18 Month Old Still Wants Her BU BA At Night?

Question

My 18 month old daughter still has a bottle, during the day and at night. At night I can't get her to drink straight water and she SCREAMS bloody murder if I take it away. I know I should let her cry but I live in apartment and I don't want someone calling CPS or something. I also have a 5 month old son and she steals his bottle when I give her a sippy cup. She doesn't like those either. She looks at me like its broken and tosses it... now what?????

No I am not effen stupid, but thanks for asking. If I knew there were people like you here, I wouldn't have trusted my thoughts to you at all. Thanks though

Answer 1

Yikes - bless your heart, this sounds frustrating. There are days I can barely deal with having one kid, so I admire anyone who stays sane with two.

It sounds like there may be a lot going on here. There's the natural toddler tendency to resist change, for one thing, and maybe some sibling rivalry or envy going on. From your daughter's point of view, your son gets to use a bottle, so why can't she? And of course she's too young to understand about drinking milk at night encouraging tooth decay, etc.

So yeah, I don't have any magic answers, just some general thoughts. I ran into the same thing with my son refusing water at night. What I finally did was I started thinning his night milk out with water, adding more and more water each week.

There are some sippy cups out that have soft spouts that look a lot like bottle nipples. It might be worth trying her out on one of those as a transition. Of course, you may then run into another problem that I ran into, which was my son chewing through the spouts. 8>(

The good news is that this problem only has another six months or so to go at most, and then your son will be using a sippy too. At that point there'll be no bottles to steal! It's also true that no matter how horrible problems are at the time, they eventually go away. I don't know of any ten year olds who are still using bottles, for example.

If you have someone handy who can sit with your son at night, it might help your daughter to have some alone time with you. Introduce the sippy, be positive, cuddle her and tell her how you love her and you're really proud of her when she tries the sippy, etc.

The bottom line with parenting, though, is that short of abuse, we all do what we have to to get by. Sometimes that means things don't change as fast as we'd like them to. Maybe our kid embarrasses the crap out of us by screaming through the thin walls of an apartment or is still sucking on a pacifier at the age of three. But most of the time, things do eventually get better.

Best of luck to you -

Answer 2

When I was weaning my daughter from the bottle, I was told to only offer water in a bottle and give milk or juice in a cup. Of course my daughter was only 11 months old and still nursing, so I did not have to worry about her not getting enough milk. What I did was just offer her a cup at meal and snack times and let her drink or not drink whatever she wanted. I did not let her see a bottle or offer one if she did not drink. After about 2 weeks she began drinking out of a sippy cup with her meals. If she still takes a bottle when not eating, I would say let her continue those "snacks" for a while, but do not give her a bottle with a meal. Tell her that she's a big girl... I would however make sure you spend some quiet alone time reading or cuddling to make her feel special.
As for bedtime, it is now a comfort thing much like my 20 month old daughter's pacifier. See if you can find a replacement comfy like a doll or other toy... my daughter now sleeps holding a doll and a block. We are hoping that soon these things will take the place of her paci.

Answer 3

My daughter is now 19 months old. Her father and I pre-empted the bottle woes by completely taking the bottle away from her at 1 year on the dot, but I can at least give you a little advice to try and ease into the transition. First off, go to the store and purchase all kinds of sippy cups. Our biggest dilemma was finding one our daughter liked, and therefore would drink from; we had great luck with Nube brand found at Wal-Mart because it has a soft rubbery tip like a bottle. Then, if at all possible, I would separate your daughter from your son so she does not steal his bottle. We went cold turkey with the bottles and threw them all away and switched at once to sippy cups - it's hard for a day or two but she'll eventually be thirsty enough to accept the sippy. I wouldn't worry about water too much - milk is good before bedtime. Believe me, it sounds impossible but you'll get through it. Hope this helps.

Answer 4

I, personally, just slowed down the times my son got the bottle to naptime and right before bed (which was our special "cuddle time"). I, too, had an infant while this was taking place, and on the days that mys on was especially cranky, I would let him have the bottle, but as soon as he calmed down, I would take it away and give him a sippy cup. Some children just aren't ready to give up the bottle at 18 months (my son was a little over 2 before he gave it up completely), but with patience and consistency, you will be able to ween your daughter. I also recommend ONLY giving her milk in the bottle. If she wants juice or water, only let her have it in a sippy cup. If she refuses the cup, then she gets milk. NOTHING ELSE. That worked wonders with my son. Anytime she cries, try to distract her with a toy, a game, or some extra attention.

