Alternative Ways to Put Baby to Bed Without Bottle

My second, and only completely bottle fed baby, loved to have a bottle especially at night and didn't really care what was in it. Milk can cause some very bad tooth decay even if he's not sucking at the bottle all night so I just put water in his night time bottle. We were both happy and he didn't have any tooth damage, well at least not from the bottle but that's a whole different story.

when I was trying to get my babies off of bottles: My doctor advised that I dilute the milk in the bottle for bedtime with water and that the baby would stop wanting it. It worked for both my kids to stop taking the bottle at bedtime, so maybe it could work for you?

only put water in the bottle to lay him down. That way, he is eating during the day and not at night. This will also insure no cavities are formed by the sugar in milk.

We had a similar issue w/ my daughter as I nursed her to bed every night until 8 1/2months....

Short answer, don't let him fall asleep eating, and feed him, then read or something relaxing before bed. Get into a short, but predictible routine to put inbetween food and bed. You can also try a pacifier so he still can suck as he sleeps.

It took a while. I would feed her with the lights on, and try to keep her up. Then I would hold her and read her some books - or/and sing to her for about 5 minutes. Then I'd dim the lights, lie her in her crib and say night-night, mommy loves you. She would cry and I couldn't just leave her (against my instinct). I would stay and rub her back, and/or sit next to her. i wouldn't talk though. Then I began to just sit with her. It took a while and was tough, but she knew I was there and eventually got used to the routine. Hang in there - you need to do what is right for you and your baby.

Healthy Sleep Habit, Happy Child by Dr. Marc Weissbluth. You can better stand some crying when you understand the process of trying to help your child develop self-soothing habits that will aid him for life. Besides the necessity of your baby learning to go to sleep on his own, there are significant dental reasons to not put him to bed with a bottle. My friend gave her son a bottle at night for quite some time (when do you actually stop it if you're always used to doing it?) and by the time he was two years old he had to have surgery to do work on his teeth. They had to knock him out, since there's no way he would stay still and mouth open for filling 5 cavities in his baby teeth. So sad to waste time, money, and put you and your child through such an ordeal. I would strongly recommend stopping. He'll learn as long as you stay consistent. Best wishes!

I don't have time to read all of the other responses, so I apologize if this is a repeat.

Slowly water down the bottle. Put about 10% water, 90% formula/milk (if that is what you are currently giving him). Work to 20/80...then 30/70...keep putting more water in and less milk. Eventually you will get to just a bottle of water. Once he has just water, either move him to a sippy cup of water - which is not a big deal if he is not sucking on it to go to sleep, but rather just likes to have it near for occasional drinks - or cut out the bottle of water cold turkey.

It will feel kinda like a long process, but it should go fairly smoothly and won't be too traumatic for him. He'll get used to it. He will learn to put himself to sleep. It is a good idea to start this before he is 1....much easier than waiting.

First of all, the cry it out method doesn't mean that your baby will or has to cry for hours and hours. If you aren't wanting to go that route, I think it could help him to ease him into this. First, I would suggest slowly offering the bottle earlier, while he is still awake. When he is finished with the bottle, you can put him down, and just make it earlier and earlier so that the bottle isn't related to bedtime any more.
If diluting it works, that is great, but you do run the risk of him just wanting the bottle even if there is only water in it. That is much better for him than the milk, but still creates the dependence.

Good luck!!

edit: "daughter" - where did I come up with that? Sorry P.!

Hi P. - I totally understand your dilemma. My first was textbook and never went down with a bottle but loved his binky and wouldnt go to sleep without it. My second was never interested in a binky so he loved to fall asleep at the breast and eventually with a bottle.

I think he was more attached to his bottle because he didnt take a binky. I have to say that my second was uncannily easy to put to bed and I was very thankful for it. My sister called it the "dump and run". We would cuddle a little while after putting on jammies and then he preferred to be put in his crib with a bottle and left alone until he fell asleep. We were careful about it. We were very good about brushing teeth 2x day and I always removed his bottle from bed once he was asleep.

