Cup at Sleep Time

Why would you give your daughter a cup to go to sleep with? Aren't you afraid of choking in her crib? Take that thing away now cold turkey, replace it with a pacifier if you have to for a while.

HI L. -

All three of my boys were weaned off the bedtime bottle/cup by the time they were a year old. I gave and still give them a snack right before bed. Then we brush teeth and it's off to bed. Once the teeth are brushed for the night there isn't anything more than a cup (or adult "bottle") of water on their nightstand for them to drink. Most of the time they don't even touch the water, it's more of a routine thing now just in case they get thirsty. I would try to push the "last drink" further away from the actual lay down time little by little after you've switched to just plain water. I'd keep it in a sippy cup only at night for a little while just to avoid spills if she reaches for it herself in the middle of the night. Once it's empty, don't refill it either. If she continues to drink so close to bedtime it'll be harder to night-time potty train her, too. I wish you the best of luck - S.

What worked with my daughter was switching to only water and you are almost there. I would recommend putting in less milk and more water each night and soon enough you'll be at all water and then what we did to get rid of the cup entirely was to slowly decrease the amount of water so eventually it was only about 2 sips in the cup and then we left out the cup completely from our night time routine and she only got it if she asked. It has been about 3 months and we are still cup free. :-) Hopefully this will help with potty training at night too!

I agree with Amy. Let her drink some of the milk and water in a regular cup before she lays down. Give her a little snack right before bed as well. That way her belly will be full. Don't let her sleep with it anymore, L.. :) Take the cup away when she is done drinking~ and ready for sleeping. Don't even leave it in the same room.

Hi L.,

If you do give your daughter a cup at night, only put water in it. Milk has sugar in it (even mixed with water) and will decay her teeth. We give our daughter a sippy with water at night in her crib.

J.

Hi L. H,

I am going to start off by congradulating you for not giving your daughter a "sugary juicer" at bedtime because we all know that sugar on her teeth is not a good thing. However, trying to weed our precious ones off any type of "sippy cup" can be a traumatic experience for mom and child.

What I am going to recommend and what I'm sure that a lot of mothers experienced is gradually getting rid of the "comfy cup" known as the "sippy cup" and start giving her a "Big Girls' Cup". Find a cute cup that she can call her own and start putting her milk and juice in it during the day. L. let her know and compliment her that her "Big Girls' Cup" is beautiful and clap everytime she drinks out of it. L. give her milk/water maybe 30mins before bedtime and if need - replace her milk/water with just water and place it on her dresser or night stand.

L. this is going to be hard at first because "we" all know as mothers that toddlers "love" their sippy cups. But, you can do it.

Hope this helps.

A. Patterson
www.dreamgirlbooks.com

I would also suggest getting rid of the milk. This can really do some damage to her teeth. The milk just sits in there all night long decaying. I would say up the water and decrease the milk or just give her some before she goes to bed. This is just a habit she has and will req a little bit of time and patience to get rid of it. My sister gave her kids a cup in their bed and guess what? Her youngest (now 4) still gets up and wants milk in bed. Good Luck to you!
L.