16mth sippy problems

[FPT23]

Hi! Hope I'm posting this in the right place.

My son is now 16mths and he's on the sippy cup...not the bottle. But im interested in...not weaning, but....I don't want to give him his milk/sippy before BT anymore. My main reason is bc we brush his teeth but then give him his sippy and it concerns me to have milk in his mouth before he sleeps. I dont and nvr have left the bottle/sippy alone with him in his crib. I still give it to him in my arms. But that was one concern. I want the last thing of his routine to be teeth brushing. Another besides the fact tht it's his routine and without he will have a difficult time settling, is that he goes nuts as soon as he sees it bc he wants it so pjs and the whole routines is always a mess bc he gets desperate. It's always been this way since bottle days before the year but I've about had it.

The same goes for mornings, as soon as he wakes he's gotta have the sippy/milk. As soon as I walk into the room. Or he goes nuts. When he's done he will get mad cry n toss the sippy bc he wants more. His dr said only 16oz a day. So I do 8oz in the morn, and 8oz at night. But I'm done w the tantrums.

He's well fed, good proportions on weight n height. But sucking is his comfort. But any ideas!? Please!

[Buntybear]

Hi there, We also got to the point of not giving milk as one of the last things in his routine but because his nappy was so full in the morning it leaked! We just moved it earlier in the BT routine so maybe at wind down before going up for bed? Would that work?

[FPT23]

I'm sorry I didn't understand ....

It's bc he gets mad after his sippy

[creations]

With the BT milk I had the same concern about teeth brushing.  I also didn't want to ruin our BT routine as milk was part of it.  What I did was a gradual wean (but it turned out very quick and very easy) to move that milk earlier in the evening.  So introduce supper time (ours is 1 hr before sleep) and give the milk sippy plus something else if he is very hungry.  Then go for bath, pjs etc.  His mood through bath, pjs and teeth brushing should be improved because he is not desperate for that milk, he's already had it.  Then after teeth brushing offer a sippy of water in case there is thirst or the habit of having a sippy before sleep.  Like I said I did it gradually so to begin with I still offered milk after teeth brushing as well as at supper, and reduced the amount of milk each night and had a separate sippy of water in case he wanted something more.  You could mix water and milk reducing milk until it is only water.
The other thing that occurs to me with his desperation to get through the BT routine and get that milk could well be tiredness, my DS would rush the routine on if he wanted to get to bed.

With the morning milk and following tantrums and wanting more, well I'd give him more milk (recs are up to 20 oz per day so you could increase by a few oz so long as his solid intake is good) and I would give breakfast immediately after to satisfy his hunger.  Many LOs are very hungry in the morning and less so later in the day so it would be quite normal to have milk in the morning and a large breakfast.

[FPT23]

Creations,

Thanks for such a detailed response!

Sounds like a great idea! So u gave sippy with his dinner? (Milk) ....he always throws tantrums when he finishes milk. Since always. Even w increase. I think he just likes milks. But he would do it w his formula also. We increased but then he had reflux too so it's always been an issue! I honestly could never figure it out. I think he just likes the comfort of being held with his milk bc it was always soothing for him. Kwim? You couldn't have said it better, DESPERATE for that milk. Sometimes I think that's why he rushes his BT routine. It's been for the LONGEST now so rushed. Sometimes I think bc of OT, the milk or also bc sometimes he doesn't want to go to bed. We have to rush BT! Since as far as I can remember. Pjs and diaper a rush. We even stopped bath time at BT. (We NW do it after his nap during the day) ...bc it was too much desperation. I guess bc he knows when pjs come on, lights off and white noise...he gets mad. But the sippy issue itself I can't stand anymore. Comforting jr has always been quite a task. He's king of touchiness. After his sippy I try n hold sing or rock him, it's so hard, he pushes me away n keeps screaming. Rushing BT has always been an issue. We've cut his routine so short. He won't even lemme read to him. That or he would t stay still. HELP!

His dr told me 16oz only. He has his reasons I guess I always did 8oz in the am, 8oz at nights. I used to do 3-6oz sippys a day but he'd do the tantrum at each so I figured let's increase so I did 2-8oz. Still the same. But I do want to stop the sippy before BT bc of teeth and when potty training comes along. Don't think liquids being the last part before laying down would be a good idea.

Also, his dr said the spy as soon as he wakes isn't the best idea either bc it messes w his appetite before breakfast and he won't want to eat as well. You know? To give milk with his meal. So what I would do is I kept the sippy but had breakfast an hr later. He does have and love large breakfast. Large everything :-P ....so that's why I don't k ow how to go about it :-/

Sorry so long and I hope I was clear! :-/

[*Kara*]

Hey FPT23

If Jr is eating well at breakfast, go ahead and keep offering the sippy of milk to him... and then have a second one of water as well if he wants more. 

Creations - I might steal your bedtime routine.  We still have a BT bottle at 26 months!

[creations]

Go for it Kara.  It was so much easier than I could have imagined.  Dropped the BT bottle about 12 months and the morning bottle about 1 month later (morning cup/bottle is with a straw).

[FPT23]

Oh well jr has been off the bottle at 1 yr

It's the sippy issue

[FPT23]

Thanks Kara! It's been awhile!!!

It's just that he throws the biggest fits

[*Kara*]

Thanks Kara! It's been awhile!!!

It's just that he throws the biggest fits

Just wait until he is 2   The tantrums/fits are much more involved - they have words to add to the fun

Random thought, would he notice if you watered his milk down a bit so that he gets the big volume he wants without actually drinking far too much in a day??  So, if you offer him 6 ozs in his sippy - add a couple ounces of water to make it 8ozs... since we know he will finish it, I don't think there is much risk in dropping his milk intake, KWIM?

[FPT23]

Hahaha oh my! Sounds fun

Well it's not so much taking away the milk, but just not have it be the last thing before BT anymore. It being the first thing I don't mind bc I can just push breakfast a bit further. He usually still eats it. Big breakfast eater.

But I want to somehow remove the sippy frm the BT routine or somehow move it around to where brushing his teeth is last...without the fit :-/

[*Kara*]

I know how you feel...  I will be dropping bottles in the next couple of weeks (long story with failed milk trials over the last year!) and will let you know how it goes... mine is prone to a fit about change too

[Hedgehog17]

Just brush his teeth last thing before sleep 

He may have a few fits, but that's better than having cavities and painful trips to the dentist!

DS has always had milk before toothbrushing, but he still fights the toothbrushing when he's in the mood to, so we just hold him down and do it quickly 

[FPT23]

Kara, good luck w that! Keep me posted!

Hedgehog, yea I'm gna see what we do! Ur right as far as cavities