Tips on eliminating nighttime bottles? (7-month-old)
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Okay, I'm really getting fed up, so I'm asking for help. Our 7-month-old isn't even close to STTN. At 3 months, he actually STTN for about 3 weeks. Then he slowly got worse and worse until he got to where he's at now. Last night he went to bed at 8:15pm, was up at 10:45pm, 11:45pm, 1:00am, 4:15am and then I had to wake him up at 5:45am to leave for work/daycare. He wants a bottle every time he wakes up...I seriously think he would drink one every time. Last night I knew he wasn't hungry for the first two wake-ups, so I rocked him back to sleep. He was pissed! He was hitting me, screaming, trying to get off of my lap...he wanted a bottle! When he was up again at 1:00, I did give him a 4oz bottle (he usually drinks 7oz), because I really needed to get some sleep. I know that I probably just need to let him CIO, but his room is right above ours and I can hear him perfectly...I don't like this partially because it makes me sad to hear him cry, but mostly I can't get any sleep with him screaming like that and I have to wake up at 4:45am for work.
Anyone have a similar experience? He is getting his second tooth and has had ear infections on and off, so that's another reason I feel bad letting him CIO. Also, when he cries at night he SCREAMS and doesn't stop. He is a big boy, but I don't think he needs these bottles at night. If I could even get him down to one wake-up, that'd be tolerable.
ETA: He puts himself to sleep at the beginning of the night. Any tips I've found online usually say to make sure they're able to soothe themselves to sleep, which he does just fine for naps and at the beginning of the night.
Re: Tips on eliminating nighttime bottles? (7-month-old)
We just started the Sleep Easy Method: https://www.sleepyplanet.com/
LO was waking a lot and teething. When the 3 teeth finally came in, we started the sleep easy method. We're on day 4 and it's been going well. I especially like it because it teaches you how to wean the nighttime feedings, which we needed help with!
We did Sleep Easy at 5 months. It took a week, but she now sleeps 11 hours at night without eating or waking up. And if she does wake up, she puts herself back to sleep within 10 minutes.
One of the biggest things is to make sure they're eating enough during the day, and then you will know for sure that they don't need the bottle at night.
Is your LO eating solids? Our son is 7 mos and 3 weeks. He gets 24 oz of formula in 4 feedings each day every four hours. Each bottle is followed by a solid feeding about an hour later. Breakfast is oatmeal and fruit, lunch is a large jar of veggies or 1/2 an avacado, and dinner is a large jar of chicken and sweet pot and a little more oatmeal.
A regular eating schedule during the day is the first step. Get all those calories in during the day. Don't let him snack on a bottle. Space them apart so he finishes each one.
Unfortunaltely, you may have to do some sort of sleep training which will require some tears. This is to break his waking association with eating. It is really hard to do, but if you pick a method and stick to it hard core, with zero deviation, it will only suck for a few days and then you should be home free.
Good luck.
I don't really want to do a dream feed, because he shouldn't be needing to eat. Our pedi said he should be able to go 10 hours without a bottle and he's barely wanting to go 3. Also, I generally go to bed right after him, so that wouldn't really work. Haha
He's had a constant ear infection for the past two months...this time, the doctor said since there's no fluid, they're just red, we're not going to do antibiotics because they don't want him to become immune to them.
Ugh. Thank you.
He gets a 7oz bottle every 3-4 hours during the day and also gets 3 meals of solids, which is why I know he shouldn't need to eat in the middle of the night. He's not on a set schedule as far as times, but he always finishes a bottle, never snacks.
I don't ever rush in there when he wakes up at night, I always wait until he is crying. Once he gets going, he eventually is screaming his head off and coughing and gagging. Last night he was up at 11:30pm, 4:00am, and 6:30am. For the first wake-up, I did the same as the first night and rocked him but didn't give him a bottle. Again, he screamed his head off but eventually passed out. I don't want him to get used to getting rocked to sleep either, but since I know he is capable of putting himself to sleep, I figure getting rid of the bottles is the first step. I did give him a bottle at 4:00, because he hadn't had one since 7:30pm and I can live with 8.5 hours. And then he wakes up at 6:30 almost every morning because he poops. I'm hoping if I am consistent with not giving him a bottle at the first wake-up, he'll figure out he's not getting one and we'll go from there.
Thank you for your comment.
How's it going?