My daughter is a year old and still wakes up at night for a bottle.....?

Question

She was born with acid reflux and I had to feed her smaller amounts more often, including at night according to her dr. Now, she just turned a year old and and still wakes up once a night for a bottle. I am currently trying to ween from a bottle to the sippy/ regular cup. Any tips on trying to get my daughter to sleep through the night without a bottle? My dr. told me I would have a hard time because of the feeding schedule she was on due to her reflux and now that things are better, I would like to try to ween her. Any advice?

Answer 1

Just get up with her and give her her sippy when she wakes up for a bottle don't give it 2 her.

Answer 2

I've never heard of anyone being born with acid reflux, and, if it's true, then your child would get virtually no sleep because of it. You'd either have to hold her vertically for hours or tilt her bed so that her head is well above her esophagus/stomach, thus keeping the reflux to a minimum (not unlike burping a baby after nursing).

Generally speaking, multiple, small feedings (you didn't say how much and/or how often) will NOT help the situation, because the stomach needs to "rest" between feedings (that might work only with adults who suffer from Irritable Bowel Symptom or Colitis). It will also "train" the stomach to keep pumping acids, which is exactly what you want to avoid, not to mention that the child will think she's "missing" something if you don't feed her often.

There's not a single "good" thing in the above, is there?

Hopefully, she will outgrow the "acid reflux" problem (if not, perhaps surgery is an option, but I'd avoid that at this time). In the meantime, avoid anything acidic and plain water and breast milk, which contains fats which may irritate her stomach. Natural apple juice and baby formula is fine, and, slowly, reduce the amounts and/or number of feedings you give her (she may get cranky, but will get over it!).

Of course, do whatever your ob/gyn or pediatrician says.

Answer 3

It's going to take awhile, but you can do it if you just 'reduce' the amount of formula she's getting at night a bit ... about 1/2 ounce per week, until she doesn't get any. No child can take 'nothing' after getting something, and because your daughter has acid reflux, it could be a problem to try 'cutting her off' totally all at once. You should also get rid of the bottle during the night, and use a sippy cup then, too ... get her up and out of bed and have her sit up in your lap or in her highchair, but don't talk to her, and turn on only just enough light to see the baby and her cup, and as soon as she's done, don't 'cuddle' her, and just pop her back into her bed. No or low light means she won't 'wake up' nearly as much, even sitting up to drink, so she should go back to sleep easily ... and good luck. Since she's on 'small meals' those bottles are only about 4 ounces, so she should be 'totally weaned' in two to two and a half months. DO NOT GIVE HER MORE AT NIGHT ... her 'tummy' needs to get used to getting nothing slowly, so giving her more when she asks is wrong ... give her a bit extra at her last meal of the day, a bit extra for breakfast, and try getting to each night feeding a bit later and she'll be just fine.

Answer 4

My son is 14 months old and we just stopped this habit about 2 months ago, so I don't think she is far off...

The first couple of nights are the worst, and then it starts to get better. First, we started by feeding him a little bit more before bed. We gave him some cereal around 7:30 and then we gave him a bottle at bedtime. Then when he woke up in the middle of the night we started giving him a sippy cup of water. Then we'd rock for a little bit and I'd lay him back down.

The first couple of nights he cried and cried for his bottle, and it took awhile to rock, but as the nights went on it got better. Now if he wakes up we walk in, and hand him his sippy cup, while he stays in the crib, and then say "its time for bed" and we lay him down and leave. (Doesn't work perfectly every night... sometimes we let him cry.) But no more bottle and he probably only wakes up about 3 nights a week now... getting better!

Answer 5

I had the same problem with my 1 year old. He needs that bottle and he was born with acid reflux too. What we did was give him a bottle at night when he woke up but we just put water in it instead of milk! It worked wonders. He was so mad the first few times he threw it and cried but after 5 days of that he gave up and doesn't wake up anymore for one.

Answer 6

Whatever you do, you have to be consistent which sometimes is hard when your child wakes up in the middle of the night and all you can think about is sleeping. My suggestion would be to quit cold turkey and when she wakes up at night let her drink some warm milk in a sippy cup and then lay her back down. Get rid of all the bottles so that she won't see them and so you won't be tempted to go back and use them. Hope this helps!

Answer 7

It is not uncommon for a 1 year old to wake during the night for comfort. If you don't want her to have a bottle at night, you can begin to gradually replace it with another form of comforting. For instance, give her the bottle while you rock and cuddle her. Continue to rock and cuddle for a bit after she's finished the bottle. Slowly (maybe over a few weeks or so) reduce the amount of milk in the bottle, but continue to rock and cuddle her back to sleep. Eventually, you'll be able to comfort her to sleep without the bottle.

Here's some good info. on sleep:

http://www.askdrsears.com/html/7/T070100.asp

Answer 8

It is not your dcr. that is standing up by night,,,,
To answer more rigorously (this word really exists?) I need to know what is mixed in that night bottle or in that ono just BEFORE. Can you e-mail about? Or make another question, or mrmrly put an adendus in this same question? Help me to try answer accuratly. tks. If you try to made this sippy/regular cup to decrease slowly? Tell, pls.

ksss, hgs, family, oh! Family! Good luck!

Answer 9

How do you feel about letting her cry? Not for hours on end, but for small bouts of time? I would start with letting her cry for about 10 minutes when she wakes up the first night. After 10 minutes, go in and try to comfort her. Add 5 minutes every night. My guess is after a week or so she will be out for the night. Some people aren't comfortable with letting their babies cry. I understand, but trust me she will be fine. It is important for babies to learn to self-soothe. If you just can't do it, there is a book called The No-Cry Sleep Solution by Elizabeth Pantley. A friend of mine said this book was a miracle for her. Good luck!

Answer 10

My first step would be to start watering down the milk (formula) a little at a time until it is all water. Water is simply not as enticing as milk. Once it is all water, begin to reduce the amount slowly. Pretty soon she will be weaned without tears. (Well, this way is harder on Mom :-) Also, make sure she is not thirsty or hungry before bed.