DD still drinking from a bottle and I see a bad habit having formed!

[GG]

DD is almost 15 mo and she's still drinking from a bottle. She was nursed until about 13 mo and didn't get any bottles until about 10 mo, when I was beginning to wean her. I used to nurse her to sleep because that was the best way for me to get her to eat - she is unbelievably distractable!!!  I also started offering her milk and/or water with a straw, as I did with ds. She loves drinking water this way but has gotten to the point where she drinks almost no milk through the straw.

So I now give her a bottle before bed, as opposed to the breast, because that's still the best way to get her to eat.  However, this past week, she seems to have started falling asleep while drinking her milk. At the very least it makes her groggy.  I don't want to continue this for obvious reasons. We were going along so well in getting her into bed before she was asleep (changing little things at a time because she's so spirited that she screamed bloody murder if I changed too much) but now I see all the hard work going down the tube. I need to stop this from happening.

Any suggestions as to how to stop this? I've been thinking of starting to give her a sippy cup instead of the bottle before naps/bed but not sure how this will go over. Ideally I'd prefer her to drink through a straw and not just before nap/bed. I know I'm not going to make her starve by simply not offering her the bottle but I know from past experiences that she'll just assume that she'll eventually get the bottle (e.g. when we go to my mom's and I've forgotten a bottle but not her sippy cup) so she doesn't drink up and wakes up a lot at night. She's already a bad sleeper.

TIA!!

[sandraorion]

Georgia,

I don't know if this is going to help or not. But at about 15 months, we eliminated all the bottles (one by one over the course of a month or so) and any drinking at the bed time. Later, we added a sippy of water after he started waking up thirsty at night. We offered milk:

-at breakfast in cereal
- at the meal times in a sippy
- and plenty of cheese

I really dreaded getting rid of the evening one since that's the one that relaxed him, but he did just fine.

[skatty]

My DD is only 10 months but also falls asleep at her bedtime bottle, we just make sure we wake her enough so she has to resettle in bed. I am in Denmark and the HV say you should get rid of the bottle by one year so under pressure I have my DD drinking from a soft spout beaker now but I have decided she can have her bedtime bottle until she gives it up herself, its a little piece of comfort for her that helps lead  her into a good nights sleep so I don't really think this one bottle a day is a problem, she is also spirited and they neeed all the help they can to chill out don't they 

[mari]

I still give Alex a bottle at bedtime and she is 31 months   

I don't think that it's a problem (for me anyway) so long as she doesn't fall asleep on it.  I ensure that she has it before bed, and when Im reading her a story.  After he milk and story, we clean her teeth, do a wee, and then she gets into bed.
I want her to have milk at bedtime, she doesn't have enough milk IMO and it's good for her, so I don't care how she drinks it really.  Nathan has a glass of milk at bedtime, I stopped his bottle around 3 years too.  Still it didn't bother me then either.

[swiper]

My dd is 17 months and she has a bottle at bedtime and sometimes a bottle in the morning but she will drink juice or water from a sippy cup or a cup with a straw

Whats the sayin " dont fix whats not broke"

[andibig]

like Mari i can't see a big problem with a bottle at bedtime.sasha didn't drop hers until about 18 mths.you could try moving it a little earlier in her bedtime routine if you are worried about her falling asleep cos of the btl.if she has a bath b4 bed you could do it b4 then.

[GG]

Thank you! I so appreciate your posts of your experiences! I sometimes get so caught up in what we're "supposed" to do that I forget there are many ways of doing something and it's not necessarily all wrong.   Last few days she's been sleeping a lot better at night so I'll see where this leads. I just need to make sure she doesn't fall completely asleep with the bottle in her mouth, for obvious reasons.

Skitty, if other spirited babes are like her, oh BOY do they need a little extra help chilling out! Wow!

Btw, Sashas mummy, I love your avatar and the quote under it. It's so true, isn't it? Poor lo's!

[andibig]

GG
thanks for the compliment .reminds me that i must update it since that pic was taken about 8 mths ago!!!!!

[litomi]

GG, DD is about the same age as your LO. She still has a morning bottle and a bottle before bed. This is our bedtime routine: Story, bath, bottle, brush teeth, drink some water from sippy and then bed. She brings her sippy to bed just in case she wakes up thirsty.
I think as long as DD doesn't fall asleep with her bottle and we keep brushing her teeth after her bottle, or at least drink some water after the bottle, it's FINE

[Dree]

It is amazing how we as mommies are so caught up on what our children are "supposed to do"...Is your child walking yet ?, Are they on solids yet ? Did she do this or did she do that...yada, yada, yada  ....I say do what is right for you and your LO.

They are babies for such a brief amount of time. Enjoy them while you can. I don't think our children will continue to drink milk in a baby bottle when they are 15yrs old..

So take it one day at a time and if you want to wean go ahead but if you wish to wait you can do that too. I say the cut off age should be 2yrs old for everything. (bottles, pacifiers etc) But then again that is just one mommy's opinion.

Dree