Is our baby behind??
amri24
member
Our baby is almost 15 1/2 months old - still takes bottles, wakes at night, and refuses to go back in his bed after he wakes around 3am.
He still takes bottles, milk warmed. We've tried a few different sippys with warmed milk, but he wont take more than a few sips if that many. He drinks water out of a sippy with no problem ? but isn?t a big drinker to begin with. I don?t want to just go cold turkey because I want him to drink something, but is that what we need to do?? He also wakes at night for a bottle. After that bottle he wont go back in his bed.
We are starting some things with him this weekend but I feel like we have to work on one thing at a time and honestly it never feels like a "good time" > I don?t want him to be even more upset in the middle of teething, etc.
Any advice??
Re: Is our baby behind??
I've always done cold turkey with dropping the bottles and it's always worked.
It won't be the end of the world if he refuses milk in the sippy for a few days. He can get dairy from yogurt or cheese until he catches on that the bottles are gone.
The waking is unnecessary, in my opinion. He's old enough to get through the night with out a bottle/cup of warm milk. Now it's most likely just a habbit. It's up to you if you want to keep it up. It's going to be hard no matter when you start, so I wouldn't keep pushing it off.
Good luck!
I would definitely start sleep training. He needs to sleep (and so do you!).
As far as bottles go, LO still uses a small one to fall asleep for her nap and bedtime. Otherwise, she is completely against them and only uses sippy cups with straws. She seems to use it for comfort. However, we want to take them away asap. She is currently teething (cut 8 teeth this month!) so we are waiting until she's finished to completely remove them. Can't wait!
Every baby is different, but at the end of the day, being off bottles and getting enough sleep are more important than your level of comfort, kwim? GL
This exactly.
Is he behind? No he is not. Because your on the bump and many moms here post what stage their LO is on or post how they can sleep through the night etc etc. It might feel like it.
I had more I was going to type but didn't want to get into a flame war. But I will tell you between 15 and 18m is the prime time for change after 18m they are in a new developmental miles stone. The beginning of terrible two's for example. If you want to go slow start by warming the milk less and less and also by giving less when he wakes up. Not everyone wants to go cold turkey, but sometimes it is necessary depending on your child personality.
I still nurse at night, I have used dr gorden to help the nonstop nursing but I haven't cut her off completely yet. Having nursing as a tool for comfort during teething is better then giving her meds.
No, it doesn't have to be done. These concepts are unique to the last three decades and in a small area of the world's population. Please do what is best for you, your child, and your family. That may be to follow what is commonly marketed in the US and a few other countries. It may be to follow the 'old days' of parenting that is still followed in the massive majority of the world. Or it might be a mixture of them both or neither.
Please do what is best for your, not what some people who don't know you or your child think or did for their child.
This!!!
He's not behind. If you made him do it, he would. It's hard, but you have to do it. He'll cry and so will you. Good luck, but it will make your life a lot easier.
Now he's had a bottle only for his nap and bedtime, and it's been perfectly fine. I think he likes these cups because they are see through, and he isn't getting a cup expecting water in it, but actually getting milk. He looks at the cup, then takes a drink.
As for night wakings, we're currently at 1 to 2 a night. He has always gone back and forth. He started STTN at 7 weeks, stopped at 4mo, started again at 9.5mo, stopped at 13mo, and he hasn't been STTN consistently since then. We brought him back into our bed 3 weeks ago, and that helped for a couple nights. But, honestly I think he's hungry or going through a growth spurt.
There's nothing wrong with your child. There's not going to be some permanent life altering damage done to him because he didn't drop the bottle at 1 year exactly. It's also completely normal for night wakings to happen until two. What you do with them is up to you, but don't ever let someone talk you into doing something you're not comfortable with just because you think there's "something wrong"
LO isn't behind. I would try working on getting LO to STTN first - try amping up the amount of food LO is eating during the day at the same time. Make sure to get in a good amount of meals and also make sure to give at least two snacks a day. With both of my girls, I found that they were making up for what they weren't eating during the night with the bottles.
I think once you get LO to sleep through the night, then I would try weaning off of the bottles. DD#2 didn't want anything to do with milk in her sippy - she drank water just fine. I enticed her by using vanilla flavored almond milk - figuring that what little bit she may have gotten in, at least it has a lot more calcium. It worked for us and within a week I had switched her to milk by slowly adding it to the almond milk.
Number one step though, don't let yourself get stressed out about it. Encourage baby, but take cues from LO as well.
Good luck.
Yep!
I'd go cold turkey with it all. I'm convinced at this age they are teething 95% of the time. I frankly wouldn't let that be an excuse. When he wakes at 3, I'd go in, tell him it's not wake up time yet, lay him back down, and leave the room.
Good luck. Sounds like it's time for some tough love, imo.