turkey since ur only giving it to him at bedtime. eventually he will get over it!! But yea a bottle at 18 months is like a NO NO!!!

Hi!
My hubby and I just went throught this too with our 15 month old. His was getting more and more attatched to it. He would finish his bottle and then still suck on the nipple... so we knew it was about time to get ride of it. I was just scared to because that's what put him to sleep for naps and bed time. But one day we couldn't find any bottles and I wasn't going to buy any so we just did same bed time rutine but with a sippy cup. For the first few nights he just threw it! And was mad... that was soooo hard. But now he's fine and we are bottle free. Plus I decided since I took away his bottle I would try to do something special at night time instead of just laying him down and leaving. I put him in his crib and then read a few books. That settles him down and there isn't a peep out of him once I say, "good night".
Good luck! I know it's tough but you find a way:]

The Ferber method worked for us.

http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Your-Childs-Sleep-Problems/dp...

If you don't want to buy the book, it basically says take the bottle away all at once. Go through your normal bedtime routine, but put him to bed without the bottle. He will cry and that's expected. Leave his room, then go check on him at increasing intervals. For example, check on him after 5 minutes. Don't do much talking, you can say it's time for bed or something quick like that, then tuck him in and leave. Sometimes my daughter wouldn't lay back down, so I would just tell her good night and then leave. Then if he keeps crying (which he probably will) then wait 7 minutes before you check on him the next time. Then wait 10 minutes. There is a whole schedule in the book to follow, but you could easily do your own times.

The first night we did this with our daughter she cried for an hour flat. We took turns going into her room. The next night she cried 30 minutes. It took about a week and then she just went to bed without a bottle and without crying. Amazing.

By the way, we did it at 18 months too so don't let people get you down.

Sorry to say but you got him into a really bad habit. Letting him have a bottle in the crib and having a bottle to put himself to sleep are two bad habits. It reads to me like he can't put himself to sleep by himself. I doubt he sleeps the 10-12 hour(I don't know how long your son sleeps at night) strech without waking up once. I know I can't sleep an 8 hour stretch without waking up in the middle somewhere. So in the middle of the night when he wakes up and he's sucking on this bottle to try to put himself back to sleep and there's nothing in it he probably gets frustrated and throws it out of the crib. Also, another thing that's of concern is what if he didn't drink all the milk before falling asleep the first time and then he drinks the rest of it four hours later??? Couldn't that make him sick? I see that you've pretty much tried everything you can. With the rocking I never expected my son to fall asleep on my lap. And at the end he wouldn't lay down on my lap,but he'd sit on my lap though. The rocking settles them down and also lets them know that's now time for a nap or to go na-night. The only time when my son cried before bedtime was before I started rocking him(first three-four months of his life). After that he never did. Does your son cry after his nap or in the morning? If he does that's not good. What I'd say to that is that you need to teach him independence. In other words you need to teach him how to entertain himself. During the day have him play on the floor by himself for a while. I'd even leave the room for a while. Do your chores when he's awake and make him entertain himself for a while. Because if he can entertain himself then being in his crib without you and without the bottle won't bother him. Good luck!

I gave my kids water in a bottle at naptime,bedtime.It didn't last long after that.

What do you put in the bottle when you put him down to sleep? If it's milk, you can try slowly adding water to it... As the milk becomes less appetizing, he may be more willing to give up the bottle. You can always ask your pediatritian too... That's who I turn to with alot of questions that my husband and I can't find an answer to. Good luck!