Baby Bottle Blues

Don't worry, your child has a normal need to suck for his psychological health. The average age for weaning in the world is 5 years! I know that seems long to us here in the US, but in other country's it is not. If he was breast fed, which I assume he was not, he may still be night nursing and getting his confort that way. Both of my children weaned by the time they were 2 years old from the breast. We did not use any bottles, they went right to a cup for water. He will wean when he is ready.
B. S. RN CCM

Hey S.
I know how many ped. like for them to give the bottle up at 12 months,but both of my girls did not! My youngest just gave it up around 20 months, because she did not have it while at her grandparents and had to use a cup. After that she would aske for one,but I give her a big girl cup with milk instead!! I believe they will give it up, some just may take a little longer than others. Do not stress and you will find that one day when you ask if they want a cup they will say yes!! Good Luck!!
C.
www.forourkidz.fourpointwellenss.com
www.forourkidz.fourpointmoms.com

Whatever you do, don't let him cry and scream for hours. That kind of stress can have long-term physical and psychological effects on a child. It's not good for him or you.

Never put anything besides water in a bottle or cup for him at naptime or before bed. He should always sleep with clean teeth; otherwise, he'll get cavities.

His bottle has probably just become his security thing. I wouldn't worry about it. There's nothing wrong with being flexible (don't think of it as giving in; what you're doing is recognizing a need). He will eventually grow out of it. Meanwhile, you can always help him to attach to a different object, like a special blanket, pillow or stuffed animal. Just cuddle with him and the object, and let him cuddle with it in calm, happy moments. Or you can read the advice for "weaning" a child off of a thing in Outsmarting Your Toddler. I can't remember the author's name, but the advice was great. Just remember that your son is still just a baby and needs security and comfort. Don't force that away from him.

Good luck!
L.

Does he he know how to drink from a sippy cup? If so then give him that at night. When my daughter was 15 months old she finally figured out those sippy cups. So I took a cup of milk just like I would a bottle go back to her room and rock her like I always did with a cup instead of a bottle. I don't know she ever knew. I just stuck with my same bed time routine and switched from bottle to cup. Might try that if you haven't already. Some children are more attached to bottles and/or pacifiers. I don't think mine was all that attached to a bottle. She never took a pacifier but I will tell you she is four years old now and it still very much attached to her blanket. They all have different security needs. Your little boys security blanket is his bottle. Don't give up just keep trying the cup. If he realizes that he won't get it maybe he will just settle for the cup. I wouldn't sweat it but I would let him know you are in charge. Don't give in. If you don't like to hear him cry for hours like that (I never did) then maybe try rocking him or find a stuffed toy he could latch on to instead of a bottle. Hope this helps you in some way. Good Luck!

Hi,

I know a lot of people think children should follow a time table but I have to say each child is different. If your child isn't ready to give up that bottle and it is still taken away guess what they will turn to. Their thumb, their fingers, sucking a blanket, etc.... My daughter fell and knocked out her front top tooth. She had to go off the bottle cold turkey at 13 or 14 months. She sucked her two middle fingers on her right hand until she was nearly in Jr. High. Her jaw is compressed and from the side she looks weird, of course her teeth are crooked, her fingers are permanently crooked. When we went to check on braces for her the Dr. showed us all the damage she had from the sucking. He explained she had still had the urge to suck when she was little. It is a basic need they are born with for survival. She wasn't ready. I would always take her fingers out of her mouth every time I saw them in there and it was a constant battle for over 9 years. Habits like that are nearly impossible to break.

In all my years of Child Care I only saw a couple of kids with bottle mouth teeth. One was a 3 yr. old who carried a milk bottle around sucking on it ALL the time. The other was a little girl that had poor genetics. Both of her parents had really bad teeth, maybe she just had weak enamel.

If you really want to get your child off the bottle it will take a couple of weeks at most. Get all the bottles "out of site out of mind" and just be strong. Offer his favorite drink in the tippy cup and another drink in the bottle.

