Bedtime Bottle issues 8 months old

Wishing35

My girls are 8 months old and crawling like crazy! Very exciting but also making things a bit dificult. At night the routine is bath,pj's white noise, starry night machine and then their bottle which we give to them while they lay on their twin z pillow. The last few nights have been crazy I'll get one on the pillow and while I grab the other the first one is crawling away etc. Once I wrangle both on they are still squirming and trying to break loose. I work evenings and only put them to bed 2 nights a week and DH is on his own the rest of the time. Anyone have any tips to make this easier? I dont feel they are ready to have the last bottle yet downstairs in their highchairs ,as they usually fall asleep when they finish and it seems to help them relax and wind down. They get plenty of floor time during the day as well.

wille2b

Could you try giving them the bottle in their own cribs with a boppy or some other kind of pillow? That's what we did with our twins(and still do actually) and it has worked great. That way if they fall asleep with their bottle you just take it away and they are asleep. When I started this I also sat in their room on the floor until they were done just to ensure they were actually eating and not playing

4legsRbest

wille2b said:

Could you try giving them the bottle in their own cribs with a boppy or some other kind of pillow? That's what we did with our twins(and still do actually) and it has worked great. That way if they fall asleep with their bottle you just take it away and they are asleep. When I started this I also sat in their room on the floor until they were done just to ensure they were actually eating and not playing

This is exactly what we started doing with our DS when he was about 10 months and was no longer interested in being rocked to sleep. I think it helped to teach him how to fall asleep on his own too, so it was a double win. I woudl stand there and wait for him to finish though and hand him his paci, beucase he would wake up in the middle of the night and find the empty bottle, then go ape sh!t. Not good.

Wishing35

Mine don't hold their bottles yet. They try and I know they can do it but the wind up turning it upside down and playing with them and making a mess!

dmurrie

I only have singleton experience to go on so far (twins are still inside), so definitely feel free to take anything I say with a grain of salt. As DD got older, she started getting more riled up than relaxed by baths, so she's had only morning baths for a while now. That being said, she was also an eczema baby, so she's never had daily baths. As part of the daily ritual, they might not react the same way. At that age (with just the one), I think our routine was bottle in the living room, brush teeth/wipe down gums, then into the darkened bedroom to change diaper and into PJs and slather with Vaseline (again, eczema baby, but any lotion probably feels good and relaxing), sing a little lullaby, hugs and kisses, binky, and crib. I might try the bottles in the high chair thing... it might not be ideal, but it would at least keep them contained. Once they reach the movers and shakers phase any stationary activity with just one was more difficult. I can't imagine trying to convince 2 crawlers at the same time that they want to stay still and drink their milk. This us going to be an interesting adventure.

Wishing35

Thanks, I may have to try that and just start a new bedtime routine. I guess I would be in a few months anyhow once they turn one and aren't really doing bottles anymore.