15 months old still has a bottle in the middle of night??

HOlly - posted on 01/01/2010

Thank you to everyone that has put in their input on this. I myself has always thought that giving her a bottle in the middle of the night was a bad habit. But when asking for advice within the family I was told differently. My daughter before would wake up very often.. sometimes as many as 10 times during the night.. I figured giving her a bottle would put her back to sleep and things would be great. After a while... I would pick and choose my battles with her.. depending on her cry.. eventually she started to only wake up once time.. give her a bottle she would go back to sleep. NOW since posting this... I have stopped giving her a bottle ( only the one right before bed, and no I do not put her to bed with a bottle.. I rock her while giving her one) so with the no bottle thing.. I have noticed she has been waking up a little bit more.. takes her a bit longer to get back to sleep as well. I just hope with this, this means that she will beable to get used to having No bottle, and she will figure there really is no point in waking up in the middle of the night.. Again Thank you! I most Appreciate it :)Happy New Year to you all :)

Lauren - posted on 01/01/2010

You should definitely stop the bottles. This is actually the first night of breaking that habit myself, and while it's not fun it is necessary. And yes it will get harder the older she gets. Also i read an article that said at this age babies often wake because they are excited about all of the new things they are learning. walking, talking etc. and they want to practice. Or that they are getting to much too drink too late and may be getting very soggy uncomfortable diapers at night. Which could be the case since she take a mid-night bottle. But that it is just a phase in life and she will outgrow it. Good Luck!

Sara - posted on 12/31/2009

My 15 month old wakes every morning at 5am and won't go back to sleep w/o a bottle. If she wakes at 330 or 4 she goes back to sleep after I lay her back down, no bottle. But at 5 she always needs a bottle to back to sleep. I call it a bottle but really it is a sippy cup with pediasure or Nutripals in it. I switch to those because they can sit next to my bed w/o going bad. They don't need refrigerated until they are opened. i have tried watering it down or not giving it at all. Neither has worked. Keep trying to till you figure out what works for you. Something I did do with the little one I nannied for who woke up for a drink of water wa to put a sippy in the corner of the crib every night and then i showed him where it was when I went in to give it to him. After 3-4 nights he was able to get it on his own, get a drink and go back to sleep no problem. I have not tried this with my daughter yet. But it might be worth a shot!

Karlicia - posted on 12/31/2009

I sort of feel the same way Kylie has slept on her on since she was a little baby but she was recently sick and I let her sleep with me until the ear infection went away but now her bed doesn't seem to be the place she want to stay all night. Like last night she was up for a while we got home i put her to bed without waking her and she stayed sleep for a while then woke up crying, so I tried to pat her back to sleep and she was not having it. I brought her to my bed and she slept like an angel. She is now 15 months as of the 29th So is it time to put her in the toddler bed?????

Kayleigh - posted on 12/31/2009

hiya, i had to face this when lacey was 8 months old. Lacey would wake all the time and it was convienent for me just to give her a bottle coz i knew she would go striaght back to sleep. eventualy i bit the bullet and refused to give her milk. Everytime she woke up, iwould lie her back down and say bedtime, i would repeat this and eventually stop talkin to her, it sounds mean i know but they do evetually get the hint. It has taken me sometimes 40times of lying her back dwn in her cot but now she sleeps 6.15pm til 7.30am. Is she having alot of naps in the day? if so, reduce theamount of naps she has. and also make sure she has breakfast, dinner and tea and i always give lacey a monster munch double up yogurt for her pudding after tea. hope this helps hun, xxxx

Megan - posted on 12/30/2009

i think i have given my child who is now 15 months old a bottle 10 times in her entire life. When she was 0 to 7 months i breastfed the whole way then i had a few bottles but right after that i switched to sippy cups after i let her try the bottle a few times. It is very bad for there teeth. I think you should stop giving her the bottle at night. She doesnt NEED it, she wants it.

Wendy - posted on 12/30/2009

Saying she will stop waking altogether at this point is not nec true. Every child is different. As I said before, my son no longer gets a bottle at night. Nor do we go to him when he does wake around midnight every night, as he will go back to sleep himself within 15 minutes at the most. He hasn't had a bottle in the night since about 11 months when we stopped altogether with that. And an empty bottle is not a good idea, sucking on nothing will give her a gassy or crampy stomach. We have spoken to our doctor about our son waking in the ngiht still, without needing a bottle (or us to check on him), and there is nothing we can do but let him go back to sleep. When he is older I am sure he will "sleep through the night". As with your daughter, do what you feel is right. Keep in mind bottles in bed is not a good idea, ESPECIALLY if she has teeth. We safety proofed our sons room as well as it could be, he gets up, runs around a few minutes and goes back to bed. It is what he does. Maybe she has a similar habit of waking in the night? Is she in a toddler bed - if not, maybe that is all she needs too?

Fallon - posted on 12/30/2009

I personally wouldnt give her a bottle any longer. She may not be ready to sleep through the night but if she is eating through the day then she shouldnt need a bottle at night. My son finally started sleeping through when I stopped giving him a bottle. Good Luck!

Caryn - posted on 12/30/2009

At this age kids aren't waking up at night because they are hungry. Thats the reason she was waking at night a year ago. Now its just a habbit, she knows if she wakes up and crys you will give her a bottle, probably a bit of a comfort to her. I would try to wean her off of that. Slowly start decreasing hte amount of liquid you are putting in her bottle until its just an empty bottle. Also letting her cry a minute or two longer than you normally would will help. She will eventually stop waking altogether :)

Pamela - posted on 12/30/2009

My 15month old also still wakes up most times around 11pm or 12pm for a bottle. He goes right back to sleep without a problem afterwards. He has always been a big eater and eats a big dinner plus milk right before bed. So I would say keep doing it and eventually she won't need it anymore.

Wendy - posted on 12/30/2009

Is she getting enough to eat before going to sleep at the beginning of the night? My son was like this until about 11months, when he started having solids as well as a small bottle or cup before going to bed. It could be that the liquid is just running through her system too fast, and when she wakes up hungry she doesn't know what to do. Once my son started on solids as well before bedtime, he goes until morning without another feeding. He DOES wake up around midnight, EVERY night, for anywhere from 5-15minutes, I have no idea why. But he is in a toddler bed, so he gets up, runs around his room, and then goes back to sleep without any trouble. I have no idea why he does THIS, but it isn't because he is hungry....although for all I know he could be sleep walking, a good majority of my family does afterall.

Wendy - posted on 12/30/2009

Is she getting enough to eat before going to sleep at the beginning of the night? My son was like this until about 11months, when he started having solids as well as a small bottle or cup before going to bed. It could be that the liquid is just running through her system too fast, and when she wakes up hungry she doesn't know what to do. Once my son started on solids as well before bedtime, he goes until morning without another feeding. He DOES wake up around midnight, EVERY night, for anywhere from 5-15minutes, I have no idea why. But he is in a toddler bed, so he gets up, runs around his room, and then goes back to sleep without any trouble. I have no idea why he does THIS, but it isn't because he is hungry....although for all I know he could be sleep walking, a good majority of my family does afterall.