15 Month Old Waking 2 or 3 Times a Night for Bottle

My son is 15 months old and goes to sleep with his bottle. He, too, wakes at least once a night for a quick bottle and then goes back to sleep.

Lately, he has been giving up his morning nap so he has been sleeping through the night (but so far...only for 2 nights in a row.)

If you get an answer or some good advice, please pass it on. I could use the same help.

Thanks!

It's going to be hard, but I'd say don't go in there at all. She's not really hungry, she cries because she knows you'll give her a bottle. If you keep going in there, she's goint to expect you every time she cries. Try letting her cry it out for a few and see what happens.

I pretty much did the same as Christy, but I would also add that sometimes my daughter really was thirsty, so I would give my daughter a bottle/sippy cup of water (no milk or juice b/c it can cause cavities). If it was thirst, she would drink the water, otherwise, I knew it was more of a she wanted comfort.
Also, if your daughter has distinctive cries (mine definitely has different ones for "I'm fussy" vs "I'm in pain"), I react differently. I would wait 15 min before checking on "I'm fussy", but go immediately for "I'm in pain". At 2 1/2 she had a new cry, terror, when she had a "nightmare" and thought her stuffed puppy's tail was a snake.

My daughter woke up 2-3 times a night at about this age, I was so tired, this is about the time she shortened her nap to about 30 minutes and I believe 1 had a lot to do with the other. Anyway, my husband and I went to Barnes and Noble and sat in front of the parenting books section and read several books about this. It is very common and most books gave about the same advice. The 1st time they cry wait 5 minutes (at least) go in, lay her down if she's standing, you may say something like "its time to rest", don't stay for more than 1 or 2 minutes, next time wait 10 minutes do it again. Supernanny says not to talk to them at all, but I think I ususally said a few soothing words, also do not make eye contact, it causes them to become more aroused and more difficult to go back to sleep. So you double the time each time they begin crying again, but don't go more than 40 minutes w/o going in. And obviously if the cry sounds like she is hurt you need to check on her. This is what worked for us-I've used it on both girls. It worked pretty quickly with both of them

Hello T..

I'm wondering is your little girl drinking from a bottle at any time during the day? At this age she should be using a sippy cup or something similar. My children may have been ahead of their time according to what I've read from other mothers. They all gave up their bottles before a year old! None of my three children ever wanted a pacifier. None of the three liked the bottle. The oldest was breast fed very briefly because both he and I were rookies at that time; both extra nervous; and both upset that I wasn't doing it well enough to satisfy his apetite. So he had a bottle with formula and only used it up until 10mths old. The second child and third child breast fed well. The second one walked at age 8 mth thus gave up the bottle at that time. He preferred the cup over the bottle once we switched from the breast to the bottle. BUT both were pushed aside once he began to walk and talk at 8mths. My third and only girl was tiny; drank very little although breast fed; switched to the bottle briefly and gave it up by 9mths when she began to walk and talk.

As for the babies I cared for in my home, they were weened from the bottle before a yr old. Once you take away the bottle in the daylight hours, you must remove all signs of it from the house completely.

I strongly suggest first checking the child for wetness, cold, too hot, ill and any other possibility of need. Then if nothing is found to be needed, allow her to cry a little. It won't hurt her to cry for a bit. Take into the room a sippy cup to offer a sip of Water. Only a sip. Then lay her back down,say nite nite,give the kisses and walk out.

She may or may not accept a sip of water. She may demand the entire cup for the rest of the night. Don't give in to that demand or request. Just a sip or you'll have wet sheets if she's also potty-training. Just a sip right from the start will make weening her from this process much faster and much much easier. You will learn very quickly that she wants nothing more than to test you to see if you are still out there ready to aid her if needed. Babies are very smart. So you show up for a couple or three nights with the sippy cup with just a sip of Water (not milk.) After the 3rd night you can tell her that you're sure she needs nothing. Reassure her that you are in your bed sleeping and will see her in the morning. Then do not return!

It's much easier said than done! Believe me I know this. I've been there with my baby girl who cried only to have me go in and take her out of the bed. She needed nothing and was safe. Once I let her cry until she fell asleep. From that point on, she never did it again. If she needed something, dry diaper for example, she'd cry to let me know. But otherwise, no tears occurred when it was time for sleep!

Good luck! You can do it. your baby girl just needs to know you are on top of things!

D.

After years and years of experience with that one---Give her WATER in a Sipper Cup whenever she wakes up.......
She's thirsty---Don't give her the bottle.....
Allow her to drink...........WATER!!!!
Good Luck
C.
Louisiana

Hi T.
My first question is Does she still take a bottle or is she just missing it? I would not go in there and eventually she will lay back down. If she knows you will come in and pick her up she will continue knowing you will come get her. Good luck.

I know people say not to do it but I never quit giving my kids something to drink when they went to bed. I found some cups that don't leak and i give them soymilk when they go to bed. The cups are at walmart and I know they have Ariel in that cup there are 2 to a package and the cups are insulated. If you want to look at the cup before you go get it. www.thefirstyears.com after you get to the site in the search box type cups and it brings up the cups they have they offer the cups in Cars and Ariel I can't remember how much the cups are at Walmart but on this site they are 10.99.
My kids haven't suffered that i can tell having a cup of milk with them in bed and they still have all of their teeth. Do what you feel is right. For a while before i went to bed i made sure there was still milk in the cup but know they are six and for the last year and a half I tell them they only get one cup so if its gone its gone so when they wake up in the middle of the night and the milk is gone they fall back to sleep no problems.

