My son is 2 1/2 and still drinking a bottle at night. I have tried it all. HELP?

Question

My son still drinks from a bottle at night. I have tried it all. Tough love (just take it away) we got no sleep, he would cry so hard he would throw up. It was horrible. I can not do that again to him or me. I have tried the special cup. We now have so many special cups I could open a store. I tried watering it down. He says it taste gross and cryies for a new one. I make sure he eats during the day. Someone help. I don't know what to do, and I am so tired of getting up at night for bottles. PLEASE HELP.

Answer 1

You know, this goes against everything you have been educated about as far as bottles go...but I would let it go. Sometimes toddlers have different maturity and security levels. Leave him alone and try again later. Just make sure you brush his teeth as soon as he wakes up in the morning. Also, if he has his bottle all night and you haven't already tried, try exchanging it for a bottle of water. Also, I helped break my nephew of his binky because I did not give it to him. Maybe your son needs to go visit some one for a  few days and you can continue the "no bottle" rule. Good luck.

Answer 2

it takes time my nephew is 3 yrs old n still drinks in a bottle

Answer 3

This is so tough.  I know that it is hard for a kid to replace a bottle!  What I did with my oldest, who is now 7 and also went through a similar experience.  She would cry so much and the tough love was not working.  I rocked her to sleep on those nights and while we were rocking we talked about NOT having the bottle.  So I would rock her to sleep the first week, the second week I put her to bed, but I would read her a story and sit with her for about an hour and it went slowly from there.  It took a LONG time, but eventually she learned how to go to sleep with out it.  I think for her it was a matter of making her feel comfortable WOTHOUT her bottle!  Good Luck! I know it is SO hard!

Answer 4

your just gonna have to break down and do the tough love method again.  allowing him to continue drinking from a bottle will only cause him more problems.  he'll end up with bottle rot, where his front teeth rot from drinking a bottle.  he'll develop swallowing problems, called tongue thrusting , which can cause buck teeth.  He will have a higher risk of ear infections.  if he's a puker like mine is when they get that overly stimulated, make sure to reduce fluids before bedtime, and make sure the last meal was at least 2-3 hours before bedtime.  Make sure you set a very set schedule.  consistancy is the key for all toddlers.  No matter what he makes you feel, dont give in.  Giving in only allows your lil guy to see that this works and i'll do it again and again.  start on a weekend when neither you or your spouse has to work.  or any days off.  dont give in.    and more than likely he's not in it for the bottles but your companionship.  try a better night light.  or get one of those noise machines.  we got one of those that plays all kinds of white noises and finally a full night of sleep.  oh also try wearing him out so he's too tired to get up in the middle of the night.  but if you have to absolutly give him the bottle, just use one ounce less a week, till it's all gone.  dont ever add more.  once its gone, it's gone.  good luck

Answer 5

when my mum wanted my sister to give up her bottle, my mum filled it with 2 parts milk and 1 part water the first night, then 2 parts water and 1 part milk the seond night, then water with a tiny little bit of milk in it. Soon it will taste yucky and she'll probably give it up herfelf!

X Good Luck and God Bless X

Answer 6

First I am so sorry you have to go through this. I know how you feel, both my of my oldest two had the same problem, but with sippy cups. It wasn't fun for anyone.

ON that note......i think the only thing you can do is just cold turkey. You will probably have to do it on a weekend other wise you might be too tired to go to work, if you do work. Don't know if you're a SAHM. It is a habit for him and with that kind of habit there is nothing you can do but just take it away. I would suggest just throwing them all away and telling him they are gone. Maybe have him throw them away. Tel him it is time to be a big boy.

Good luck and I really hope you find a solution to this. It's not fun at all.

Answer 7

I think maybe you just have to take it away.  Eventually he will have to sleep.  Surely that is better than letting him have a bottle forever?

Answer 8

Ok, Well first if it is a bottle he wants a bottle he will get. What I am saying is does he drink from the bottle for his only purpose to drink our is he just needing the cup to pacify, this makes a diffrence,so I will answer both cases.If he is only drinking because he wont drink from the cup then give him his bottle with whatever drink he likes, but get him a 1st stage nipple,yes this will make it hard for him to get the beverage,and if he's talking like you mentioned about being gross then he will say nothing is coming out, tell him he wanted the bottle and  to try and suck harder, if he gets upset then offer him his sippy cup and tell him to drink out of this it comes out faster like a race car or something, what you are doing is giving him a choice,a choice to have a bottle with not much coming out or the sippy cup that will give him more, Also when he takes the sippy cup make a big deal clap, dance, stand on your head lol. oh and mention to him he is a big boy they seem to love that. If he is needing to go to bed,find a small baby doll bottle and his favorite stuff animal tell him that they need him to feed them or his teddy bear will not be able to sleep, let him feel he is the superhero,also provide some light music or some type of treat before he goes 2 bed. When you put him to bed tell him that if he can go to sleep with no crying we will go get ice cream with sprinkles on top, just tell him what he wants to hear or likes, if he does cry, you still carry on with getting the ice cream for you and not him, he will see what he really is missing,that same night tell him what he will get if he goes to sleep without crying and follow thru, this age has to see what you are saying is true. I bet you he wont find the ice cream gross!

Answer 9

take him to the shop's and let him pick a nice cup his self. it worked for mine

Answer 10

You're sending him to bed with a bottle? I assume you know that's a huge contributor to both tooth decay and ear infections?

That said, my little boy loved to go to bed with a sippy cup of milk, too. (I didn't let him, but his dad did -- so he fought me about it a lot.) What finally ended the battles was having the doctor and dentist tell him at his regular check-ups that it was hurting his teeth and ears to have milk at night. Problem solved.

Answer 11

I was a full time nanny with a family of 4 boys for many years and, the first 2 boys were ok with letting the bottle go, the 3rd boy didnt let go of his bottle til he was nearly 3 and the littlest was 4and a half!  we tried everything with him, but nothing worked...at around 4yrs he just started to forget he wanted a bottle at night and slowly he just stopped having them!!  i think every child is very different and you may need to distract him with other things..you could start a sticker reward board, or maybe you could see if your lil man may just have a drink before he even gets into bed and as a reward you could read him a "special" book??  Good luck to you though, and if you are doing all this on your own, don't feel guitly at all for letting him have his bottle if you get a little peace and quiet!!  he will  let go of the bottle in his own time and dont listen to people that say you are doing the wrong thing!!!   good luck and I wish I had the perfect answer for you!!