my son is 3 1/2 years old. he still drinks milk in midnight and with bottle. i want to change his habit. he sh

Question

he should not drink milk in the mid night as well as how to remove habit of bottle. if i give him enough food in the night, still he wants milk.

Answer 1

It really is pretty simple to bottle break your child.
Although you have let him have it way longer than most.
So it might be more difficult.
Make a game out of it. He is old enough to understand.

Have him throw away the bottle. Tell him he is a BIG boy now and doesn't need the bottle anymore. Bottles are for babies.
Give him a Brand New Sippy Cup as a reward.

When he wakes up to have his bottle remind him that he is a big boy. And give him his sippy cup to have a drink. Preferably water.

In no time he will be bottle broke.
Good luck!

Answer 2

It will be very difficult for you but you can do it. I will give you an example of my son. He was 3 and did not sleep through the night. I was fortunate in that I had moved into an apartment with a sliding giant oak door that I could close as far as I wanted to. I closed it enough so I could see him and he could see me but at around midnight he would wake up and cry until I went in with a bottle. So one day I decided to stop it. I stayed in my bed and let him cry. I could see him remember because I was right there but there was a door between us. It took 2 weeks and he cried for about a half hour every night. Then suddenly it stopped. You can do both at the same time midnight drink and remove bottle. First at supper make sure he is fed well perhaps then after dinner a good warm bath. If you give him a desert ok, then before bed a nice litttle drink of water or milk preferably water as it won't stick to his teeth and promote cavities. Then in the day when he cries for his bottle offer him a sippie cup. He will take it because he will be thirsty. At night when he cries for his bottle comfort him give him a sip of water (make sure he goes potty ifhe is potty trained) and put him back to bed. You can sit out side the door but do not go in. He is ok he is crying only. It will be irritating to everyone in the house but you if you want him off it must try to be consistant in this and pretty soon he will be sleeping through the night without crying and with out bottle. Do not worry you can do it!

Answer 3

My son will still have milk before bed and a cuppie some nights with him in the bed too. He is the same age as your son and you know what? He is perfectly fine and healthy. Of course, he does not take a bottle to bed but I would suggest getting him off the bottle asap. Try a soft spouted sippy cup..Nuby makes one ($1 at Wal-Mart) that made the transition much easier from bottle to cuppie and then eventually work towards a hard spouted cuppie and then one with a straw. Some kids are just different than others and you have to do what is best to keep them happy. Definatly try to phase out the milk though and never give him juice since that can lead to tooth decay. Maybe watering down the milk will help too..make it less appealing. Good luck!!

Answer 4

My daughter was that way about the milk, still kind of is( just turned 4) She is old enough to understand now so I just explained that she need to drink more water to help her pee, and that milk is really a food. She doesn't always like it but if she is really thirsty she will drink it. As for the bottle, Throw it away!! If it is not there, you can't give it to him. He will learn to deal with it sooner than you think, they get over things pretty quick. Also not only is it a risk to his teeth(rotting and formation), it is also a risk for his ears! And really, don't switch to a sippy cup, that isn't any better and it will just drag it out for both of you. Trust that he can handle it, and it won't take long for the transition. Good luck :)

Answer 5

Your son should of been off a bottle at 12 months. Give him sippy cup that what i do with my son. And if he wants milk at night warm his milk up it will help him sleep. Your going to have to put your foot down and break him off the bottle he is way to old to be drinking from a bottle still.

Answer 6

I know this is hard because I am going through the same thing. My son is 2 1/2 and I would give him a sippy cup of milk before he goes to bed. He would wake up 2-3 times a night wanting more milk. I'd get it for him and he would fall asleep again right away. I knew I had to break him of this because it is not good for his teeth to have the milk pool around his gums because he falls asleep with the sippy cup in his mouth. So last night, I gave him a sippy cup with water and told him no more milk in bed. He woke up 2-3 times and I gave him the sippy cup with water. He would ask for the milk and cry, but you need to let him cry. He will stop within a few minutes. It may be hard for the first few nights, but it will get better. Your son and my son should be sleeping the night without waking up, but we're spoiling them. Just be consistent!

Answer 7

This is a tough one. My son was off of his bottle at 8 months. My motivation: seeing a walking, talking child on the bottle. My wife and I used a soft tipped sippy cup. It worked like a charm. You have to be tough but loving with him. He is old enough to understand this: you tell him to go back to bed and that he will get his milk at breakfast time with the rest of the family, but assure him that drinking milk is not a bad thing, and neither is a midnight snack. My main concern would be the bottle situation. That should be your primary objective; to get him off of the bottle, and work on the waking up at midnight thing later on, when he get weened off the bottle.

Answer 8

I can't believe you continued with this habit. Your health nurse should've advised you when to stop feeding your toddler with the bottle. You have a challenge now to wean him off the bottle. Try to introduce a cup of his favourite character e.g. Thomas the tank, and give him warm milk with maybe some Milo before bedtime and tell him that the bottle goes to babies. The cup is for big boys like you! Start introduce the new habit as soon as possible.

Answer 9

My 5 year old daughter still drinks milk from a bottle.She used to drink 3 8oz bottles at several intervals at night but we got her down to just 1 8oz bottle BEFORE she sleeps.I believe she will drop the habit soon since she's now embarrased everytime one of our relatives see her drinking from a bottle.I don't force the issue so much since it really upsets her, maybe the bottle is like a security blanket or something. I see nothing wrong as long as she brushes her teeth after drinking.

Answer 10

This is a security technique. This helps him feel secure when you leave the room, and he is all by himself. Try giving him a blanket or even a bear, with his bottle and let him sleep with both for a few weeks, this way he can start feeling secure with the blanket. Then, after he is femiliarized with the blanket, then start taking the bottle from him. Not doing this could result in teeth that protrude, and also baby bottle tooth decay, which will suck when he's young, because the cavities hurt! ~ Maricella