How to take the bed time bottle away from a 22 month old ???

My son refuses to go to sleep at night without his bottle of milk !!!! He can go all day with no bottle but when we go to bed he freaks !! I have tried putting milk in a sippy but he just cries : ( We have always put his bottle between the pillows and so does he so when he wakes up he knows that is where his bottle is then when he is done he always puts it back there so it dont spill. So when we go to bed with no bottle he throws the pillows looking and crying for his bottle. So then I give in and go make a bottle and he goes right off to sleep. I need some serious help because I am worried that his front teeth are starting to buck : (

How to take the bed time bottle away from a 22 month old ???
we gave our son 2 drinks together. the milk was in an open cup and the bottle had water. if he wanted the bottle, it only had water in. to get the milk, he had to use the cup. the first night he didn't have much of either (plenty other drinks during the day). he soon learned to have his milk from the cup. we had a little rhyme "milk and teeth and bed" and he still says this at bedtime now. keep the bedtime bottle as it won't spill, but only for water.
Reply:it's like stealing candy from a baby. you just swipe it out of his mouth and hands and walk away. let him cry. he'll get over it. it's a baby for god's sake. who's running the show?
Reply:Gradually water down the milk until it is nothing but water. He probably will lose interest then.
Reply:It is quite simple. Apply some bitter taste liquid or any thing to the nipple and when baby takes it, due to that abnormal taste, it will avoid taking milk in the night.
Reply:You need to stand firm. Of course he cries and carries on, he knows it will get you to give him his bottle. Unfortunately, you are trained (for lack of a better word) better than he is. He has you trained that when he cries, you give him his bottle.





I would suggest changing his entire bedtime routine. Take away the pillow and get him something new and exciting like a teddy bear or pillow shaped animal.... Change his bedtime routine to include having the bottle in your lap, while you read him a story. Let him know that he can't have the milk in bed, so he needs to drink it down now.


Then place him in bed, kiss him, sing to him, what ever you normally do. And leave. Do not go back in. If he cries you could go in pick him up, hug him and tell him you love him. If he is able to express to you that he wants milk, sit down on a chair with him, allowing him to drink from his bottle. Then take the bottle away, place him in his crib, and do not come back in. You are only allowed back in one time and only for the first few times. After that, he is just pushing your buttons.





The key to teaching your son that you mean business is actually meaning business. If you cave, he will know you will cave and then you are in trouble. This is just the tip of the iceberg. Put your foot down now. Let him know that crying doesn't get you anything you want. I know he is only 2 and communication is limited anyway.... but still.


The only other thing you can do, which is less hostile is ween the milk down.


Slowly fill the bottle with milk and water. Every night add 2 oz of water and 2 less oz of milk. Eventually you will have all water or gross tasting milk. And he won't want it. Then you switch to all water. This will soon be something he doesn't want at all. Then you just take away the bottle completely.


You let him get to this point, you are going to have to stand tough to fix it.


Good luck.
Reply:I hate to sound like a jerk, but let him cry. He will fall asleep. In a few days or a week he will know that the bottle of milk is a no-go. You just have to stick it out, hearing him cry will be tough but be strong.
Reply:I have to agree with the first anwer, just take it away! explain why you are doing this and try to replace with a snack that he loves. Give him his favorite food and say that he his getting it because he's now a big boy and this is better than the bottle. But if he keeps asking and crying for it, don't give the snack. sometimes you have to be tough and let them cry, he will eventually go to sleep. Of course it may take some time, but tough it out...don't do it just so he shuts up.
Reply:I know other people will have good ideas about what to do but I think that at 22 months its nothing to worry about just yet. Between now and 30 months just slowly go without the milk and replace with water , milk in a bottle while a baby is sleeping is not good for developing teeth. Its not the milk that the baby wants its the bottle , just make sure he is not hungry at bed time and try the water and keep at it. The habit is hard to break and the baby will always cry as long as he knows you will crack under the pressure. When you do go all out try it on a day when you don't have to work for a couple of days because you may not get much sleep. The same gos for a lot of little kids when trying to take away a blanket or a binkie as my kids called it. It will take a little time and perseverance on your part but it will happen.





Good Luck to you.
Reply:When I started dating my husband, his son was 21 months old and also still drinking a bedtime bottle. I explained to my then-boyfriend that this was bad for his son's teeth. He took the bottle away that night and didn't give him another one. Of course, my step-son threw a fit when he didn't get what he wanted, but my man stood firm and won the battle. My step-son also wouldn't drink milk at all for weeks after that, but we got over that hurdle by giving him Nestle Quik in strawberry and chocolate. He didn't realize it was milk at first and eventually we started using less and less of the Nestle. Now, he drinks plain milk twice a day! Good luck. It's tough, but it is for his best interests.
Reply:What you should be concerned about is the fact that the milk is not refrigerated overnight, and the cavities he could be developing by leaving the milk on his teeth long enough for bacteria to start going to town on his teeth.





Throw the bottle away, he's about six months to a year too old to have one anyway. Let him help you.





Get him some sippy cups (or regular cups -- my oldest used sippies for a long time, but the little one went to regular cups by his second birthday, and I would recommend it, because it just gives you another fight to have at some later time). Let him choose his cups, with his favorite characters or animals or sports or whatever on them.





Then, give him WATER at bedtime. For the rest of his life, water only after he brushes his teeth at night.





He's going to throw a fit, so just prepare yourself and get rid of every bottle in the house so you aren't tempted to give in. For almost two years, he's gotten to do something one way. It's going to be hard for him to give it up, but it's one of the many things in our children's lives that is good for them, even though they REALLY hate it at the time. Be firm, deal with whatever tantrums he throws your way, encourage him (in an upbeat way) to drink from his new cup, and after one to three weeks, he'll figure out there is no bottle coming his way and he's wasting his time, and take the cup at night.





And by "tantrums", I mean give in for NO reason. Don't assume, because on the first night he cried for an hour, that it's impossible and give in. All that accomplishes is to let him think it's worth his time and effort to put in a really bad tantrum, because if he's persistant enough, he'll get what he's wanting. It won't hurt him to cry, even for a very long time, at first. It will, however, hurt him to have a nightly cavity-making habit.
Reply:Today's parents truly amaze me - including you. Why in the world are you allowing a nearly 2 year old to tell you what to do!!!!!!!!!!!!! You are the parent and you need to step up to the plate and start acting like one!!!


Have your son throw ALL of the bottles in the garbage (this way he knows they are gone), get him a new stuffed animal for bed time and go on with life!!!


YOU are NOT his friend - YOU are his MOTHER!
Reply:22 months! He should of been weaned off bottles by age 1. Just throw the bottle away. You'll have to do it cold turkey and he'll get over it.
Reply:try his own big boys cup



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