Keep in mind that your daughter might be hanging on to the bottle because she sees her younger brother being held while he's being fed a bottle, and she sees the extra attention that he gets, so she might attribute that to having the bottle. Give her lots of cuddle time, without the bottle, and play with her anytime the 5 month old is napping or pacifying himself. This should help, but I can't guarantee that it will.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Maybe she is having ahard time with the sippy cup. Try sucking on a bottle then sucking on a sippy cup- it;s a big difference and your mouth has to do two totally different things to get the fluid out. My baby had a hard time with a sippy cup vs. the bottle. You can try geetting spill proof nipples for her bottles. They are available at walmart. The nipple is kinda inverted. This will help help get a different sucking pattern down. Also offer her a sippy cup WITHOUT the spillproof plug in it. This way she can get the liquid out easier.

Also maybe there is sibling rivalry....she's still a baby but she's not THE baby anymore......that would be enough to make me want a bottle again if I was that little.

Answer 6

Is your daughter wanting the bottle because of the baby? There is about 18 months between my baby sis and me, and when she was born, my family gave in and gave me a bottle back. I have had braces and a lot of other issues because of it. Please try to get her off of the bottle.

Take her to the store and let her pick out her own big girl cup. Maybe then she will drink form it. Make sure that you are giving her only water in it, so won't hurt her teeth as bad.

The baby is almost old enough to start practicing drinking from a trainer cup. Start him soon with a little bit of water. Maybe if she sees the baby drinking from one she will want one.

I know that you don't want her to cry, but try more during the day to ween her when others are out and at work. It won't bother them as much because most of them will be gone. Try to get her to only take it at nap and bedtime, then slowly forget to give it to her at nap and eventually she won't need it at all. In a perfect world there is no fighting, but in reality you have a toddler and toddlers try our patience, a lot.

Do what you think is best, I am simply offering my suggestions. Good Luck!!

Answer 7

I gave my daughter a choice = choices are good. She could have a bottle of water (loves to help put the ice in it), or a cup of milk, would take both into the bedroom with her. But, wouldn't cave in to the milk in the bottle. EITHER, a cup of milk, or a bottle of water. At first, she thought I'd lost my mind.. but, after about 5 minutes of fussiness, she gave in. Now, she is three and insists on having a cup of ice water to take to bed every night.

It may help letting her "decorate" her bottles (for water) and then, she has a way of knowing her bottles from your son's bottles. Then, put your foot down that she has hers and he has his. If she is going to scream too much, and you have ANYONE you can go stay with - try that for a night or two, so if she cries, she won't disturb your neighbors too much... just long enough to "break" her... Bad teeth can stigment a child for a long time, as a teacher, I see the ridicule many get from peers... she's also training you - will you still "cave" in over other issues too ... take the upper hand, try my suggestions, and let me know how it goes... if you are weak when you try it, she'll feel that from you - pretend to yourself that the milk bottle is a sharp knife - you'd deal with her crying for a sharp knife and stick to your guns, she can feel whether you mean it or not.

Best of luck,

Answer 8

My son was 2 before he gave up the bottle. Get her around other kids her age, she will see them without a bottle and it may encourage her to use a sippy cup, if she doesn't like sippy cups, get her a cup that has a straw in it. Since you have another baby, be sure you are giving your older daughter time with you to sit on your lap with a blanket and a cup of milk or juice. Sometimes the older sibling sees the baby getting more attention and regresses back, cause she wants the cuddling too.

Answer 9

i could merely shop tending to him. That way he's conscious which you're continually there for him. He nevertheless needs that convenience. some little ones choose it, and a few do no longer. My son did no longer initiate drowsing throughout the night in any respect till he have been given in his final teeth -- his 2 3 hundred and sixty 5 days molars got here in approximately 3-4 months after he grew to become 2. Then he began drowsing by way of maximum nights. he's now a million.5 months previous 3 years previous, and he nevertheless sometimes wakes up interior the night. now and lower back he's thirsty, now and lower back he has to bypass potty, now and lower back he has had a nightmare, etc. teenagers/little ones/little ones do no longer awaken for no longer something. in the event that they're waking up, something is erroneous. it would desire to be teething, too warm, too chilly, sheet is scratchy, an demanding tag of their jammies, hungry, etc. So i've got faith in comforting/helping the youngster. My daughter who grew to become 2 years previous a month and a nil.5 in the past nevertheless wakes up each and every night. we at the instant are all the way down to easily as quickly as a night nonetheless, that's stable, and he or she is going bypass into opposite interior of five-10 minutes. 3 months in the past i presumed which will possibly on no account take place. She grew to become into up 6 circumstances a night, each and every for a nil.5 an hour, and one time for 2 hours! we are nevertheless gazing for her 2 3 hundred and sixty 5 days molars. It comes with time, merely shop doing what you're doing!

Answer 10

here is an idea, little by little cut the hole in the top bigger and bigger,but do it slowly, a couple of days between cuts, until the top is gone,tell her that's what happens when big girls grow up. If she doesn't want to give it up it won't do anymore damage,with the top gone it's bigger than a sippy cup anyway,,,,and you don't have to worry about buckteeth,plus start giving allowance times for ba-ba's.It may help.