Weaning from bottles and night feeding....

Snugly Ael

Hi Mommies,

My b/g twins are 14 months old and about a month ago we started whole milk for them. They started a month late as we were out of country for a month (to celebrate their first birthday in my hubbys hometown). Now that we've started whole milk I'm really having a hard time.

I'm a SAHM, I don't have any friends or family where I stay. My hubby often travels for work every other week, so that leaves me with the twins alone. When he's not traveling, he works from home, and helps me a lot. I hired help many times, but in vain as my daughter gives me a hard time. I need help and advice from you experienced moms who've already been through this tough road. My questions are -

1. My twins don't like whole milk. They like to have milk when we add a little flavor to it. Chocolate milk for instance. My ped said she'll give me a sample of enfagrow formula, so that I can mix it with whole milk. How long would this really take?
2. They still take formula and drink from bottles at night, mostly. In mornings they drink whole milk in a cup, while I hold the straw for them. I tried giving them sippy cups, but they hardly drink from it and spill the rest. I've tried many spill proof sippys and none has worked well. How do I make them drink their milk in sippy by themselves?
3. They still wake up at nights for feedings. 2-3 times. My ped said they wake up for me and not milk, but when I don't give them their formula they cry endlessly and keep pointing towards the nightstand where I keep their formula and bottles. My ped wants me to stop night feedings and wants me to give them only water when they wake up. But how? They don't drink it and cry endlessly.
4. My daughter is a very picky eater. There are days she'll eat well and days she won't. How do I make her eat well? She loves bread, pasta, cheese, butter etc but I can't give her the same things everyday, and she likes to eat what we eat. She is weighs lighter than her brother. My hubby feels we aren't feeding the twins as much as the other babies eat. He says he's seen babies who complete an entire bowl of food and if they are fussy eaters, the mother forces them. I don't like forcing my kids to eat. And I even tried it once with my daughter, she spit the food out and cried until I kept the bowl down. How should I make her eat and love food?

I feel miserable and many times I feel I'm at fault. Make be I'm not being too strict with them. My son is getting his molars and he's become very cranky and demanding lately. I'm having a really hard time managing these two alone. Please advice momma's.

pillowass

I would do a little sleep training if I were you. We used Ferber, which includes a chapter on night weaning, and it has been a complete lifesaver. I realize sleep training is not for everyone but the situation you describe (waking up 2-3 times per night) has got to be taking an awful toll on you physically and mentally and that has to be a consideration.

Another great book on infant/toddler feeding is Child of Mine: Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter Her philosophy is that we can't control whether or how much our kids eat and we shouldn't try. Our job as parents is to offer them healthy food and trust them to regulate their intake in a way that is right for them. Forcing kids to eat is never a good idea!

I have no advice on the transition to whole milk, but I would recommend that you keep offering the sippy cup, even if it's just once a day at first - they will get the hang of it. Good luck!

carrotcake06

I agree w PPs.

Mastering sippies takes time - it took my oldest at least 2-3 weeks to get the hang of it. I've always gone straight to whole milk, mostly bc I nursed and it was a clean break from bottles but I also continued to nurse when the switch to sippies was made. So I don't have a lot of experience w that.

As far as eating, just keep offering. Keep it low stress - if your DD doesn't want it, that's okay. Toddlers are actually really good at self regulating. Offer a sippy w meals also. Again, low stress. They learn through play, so let them explore and play w the sippies.

Sleeping is rough. My oldest is an awful sleeper, to this day. We did all manner of sleep training and I can't say there was a magic answer for us. Most people have success w sleep training, though. Even if you don't want to do CIO, there are lots of good techniques about establishing routines and winding down from the day that you could try.

MH travels a lot, too. It's really, really hard. No advice, bc we struggle I struggle w finding a work/life balance - especially when he travels. There isn't enough of me to go around during those weeks.

Hang in there.

mrs.peeps

Hang in there!  The pp gave some great advice--you can do this!  Several teachers that I work with swear by Moms on Call  I have never used them but the other Moms I work with have said that their online tutorials and books have changed their lives and have helped so much with sleep issues.  Maybe check it out?  

My ds also had a hard time switching from formula to milk.  I finally realized it was because the milk was cold (I used to warm up his formula for him).  So for a few weeks I warmed the whole milk until he got used to it.  And I probably tried every sippy cup on the market for my first set of twins.  It took awhile to find a cup that they liked.  Maybe try a different type of cup?  

Good luck!  

Wishing35

I had a lot of anxiety with the switch to milk and real foods, it's been about 2 months and things have gotten much better. My girls hated milk at first. What I did was stick with bottles at first to keep them comfortable with it and I mixed formula and milk. For example day 1 I did 6 ounces formula 2 milk. Each day I would increase the ratio of milk slightly until they where getting all milk , this took about 2 weeks. I still warm it up because they hate it cold. Once they made the switch to straight milk I worked on the bottles. I tried so many different ones! A lot of them are really hard even for me to get liquid from. Someone suggested Nuby cups and I got the step 1 cups which have a soft spout and it is so easy for them to get liquid from that this is what we are sticking with for now. I give them a cup first thing in the morning, and one with lunch. We do water at snacks dinner and in between and we are still doing a last bedtime bottle. As far as food goes mine eat almost the same things all the time so don't feel bad about that! I try new things but honestly they just throw them and I'd rather give them things I know they like. They love carrots, peas, mozzarella cheese sticks, yogurt, chicken nuggets,ac and cheese, scrambled eggs etc. I noticed they definitely eat a lot more in the mornings and towards the end of the day they are just not that hungry anymore. I just try not to worry about it too much, if it becomes a battle we leave the table. As far as night weaning I did not have that issue but I think once you get through that they may eat more solids. I don't know how you feel about CIO but I think I would either try that or just giving a bottle of water during the night. It will be a rough few days but once they realize they're not getting it anymore they
May start sleeping through. I'd probably work on this issue first, I think trying to do everything at once will make it way harder on all of you. Good luck and just remember they will not there is no reason to rush it all at once, sometimes it's easier to do it one small step at a time.

Snugly Ael

Thank you so much mommies! With your advices I've succeeded in reducing night feedings for my son. I'm taking one step at a time. I'm starting with my son as he doesn't seem to have a problem with bottles, and then I'll move to my daughter.

As for the whole milk, my pediatrician gave me enfagrow samples. I'm gonna see how that goes with them.

My son was sleep trained and I used the CIO method. But when we were out of country for a month his habits changed. It's a battle to start all this again. I plan to first get them STTN and not wake up for feedings and then would start sleep training them, again. It's exhausting how a toddler's habit changes in a vacation!

And I feel honored to be a part of this group and have all you mommies who always come around for help and advice. Thank you so much.

@sing4mysavior‌: Thank you so much for your advice. I really appreciate you replying to all my problems/queries. It's always nice to hear from you and you always have something great to say. Thank you!