One Year Old Can't Fall Asleep Without a Bottle

My daughter's the same way, can't say that I've found a way around it. She doesn't drink from a cup and has outgrown the pacifier. So for my peace and rest I just go ahead and give her the bottle so she'll sleep, if you learn of a good substitute I'd love to learn of it too.

I always gave my son a bottle of water before bed. Your daughter needs the comfort of the bottle, which she should keep - of course she is throwing away the sippy cup because it's not comforting. You could start by watering down the milk a little and see if she'll go for it - then keep changing the proportion until it's all water. Or just try it cold turkey. My son never took a pacifier either. She's old enough to hold the bottle by herself so let her have water, probably room temp and not cold. You could also give her a small bottle of milk and follow it with a small bottle of water - the water will serve to rinse any milk out of her mouth so she isn't sleeping with it and having tooth issues. It solves both your problems. I disagree with Grandmother Lowell - I think it is wonderful that her children did so well with milk and had no tooth problems, but we see so many problems in other kids and have learned a lot about the effects of milk sugars on children's teeth. She is right, however, about them needing the comfort of a bottle at your daughter's age.

She'll let go of the bottle eventually. 13 months is still so little. I would let her have it and go with her flow. You could try watering down the milk gradually and get it to water, if you are worried about her teeth.

Hi A.,
Our daughter was very reluctant to drink milk out of a sippy cup, she did however drink water out of the sippy cup and had been doing that probably since she was 7 months old. The only suggestion that I have is to be tough... it was REALLY difficult for us. We actually ended up only giving her milk out of the sippy cup and if she did not drink it, oh well. It sounds cruel, but it worked. Before I did that I also got rid of all the bottles in her presence. When she finally wanted the milk bad enough she drank it out of the cup, and we have not looked back. The cup that finally worked best for us was the nubby cup with a soft spout. I highly recommend it!

We had a very similar issue with our daughter around the same age with naps/bedtime. We switched to giving her a 4 oz bottle with WATER in it. This way, she got the comfort but not the milk/teeth issue. After a few weeks, we cut the water down to half the bottle. a few weeks later, we cut it out altogether. We chose a night that she was either exhausted or went straight from her carseat (asleep) to the crib. Now she's bottle-free. Good luck!

I say let her have her bottle. My son had his until he was about 28mos old. He never sucked his thumb, used a pacifier, a blankie, toy etc for his security...it was his bottle. He had sippy cups for juice and water and his bottle for his milk. He had about 2 a day...one before his nap and one before bed. I just brushed his teeth twice a day and they are fine. At 28 mos, I bought a sippy cup with a hard spout for his milk and he still uses that...his juice and water are in the cups with straws. Good luck. ; )

Does she actually fall asleep with the bottle in her mouth? From what I understand, the problems occur if she falls asleep with milk pooled in her mouth and the grooves of her teeth, from drinking while actually falling asleep. If she is drinking in a sitting up position, simply before bed, I don't think there is a problem. If you are concerned that she is falling asleep with the milk in her mouth, you could always give her the milk and let her drink it sitting up in your arms, then put her down when she is finished, rather than give it to her in the crib and walk away.

If you wish to wean her off the bottle and move her to a sippy, I found that for some kids the cold turkey method is the only one that works. Many kids do well with the gradual approach but sometimes very strong-willed children decide to wait out their moms and hope that eventually their mom will give in and give them what they are waiting for. If you feel very strongly that it's time to to move to a sippy cup, then just simply stop offering the bottle. If she is thirsty enough, she will eventually realize you mean business and drink. She will not dehydrate herself.

I get very frustrated at all the young mothers on here who think they should stop a baby from nursing at the youngest ages...oh my.
TWO is the weaning year and has been since the beginning of time until the year 2000. Babies NEED to nurse..they need to suck..there is so much more than milk in that bottle. This you should realize from the discarded "sippy cup". No comfort at bedtime there, is there?
There is security, comfort, safety, tranquility..and so on and so on from nursing.
In my opinion I feel it is cruel to wean them so early. I believe that nursing is an extremely important part of there development. Remember, in order for a child to progress as they should, their needs in the infancy dependency stage must be fulfilled.
I have seven children, they went to bed with a (breast) bottle until they were ready ON THEIR OWN to give it up..usually during the second year..they had NO PROBLEMS with their teeth...no buck teeth, no cavities, no any horror story.
In fact , in photos now they look like an ad for toothpaste. And no, we do not have a family history of strong enamel. Quite the contrary.
Let your baby have her breast or bottle with milk, or if she prefers juice you could dilute it a bit with small amount of water. I would not recommend watering down milk.
Brush her teeth once or twice a day and watch the amount of candy and sugar foods you give her. She gets plenty of sugar from a banana.
Sugar hurts the teeth, not bottles, not milk.
Her reaction to your taking the bottle away should tell you plainly that she simply is NOT ready for her bottle to go.
I do understand that many of you Mums are trying to do the very best you can but these books you read are only the opinion of the person who wrote them. Twenty thousand years Mums had no books, only instinct and advice from Grams and they did just fine.
Your baby's bottle DOES NOT HURT HER TEETH. Not one whit.
Give your baby her bottle until she does not need it any longer, she will give it up on her own when she reaches that point of developement.
Best wishes and God bless
Grandmother Lowell

I started giving my child water in that bedtime bottle. After the first couple of days I would find it being more "snuggled" than sipped from, as the water was not filling like the milk. After about a week, the bottle wasn't necessary at all. This also worked for the child who didn't GO to bed with the bottle, but would wake up for one.

This worked for all 4 of mine - HTH!

When my son was 13 months old he still drank out of bottles and there is nothing wrong with that. He always had milk/formula at 8:30 and then we would put him to bed at 9:00 pm. Give her the bottle wait a little while so that she doesn't go to sleep with it and then put her to bed. You can read her a book or snuggle or whatever. You'll want to start a new ritual with her and eventually it will take hold. Just don't let her take the bottle to bed with her. She may cry at first but so be it. babies cry when they don't get what they want. Read to her, sing to her, etc. Tell her bottle all done and that's that. If she finishes it before she goes to sleep then she should be fine. It is when babies leave pools of milk in their mouth at night and at naptime that it does the most damage. Bottles are not the cause, it is the milk, so the same thing would happen if you gave her a sippy cup to take to bed. It may take a few days but she will get used to not going to bed with a bottle. Best of luck.

Try watering the milk down or putting less inthe bottle. By watering the milk she still get the taste of the milk. Tell her it's new milk. In about a week, you can tell her there is no more milk , we have to use water. If she throws it, remain calm and tell her thats all you have to give her. She will probably throw the bottle many times. After she throws it a few times tell her that if she throws it again that you cannot get it for her anymore. Tough love is okay for this...trust me...she knows you will give in so she will continue to push the envelope...they are stronger than we are sometimes. Most important...remain calm and consistant...I hope this helps...good luck