You could get her this cup and tell her that is all she gets is one a night and that may work for her earlier then it did mine.

i have never been able to let my kids 'cry it out'. i have a 7 year old, 3 year old, and 8 month old. with my son (age 3) he would wake up wanting his bottle when he was 1+ so we would leave a baby bottle of water in his crib with him and he would get a drink and go back to sleep. we made the switch to a sippy cup at some point. we still put cups of water on their bedside table so if they wake up thirsty they don't wake me up. i get thirsty at night! why wouldn't they?? Lord knows, they run and run all day, i wouldn't let her cry, it seems mean to me.

You'll find some help in the books Baby Wise and Baby Wise II by Ezzo.

All children have a need to suck that helps their brain development. It is imperative that they are allowed to do this for their emotional health. Normally a mother would simply nurse at night, but since you are bottle feeding you would give the bottle. Security and warmth are more necessary at night too.

B. S. RN CCM

Time to lose the bottle. Will be hard for a couple of days, and after that, you will be so glad you did. But, throw them away so you aren't tempted to give in. As it is, you aren't sleeping anyway, so it is already hard. It should get better in a few days. Tell your little one that she is a big girl now and get her a few special sippy cup. Good luck.

My son did this for months and months and I could not figure out what in the world was going on. I tried several things and one thing help the most. My son woke up about 2 times a night and would cry until I came in. I started attaching his pacifier to his pajama top so it didn't get lost in the bed. It took a while for him to figure out where to find his paci, but after a few weeks, he learned to plug himself all on his own. During the transition time, I went in during the crying spell, plugged him and walked out immediately and NOT looking at him in the eyes. Eye contact always made him cry more for some reason. For a few nights he'd cry because I walked out on him. After about 5 minutes and me waiting at the bedroom door, he stopped all crying and went back to sleep. He is now 2 years old and still wakes up during the night sometimes, but it's crying, and he's learned to go back to sleep all on his own because he knows I am not coming in to help or console. If you also keep on getting up to feed her several times during the night, then you will have a child later on waking up wanting to do it still...best that you nip it in the bud now, than later on when it's harder to train. Good luck! Also, if my son still cried after the 5 minute period, I would go back in plug him again, rub his face and tell him it was ok. Talking sweet to him helped console him also but I didn't drag it out.

I did what Christy did. It was painful to hear her cry that first night (we went on for about 3 hours) but the second night was only 45 minutes and the third night was only 15 minutes, after that she stopped waking, or if she did wake she just found a pacifier and put in her mouth and went back to sleep.

Thanks for asking! Whatever you do, don't let her "cry it out." Babies and children who learn that their cries for help won't go answered develop a distance from their parents, and a distrust on a deep level. Think of the behavioral/discipline problems that this can cause later on! Let alone the distance that develops in your relationship with her. Besides that, the more stress a child experiences, the less energy, time, etc. the child can devote to resting, learning, digesting and all of the other important functions a child must accomplish to thrive. The more stressed the immune system will be. Etc. On top of that, going unsupported through sleep issues at such a young age can set a child up for sleep disorders for life, like insomnia.

I don't have any specific answer for you, but I'd look into the Sears book called Nighttime Parenting. I'm sure this issue is common enough that they address it.

Good luck!

L.

I agree with all of these.

I leave a little cup of water in the room. If thirsty I go in and give a little drink w/o talking or making eye contact and then lay him back down and walk out.

If he's just fussy I don't usually check.

It sounds horrible but sometimes you have to let them cry it out and eventually the habit will be broken.

Put Gerber baby cereal in with the milk or formula of the bedtime bottle. Just make sure to slice the opening of the nipple to make it larger. I would put about 3 inches of the dry cereal in a large bottle & then add milk or formula & shake. It always worked for me. He would sleep for 12 hours straight. It was heaven. Good luck,

C.

It is difficult to hear your little one cry, but by not going in to "rescue" her, she will develop self-reliance, and will gain valuable skills that she will use as an adult. It won't take long-few nights-and she will be able to soothe herself back to sleep. Be prepared, however, because the first night will be brutal. It will get worse, but them will get better.

Also, falling asleep with a bottle is very harmful for her teeth. The milk stays in the mouth, allowing bacteria to overgrow damaging teeth.

Good Luck!

I have had five children and don't remember having a problem with any of them but two of my grandchildren have this problem and they are around the same age. One is 15 mo and the other is 10 mo. One was breast fed and one was not. What I have done with they were with me is to make sure a bottle of apple or grape juice was handy for them to get to at night. The pacifier was used for one as well. Hope this gives you a little more sleep. I used to use the night time to affirm how precious this time was and try to cherish each moment because it is so short.

Hey I am a single mother of three kids a son 6 years old a 2 little girls a 2 year old and a 1 year old, and my one year old is constanly waking up for a bottle and if it slips out of her mouth then she whines until she finds it in bed, i am having a lot of trouble with this, my 2 year old was the same way and she ended up getting caps on her front teeth a month before she made 2 and threw her cup away after that so i am trying to do something before she ends up with them too.

How does she eat throughout the day? If she's not getting enough then perhaps that is why she is waking so much during the night. I don't think that you should give her the bottles, but don't just go in and stand there either. When she initially wakes up, give her 3-4 minutes and see if she can put herself back to sleep. If she's not alseep within that time frame, go in and check on her--but I wouldn't give her the bottle as it will become more and more of a habit and she will expect it.