15 month old refuses bottle before bed - what do i do??

[celtic14]

My DS refuses his bottle before bed shakes his head at me and pushes it away. Lately closes his eyes and will peek at me to see what im doing!!! He goes to sleep independently. But have problems with EW and NW!! Im worried this is the reason he wakes up early. He does have a morning bottle usually 4/5 oz. What to i do? As i cant force him and my DS knows what he does or does not want!!

Im just worried he goes to bed hungry!

 

[speechie]

Hi!
Can you give the bottle maybe an hour before bed? Like right before bathtime?
FWIW, I've got a LO who doesn't take a bottle at bedtime and STTN. We do supper at 6:00PM and bedtime at 7:30 ish.

[celtic14]

I have tried that a few times he just refuses it. Clamps his lips, shakes his head and pushes the bottle away. He has never been a big milk drinker since he was born but at one time he would drink his milk before bed not a lot but at least 3/4oz.

[speechie]

Any teething issues? Maybe sore gums could be contributing?
Are you worried about his weight/growth?

[speechie]

Oh, what about trying a cup?

[celtic14]

He is fine in weight he is not a big baby small like me. He puts on weight gradually and never looses any. Have tried cup but its like once he knows it milk i get the shake of the head and clamped lips.  I keep thinking maybe he knows milk means bed. Not sure. No dont think its teething. Could be a phase.

[speechie]

Yeah, could be a phase. Maybe try skipping the milk a few nights and see how it goes... what time is your last meal of the day?

[celtic14]

5pm! I may just try weetabix with his milk for supper before bed tonight.

[tylersmommy]

TBH, at that age, they can get through the night without a bedtime feed. If he's skipping it, you can either keep offering in case it's a phase, or take advantage of the opportunity to eliminate it now while he isn't wanting it. I'm not sure what time bedtime is, but if it's a couple hours after dinner, you can always offer a snack and a sippy of milk before bedtime.

Neither of my kids were interested in a bedtime feed shortly after they turned 1, so I just got rid of it. They adjusted their calorie intake during the day and didn't have any EW or NW within a couple of days (I didn't feed at night if they woke, just did WI/WO).

[celtic14]

Thanks for the advice. I have provided DS with extra milk to drink in his sippy cup through the day, he has ate his meals well and had his yoghurts, cheese as his snacks. Just think i worry too much. As his sleeping is not good either. So need to work on that also. DS goes to bed at 730pm but maybe go back to his original time 7pm. Think its just trial and error.

[imaayafa]

i think that if he has a nice, healthy dinner with some fluids to wash it down, that he probably is just sated. there is no physical or medical reason that a baby this age needs milk before bed. they say the more milk we give, the less food they will take during teh day. so the important thing is the overall calories/fat/nutrition he gets all day. and enough fluids, which can be water, too. could be the sleep and the milk are 2 separate issues, unless he is having EW or NWs bc of being thirsty.