If you let the child go ahead and keep the bottle a bit longer but still have concerns then take them to a pediatric dentist, regular dentist's are not experts on baby teeth, ask the dentist for suggestions. I think using Nursery Water from Wal-Mart is a good idea when offering water or juice made from concentrate, brushing their little teeth with the Orajel toddler Training Toothpaste Tooth Paste, it has no fluoride and is safe to swallow. There are lots of things you can do to help protect them from getting horrid teeth.

Been there done that...

What you need to do, plan to do this on a night where you don't work the next day...throw away all the bottles. (buy new ones for your baby later) and tell him bottles are all gone. It will be hard the first night or two, but be strong. If it makes you feel better, I will be doing the same thing soon. My son is 13 months old- will not take a sippy cup I make, totally freaks till I make him a bottle. BUT if we are at church or a playdate he will happily chug another kids sippy cup and drink it down! Little brat! LOL

I agree w/ going cold turkey on the bottles. He is old enough for at least a sippy and definitely a regular cup (admittedly, my own daughter doesn't use the regular cup much...sippys are just so convenient). You could also try cups with straws. I would give him a few days to get used to the idea and tell him that on ___ day all the bottles will be gone. I would steer away from anything right before bed time at all, but a sippy w/ water would be something of a compromise. If he is teething at all, he may also like to have a cold teething ring or something of that nature. If your doc approves, some motrin would be fine. 6 hours seems like a long time, which makes me thing there is something a little more going on than just wanting the bottle, which is why I bring up the teething. I would think if it was just the bottle he would calm down and/or cry himself to sleep within an hour or less...which makes me think that it may be that he was chewing on the nipple to comfort himself/alleviate the pain. Good luck!

Oh, how you learn so much with your first child! Well, first off, I guess you now know not to let your next child use a bottle as a crutch to go to sleep. I thankfully had someone tell me this while my first child was only a few months old and so we never used it to fall asleep. As for this little one, buy some ear plugs for these screaming fits. It's gonna be rough for about 3 or 4 days but that's about all it takes. I would let mine "cry it out." It's called the Ferber Method. I did'nt follow it exactly...it was just a guide. Essentially you put him in his crib to sleep after you've had some close loving time with him. I read books to mine and made sure they knew it was bedtime or naptime. This becomes their cue as to what is coming up next in the routine. He's gonna be ticked off, but leave the room, close the door, put in the ear plugs or walk outside for 5 minutes (use a timer). Then go in and DO NO PICK HIM UP but hug him, lay him back down, tell him it's time to sleep, nite-nite, whatever words you use, when walk out again and shut the door, this time it's 8 or 10 minutes...continue this increasing the time by 3-5 minutes each time and although you'll be an emotional basketcase for 3 or 4 days...it will work...I have twins and had to have it where they could go to sleep without me rocking them until falling asleep (I'd have to have 4 arms!) or without a bottle because I nursed them and once they got bigger it's hard to nurse both at one time. Some may think this is mean, but you do what you have to do, and honestly, you're child going to bed with a milk bottle is not very healthy for his teeth, so I congradulate you on doing the right thing. Good luck!

i have a lot of kids in my family and all the boys took forever to get off the bottle.. if you are going to get rid of it do it do not give it back trash them all and let him see you do it or give them to a new baby.. so he will see they are gone and dont keep one around. he will figure out that he can scream and eventually get the bottle back. but my theory is all boys take until 2 or 3 to get off the bottle..

I definitely think that it is time for him to be off the bottle (my personal opinion only)especially since you have another one on the way! It's going to be much harder to get him to give it up when he sees your new baby using one. My son gave up his bottle at about 11 months, but he had been drinking out of one occasionally since he was at least 8 months. What I would try is to only give him water in a bottle (especially at bedtime and naptime, as milk will rot his teeth) During the day make sure you put his milk in a sippy cup. Eventually he'll get over the desire to have his bottle, but at least this way he gets to fulfill his desires to suck. My best advice would be to try different types of cups. My son hated sippy cups with hard spouts, but LOVED cups with a straw. Try some cups out and figure out what's best for him. Good Luck to you!!