My second turned out just fine even though we did everything "wrong" according to the experts about letting him fall asleep with his bottle so truthfully, I suggest that you do whatever you think is best and works best for your situation. You are his mom and it really isnt up to any of us to tell you what to do.

I was grateful that my son was so easy at bedtime. At the time, I was exhausted and feeling pretty overwhelmed about having 2 boys and working and volunteering and just doing life. It seemed like a little gift of favor from God.

My advice would be to trust your mom-sense. Consider the advice you receive, talk it over with your husband and then follow a course that is right for your family.

I know you and your hubby will do what is best for your daughter - it's just what we moms and dads do.

Best of all things,

C.

Definitely try to transition him to water in the bottle instead of milk or juice. You can water down his juice or even his milk, little by little. My husband is a dentist and he really has a hard time when 1 yr olds come in with severe tooth decay--or "bottle mouth". The parents just couldn't handle taking away the bottle at bedtime, and so their child had to go through a lot of discomfort, not to mention hundreds of dollars of repair work. Brush your baby's teeth when he gets up while you are transitioning to water. Good luck! I know it's hard, but it will be worth it in the long run!

I dunno. I'm just guessing.
here is my idea.
put less in the bottle. not much less, just maybe 1/2 oz or so. a few nights later, decrease it a tiny more. this will take a while. you don't want to cut him off! I'm taking it he is not hungry. its a comfort thing, right?
this didn't happen over night and it won't be remedied overnight either. just gradually decrease the amount. one night it will have clicked that the bottle is not worth his trouble and effort and he will just not bother.

be sure NOT to replace the bottle with the binky! just let him work out what to do on his own when the bottle is empty, just like now.

its okay.
hang in there.
and good for you for not wanting to hear him wail! that is a heart wrenching sound for a reason. thank you for responding to it!
:)
A.

We did not ween our son from the breast/bottle until 16 months so I am curious what is driving you to want to ween a 9 month old off a bottle. I will assume the problem is that the bottle in bed with him and he can suck on it all night if he wants (which then leads to the concern of him chocking in the middle of the night on a bottle). Why not a pacifier? I see other postings about no pacifier but if he has not had one before, you can associate it with nighttime only very easily and he cannot leave the crib with it. This will be much safer.

I didnt read all your responses but dont put juice in the bottle to sleep. The sugary juice sits on his teeth and will cause cavities later on. My nephews both had to have juice to sleep and both had horrible front teeth and eventually had to have them pulled. Does your little guy take a pacifier?? One bad habit for another ;) Just wanted to share the ugly juice story. Good luck!!

When you are putting him to bed with a bottle is he hungry? If you are feeding him at bedtime try moving his feeding a little earlier then put him down right afterwards while he is sleepy. If it is comfort try giving him some luke warm water in a bottle. Try getting him a sippy cup of water that he only gets at bedtime or just leave it the way it is and he will slowly wean as he is weaned from the bottle. My kids all went to sleep with a bottle but once we dropped the bottle cold turkey there wasn't an issue because they knew the bottle was completely gone so crying got them no where

The best book I've ever purchased is called The NO Cry Sleep Solution, and it is amazing - helpful with situations like this. It would say that your baby's only sleep cue is the bottle and that you need something else, like a blanket or story (a simple bed time routine) to help your baby understand that its time to go to bed. I would suggest picking the book up for some great ways to help your baby get to sleep without the crying.

I had this issue with my DS1 (except that I nursed/rocked him to sleep every night) 'til he was 15 months old. (Eek, I know!) I tried the techniques in the Elizabeth Pantley book and--though I think it's a great book--they didn't quite work for us. What did was this other book: 'Good Night, Sleep Tight' by Kim West and Joanne Kenen. (more at www.sleeplady.com)

My DH wanted to make our son cry it out and I refused. Well, actually I said HE could do it if he wanted to but that I wasn't going to be in the house when he was doing it...it'd be all on him. He never did. ;) So, obviously, I'm happy to hear you're not going that route!

