How to get my 1 year old off of a bottle at night?

Question

I have a 1yr old and she drinks 4-6 8oz bottles a night. The bottle has 3-4 Oz's of milk and 5-4 Oz's of water in it. I want to get her off but don't know how. Anyone have and suggestions??

Also.....she's teething real bad and the adult oragel isn't working. She has her top molars in they just need to come down all the way and she's getting the "vampire" teeth in now. She's not getting a good night sleep so needless to say neither am I. Any ideas??

Answer 1

Does she drink 4 to 6 bottles a night or during the day and night? You can switch to a sippy cup filled with milk,  and then filled with water and then, no cup at night after that.

  

For teething, I don't think adult oragel is a good idea. I use finger foods for my son to teeth on like cheerios, crackers, pasta. And for pain, I use tylenol.

Is she eating food?  That helps fill her tummy so she doesn't wake  up at night to drink.

Take care. And good luck.

Answer 2

Are you wanting to get her off of the bottle, off of the milk, or both?  First, realize that all babies benefit from having something to drink at night.  Babies get thirsty, too.  One idea could be to start giving her just water instead of water/milk.  Depending on your baby's temperament you might be able to get away with just putting the water in a sippy cup and calling that good.  If she's more sensitive you might need to be as detailed as starting to reduce the amount of milk per water, getting it down to just water in the bottle for a while, then switching to a sippy cup.  You know your baby, so work with her.  Just FYI, there have been nights were my 16 month old has drank an entire 8-10 ounces of water between bedtime and wake up time, so know that you shouldn't try to get her to not drink anything at night.  That's pretty unreasonable.

As for her teething, you have a few options.  You can give her regular doses of infant acetaminophen or ibuprofen (tylenol or motrin) to help ease the pain.  Motrin helps reduce swelling and lasts longer, but it's also a more powerful pain killer and can cause stomach bleeding if given too often or for too long.  You can also try rubbing a drop or two of brandy on her gums where she is teething.  It acts as a deadening/numbing agent and will last for a few hours.  If you're not comfortable with that, you can use pure vanilla extract instead (not imitation vanilla).  This has a similar effect.  If she'll take teethers or a bottle of cold water to chew on, that can help as well.  

You can also try some general "fix alls" to help make her more comfortable at night and less likely to be bothered by the teething pain.  Make sure she has plenty to drink, offer her a snack right before bed and possibly one if she wakes up, make sure that the light, temperature, and white noise levels are ideal for her.  If she doesn't sleep with any white noise consider running a fan in her room, which might help her stay asleep during light sleep periods.  A humidifier can also add extra moisture to the air and make her more comfortable if you're in a dry climate.  It also really helps if she has skills she can use to calm herself back to sleep and need you less.  A favorite snugly stuffed animal or blanket can help her not need you as much when she wakes up.  Another option could be to have her sleep with you while she is teething.  That way when she does need you the attention is more immediate and both of you are able to be less awake and sleep better.

Answer 3

Try teething tablets i would deff not give her orajel  i don't think that's very safe.

Answer 4

get the baby off the bottle completely.  the older they get the harder it is to get the baby off the bottle.  they become more and more attached to it.  after my baby turned 1 i took him off the bottle and it was the best thing!  his dependency on the bottle was crazy!  he had to have it all the time.  after we got rid of the bottle he would actually fall asleep on his own, eat more and more foods, and not cry for a bottle at night!

as for teething... try tylenol on the really bad nights.  if the baby is crying and you know for a fact it is the pain, give her tylenol.  i would say i would use it 2 nights when the teeth were cutting through.

you just have to comfort her as much as you can.  teething is a hard time for babies and they need all the comfort they can get.  

Answer 5

Edit, please re-read.

Night baby care is not an easy job at the best of times, and it can be overwhelming when you are the only caregiver because your husband is away.  It sounds like you are getting pretty worn out.

Oragel is not a good idea because it is a local anaesthetic and can inhibit the gag reflex.  This can allow her to breathe liquids into her lungs, causing an aspiration pneumonia.  Give her Paracetamol or Ibuprofin according to weight for the teething pain.

You know why your baby should drink just water at night, I don't want to lecture you on that.  It is good that you are feeding her solids.....give her a bedtime meal.   However, is she gassy at night?  Maybe it's not just teething that is bothering her.  Changes in her eating and drinking patterns can cause changes in bowel patterns and increase gas and discomfort.  Have you tried Ovol drops (simethicone)?

Breaking the night-time waking routine takes more than one night, i.e. a week or ten days is more like it, but you need help.  Do you have anybody who could come and spell you off, so you can get some sleep?  Has she ever spent the night anywhere else?  Offer to let her stay over at Grandma's for a few nights if Grandma is willing.  That has been the key to many a baby being successfully weaned from the bottle.  

If you have tried everything already, you should be getting advice from your family doctor.  There could be another, more serious problem going on with her that you shouldn't handle alone.  She should have a medical evaluation.  Sometimes we don't see the forest for the trees.

Best of luck.

Answer 6

"vampire teeth" are very painful! Perhaps you could wait until after her teeth come down and then take her off the bottle?

If i were you, i'd try to swap the bottle for a cup of milk/water instead. if you get really excited about the cup, and you make all the bottles in the house magically disappear, then she won't have much of a choice but to use the cup.

Answer 7

Panadol and pacifier...try them before offering a bottle , also try to resettler her in the night before she acctually is awake and harder to get back to sleep, so get to her as soon as she starts makin noise ..

Answer 8

Infants motrin for nigh time teething pain. Wait until after she done with this batch of teeth before taking the bottle away. Offer her the bottle before she goes in her crib. Once she gets used to this, then start offering her milk to her in a sippy cup before she goes in her crib.

There will be tears, but stick to it and she will stop after about a week.  

Answer 9

she needs to be feed ceral and at one year old thats not that old to be on a night bottle. dont worry too much.