Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

DD's bedtime routine includes drinking her bottle in her room in the glider with the light off. When she is done I put her in the crib. She goes to bed very easily. Sometimes she goes right out or she talks a little and then is out. The bottle seems to relax her and she expects it at night. I'm thinking I should change this. And I'm thinking it better now when she is 12.5 months rather than later b/c the longer I wait maybe the harder it will be. I am worried about her teeth. And second I am trying to wean her from the bottle. I have taken her afternoon bottle away for like 2 weeks now and she is finally drinking 2-3 oz from it compared to completely rejecting it at first. I am still giving her a morning bottle and bedtime bottle right now.

All that said I am scared to take that bedtime bottle away. My fear is messing with her sleep. She sleeps so well that I am scared to mess it up. Any advice? Experiences? What should I replace the bottle routine with? Any one with the same fear?

TIA

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

My daughter always just did things on her time. SHe dropped her naps without us doing it. SHe was ready for solids without us pushing it, and she dropped her morning bottle on her own at 15months. About 3wks ago I was trying to decide if I shouold drop the night bottle, but she won't drink milk out of anything else. All of a sudden she just stopped taking her night bottle. It's been 3wks and we have had no problems at all. She was ready. I, personally, think 12.5months is young to drop the night bottle and would drop the morning bottle first. Good luck!

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?

Around one year we stopped the bedtime bottle. We had the same routine as you (bottle in her room in the rocker, lights dim). We did it slowly.....started off by starting the bottle downstairs in the living room and then walking upstairs and finishing it in is bedroom. Over the course of 2 weeks, we eventually let him finish the bottle downstairs and bought him right up to bed and then started waiting even longer to bring him up and eventually made it a dinner bottle (2 hours before bed). The whole process worked very well with no issues.

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

We just went through this!

When my daughter turned about 12 months, we took away daytime bottles and she very successfully transitioned to sippy cups. We kept the bedtime bottle because it was part of her routine. The first thing we did was keep hte light on in the nursery with the bottle so she wouldn't fall asleep. Then we introduced brushing teeth- right after she finished the bottle, we would head to the bathroom to brush teeth, come back to her room, turn off the light, and glide and sing for a minute or two. We waited until after vacation (and a 5 day blackout) to switch to a cup. We picked a sippy cup with a straw, because she gets the most milk from that one. We started last week and she didn't even protest. She just drank the milk, in the glider like the bottle was given, and then we did the rest of the routine. I was surprised she didn't care, because she did have a word for bottle and ask for it. She didn't really seem too upset. I started also to call it "milk" instead of "bottle" so she would still get her milk, and we didn't remind her of the bottle.

She is 16 months this week and off the bottle at night!

Re: Taking bottle out of bedtime routine?i

We started giving my daughter her morning milk in her favorite sippy cup with straw when she turned 14 months, about a week after that we noticed she was not drinking much of her evening bottle, so we switched to a sippy cup. The first few days with the evening bottle missing she asked for it but when i showed her where the bottles used to be and they replaced with sippy cups, she said milk and pointing..... Now a few days shy of 15 months she doesnt ask for a 'baba" anymore. my dr. told us to remove all evidence of bottles that way they dont see it and start asking again once you start to wean them off.