The Sleep Lady's method is very gentle & loving, and it really does work. My son cried a *bit* but the first night or two I lay next to the crib and held his hand through the slats and sang to him. With this method you are right there the whole time and can pick up your baby whenever they get upset. And it still works. :)

Best of luck to you!

I give my daughter (18 months) a bottle about 30 min before bedtime. I give it to her downstairs and let her walk around with it. After the 30 min, or if she falls asleep, I switch it out for a binky. Then I put her to bed. I like knowing she's sleeping on a full tummy.

She started getting ear infections when going to bed with a bottle. I'm not sure why.

(If you're even more worried about his teeth:)
When you take the bottle away, quickly wipe your baby's gums/teeth with a damp washcloth or quickly brush the front of his teeth with a small tooth brush. Baby will complain and wake up...but just pop that binky right in and baby will fall right back asleep. Just make sure you do it fast.

get a binky that's shaped like the nipple on his bottle. In his sleepy state, he won't know the difference even if he doesn't like binky's yet.

I just want to second the book, the No Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. It really helps with exactly these issues. I nursed my daughter to sleep for a long time and the book was so helpful! Hang in there!

i'm no expert, but here's what worked with my 2 little girls... (now 22 mos and 3) We slowly put less and less milk in the bottle and tried to withhold the bottle over time. They fuss and cry but eventually get used to any changes. We'd also put water in the bottle, first watering-down the milk then transitioning to just water. Our concern was tooth decay from the milk and our pediatrician said water was fine. Once the cranky transition period of bottle weaning was over, we realized they just wanted to cuddle before bedtime, so we'd hold them in the rocker in the dark and get them settled without bottle, then put them in their crib and sometimes rubbed their backs to comfort them and show them we're still there and eventually walk away quietly. It takes time for all these transitions to work but they do eventually. Hang in there!!! I know the crutch methods are easier for baby and you, but not relying on crutches turns out better for everybody. I'm a believer.

Please DO NOT dilute a bottle of formula!!! That can be so dangerous for your baby!! Possibly deadly. Other than that, you have some good suggestions. I never let my kids "cry it out" and as a result, did co-sleeping. I'm also guilty of nursing to sleep and sometimes giving a bottle to sleep. If he seems like he needs to suck, try a bottle of water or pacifier. My daughter used to fall asleep with a bottle of water only in the car. My son became a thumb sucker, ugh! Its a lot of trial and error to figure out the best way to wean him off the bottle to sleep. Good luck

I have five children. The real problem with babies having bottles at bedtime is the tooth decay, so really you need to stop him from having milk but not necessarily from having a bottle. My kids all went to bed with a bottle with some water after they were about your son's age and my 2 1/2 year old still wants a sippy cup of water but doesn't drink much of it.

These are some suggestions. Take the approach as weaning rather than a sudden change of his routine until he is has water instead of milk. If he always wants that drink it will be okay because he won't fall asleep with sugar on his teeth.

- Start watering down the milk/formula with 1/4 water, then 1/2 then 3/4 water then all water. Let him adjust to the difference 2-3 days at a time. If he really is hungry, needs the calories or really wants that milk give it to him just before bed then give water when you lay him down.

- After that you can try less and less water in the bottle so that he runs out before too long. He may get to the point that if he does not want a bottle at all. Mine never did, but I'm okay with that.

My 2 1/2 year old still wants a sippy cup at night. When he asks for milk I take him to the kitchen and tell him to drink some so we can put it in the fridge. I tell him we have to put it away because he can't have food in his room or outside of the kitchen.

We had the same issue and is what worked for us with our litte girl was I started only putting water in her bottle to go to bed eventually she quit wanting her bottle. Good luck!!