So many things I said I wouldn't do.

JenniferTCU

First, I said my son would never sleep in our bed. He's been there since December. Last night, after being kicked 5 times in an hour, I put him in his crib. I slept on the floor next to the crib so I could soothe him back to sleep if he woke up (it happened twice).

Second, I said I wouldn't allow him to have a bottle after the age of 1. Well, he's 20 months old and still needs a bottle to fall asleep.

Any words of wisdom for switching both undesirable behaviors? Thank you!

vanverth

I think that you did a great job with the first one. 

I have no insight on the second.

Pesky

Start putting water in the bottle instead of milk.  then gradually switch to a sippy or straw sippy with water.  DS lost interest in his bottle once it had water in it.

 And I have no advice for you considering DS was in our bed last night because I was tired of getting up.  Maybe keep doing what you did and gradually moving out of the room.  Do he have a special blankie or stuffed animal to soothe himself with?  DS has his blankies and his elmo.  I also gave him a flat pillow so he feels more cozy. 

BrideBuddies

C is nearly 19 months and we JUST went a week without a bottle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

I now believe it was more of a mommy hang-up than him.  I had always worried so much that he wasn't getting enough to drink that the bottle was a way of forcing that.  But even though he's drinking less, his diapers are still plenty wet.  I was also giving him a bottle at bedtime, but it seems he really doesn't need it anymore.  Still sleeping great and not waking up hungry or anything.

He's using Take and Toss straw sippies and doing okay with them, so that's the deal right now.   He still gets confused by regular sippie cups, tho.

Also.. we do give him a 6 oz container of yogurt at suppertime to help fill him up a bit.  He likes it, and the sugars help him crash!  HA

peeper72

Ada's nearly 2 and she still has a strong relationship with her bottle. I hadn't planned on pushing it - she'll give it up when she's ready.

robynlesley

Honestly, I feel guilty for stopping Aaron from taking milk from the bottle when he had that diaper rash because HE NEVER DRANK MILK AGAIN!  He won't drink anything but water. So don't feel badly.

I give him at least 1 yogurt per day to get his calcium/vitamin d.

And I said I'd never use TV as a babysitter.

HA!

Ha! I tell you. He's OBSESSED by Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and loves Dora the Explorer. He even says "Bappap" (backpack) and "Map" and says the MMC characters--but he won't REALLY talk. *sigh*

Peppernut

I got nothin' but love, Jen.  You know Margaux is still in our bed, too.  I tried to get her to nap in her crib today, she was having NONE of it.

Augustbride

my suggestion is not to sleep on the floor. If you don't have a monitor go pick up one. You sleeping in the room is not restful for you. It's very hard to keep them in their own room. 

As for the bottle we used one of those soft top sippies. Then around 2 we stopped the cup. I did not let him have a bottle every in his bed so I am no help on dropping that bottle.

 

Maybe getting one of those machines that plays music and projects on the ceiling would be a helpful. This would give him something to do when he wakes up to try and get back to sleep. 

Good luck!

ateytelb

My almost 4y.o. still comes to our bed at 2 am or so. As for the bottle, he hates milk so I actually wished he took one.

SFAug07

As to the bottle, it was so easy for us to switch to a sippy cup when she was a year old. We just started giving milk in the sippy instead of the bottle and she drank it.

As to the bed, Sarah has never slept in our bed. The two times we tried to make her sleep in our bed when she was sick, she didn't fall asleep but only played. So no tips there, if anything, we'd have the opposite problem that we can't make her sleep in our bed.

YaraC

Caroline still comes into our bed every night around 3:00 AM. There I nurse her back to sleep despite the fact that I was NEVER going to nurse past the age of 1.

We were lucky that she gave up bottles on her own. She was never really a fan of them in the first place. She loves her straw sippies. 

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jlw2505

Cold turkey on the bottle.  Change up the bedtime routine as falling asleep with a bottle is not great for his teeth.  Give him a sippy or straw cup of milk while you read stories or get him changed and then go brush teeth and wash up and then have some snuggle time and put him to bed.  As far as the crib thing, sounds to me that you are on the right track.  I would do that for a few nights and then slowly just let him cry/whimper for a little longer on his own before you try and soothe him so he can work on his self soothing skills.  I'm not talking about if he is in full blown crying but when he is just a bit fussy or whiny phase.

Maggee206

My biggest lesson having a baby is that I should not judge what people do (or say I will never).  That said, with my oldest, I went cold turkey on the sleeping thing; for the bottle I put a strong sippy cup of water in the crib (the down side is my 5-year old still insists on having a glass of water next to his bed when he goes to sleep.  Good luck with whatever you decide!!!

apronstrings

IMO-if that's the 'worst' you do as a parent-you rock. The co-sleeping isn't good BECAUSE he's keeping you from getting rest. 

The bottle at twenty months? So? The WHO promotes b-feeding well past the age of one-it's what our bodies are meant to do. So, babies are meant to drink from a nipple well past the age of one. So a bottle one time a day? I just don't see the shame.  

IMHO-it seems like you are being really hard on yourself. Why set unrealistic expectations-about things that really don't matter in the long run?