Bedtime for one year old is so hard since taking away the bottle...?

I have a 9 year old and a 1 year old... My older son stayed on the bottle till he was 3 then just gave it up one day. My doctor told me how horrible this was for his teeth so when the dr told me this time at one to take my youngest son off the bottle at 1 I did and was told the crying before bed would last about a week... It's been a month and now he is scared of his bedroom, he starts crying whenever we go in there even if it's not for bed. For bed time we do our routine of bath and story and kisses and then night night with the same night light on... when he finally does fall asleep he sleeps for a straight 12 hours vs 2-3hrs befor with the bottle... any advice? I hate to hear him cry for so long (5-45min) at bedtime, I will go in his bedroom and lay him back down and tell him softly it's night night time... he still screams...

Bedtime for one year old is so hard since taking away the bottle...?
I'm sorry you are having such a bad time! I was going to tell you that it will subside (and it will) but I am sure you are weary of waiting for that peacful night ritual. I would suggest exactly what you are doing. Keeping with routine (even though he is crying) and comforting him when he is in such distress.
Reply:Does your 9 year old have bad teeth?


I know that doctors say that the bottle is bad for babies teeth and that they shouldnt have it after one, but saying this if there is only milk in the bottle it wont rot the teeth. It becomes a problem if you put juice or sugary drinks in the bottle and they suck on it all day long.


If you can your little ones teeth brushed once or twice a day then the teeth will be fine. They will not rot and fall out, plus baby teeth dont last forever.


Let him have his night botle i say, if this comforts him to sleep without screaming his eyes out the whats the harm? He is prob sleeping for 12 hours though sheer exhaustion of crying so much.


My little man just turned one and we still give him his night bottle, it helps him drift off to sleep peacefully and he sleeps for 10-12 hours straight.


Not everything the doctors tell you is right for every situation, you have to take advice then decide whats best for you.
Reply:Try giving him a sippy cup. It's true his teeth will get rotten, I learned the hard way with my 3 yr old she had to get alot of work done to her teeth when she was 2 in a half and I regret it alot becuz I hated seeing her suffer and kick and scream. now you hate hearing him cry but it's only temporary.
Reply:He'll adjust... just stick with it. What you said about him sleeping better now is b/c now he's broken from the bottle and he doesn't have the habit of it. I would give it another week and if his crying time isn't decreasing then I would call the pediatrician and see what you can do. So now you're just working on his sleep habit. When you go in to comfort him make sure it's brief and space it out each time you go in. Another thing you have to think of is if you keep going in (if you do it constantly) he'll realize "wow I cry and mom will keep coming in". About him being scared... take him in there through out the day and keep playing with him in there to get him used to it... he might think that if he's in there that he has to go to sleep. It took me about 6 weeks to get my son to get broke of the bottle and sleep well. Every now and then his sleep habit will get out of wack and after a few days his pediatrician recommends giving him a dose of benadryll for a couple nights before he goes to bed to make him sleepy and it helps him get back into the sleep habit. So just stick with it and remember "this too shall pass"
Reply:Well, i'm not a dr or a genius but i am a mom of 2. My eldest girls is 3 years old and she still on the bottle and her teeth is fine. So, i think if it's the matter of our child, we must always act what's best for our child. Even though your dr advise you to take off the bottle as early as 1 year old but with all do respect, i dont think your baby is ready for it. Maybe your baby thinks that the bottle is his friend. that's why he would scream and cried at bedtime.
Reply:I would stick with it and also- start playing in the bedroom to help ease his fears.





Does he have another transitional object? Like a blankie? This could help as well.





Also, try music. Our son and our daughter love music at bedtime. The baby sleeps with us, but we play music to get her to sleep and it works like a charm. It's a compulation CD of Romantic Favorites or something like that? Our son prefers Beethoven and Bach. You might also try Ocean waves. Our son had a CD called Guitar by the Sea and he loved that too. He transitioned into his bed at 2.5 years and we played that for him to get him to sleep. We did all of the above to make his room a happy place and not a fearful, strange place.





I hope you find something that works.





As far as the baby bottle mouth- it's true. I have a classroom full of children with either rotten teeth or silver caps in the front. All from going to bed with a bottle. I work in a poor area and it is commonplace to do this. I have had the parents tell me, "It don't matter, they are gonna lose the teeth anyway..." Sure, but in the meanwhile, Ughhh!!! Have you ever heard the pain cries of a 5 and 6 year old because their teeth HURT SO MUCH??? It's awful! Worse because many don't have insurance and we have to get help for them, but it's only to alleviate the issue, not to take care of it until they reup for Medicaid or the other local program. So, stick with it.





Will he go to bed with a bottle of water? I'd give that a shot too. He is not ready to lose the bottle yet, but going to bed with it is not a good idea at all.





Hugs! It's awful having such a young one cry.
Reply:Our eldest used the bottle until he was about 17 months. By then he had transitioned to the sippy cup during the day and I encouraged him to use the big boy cup as opposed to the bottle. He made a complete change within a matter of days. Hang in there. It will get easier. All the best.
Reply:My one year old still loves his bottle, sometimes he will take a sippy, but sometimes he still cries for his "baba"





If it makes you feel better, I asked my dr and he said to wait a while, keep offering the cup, but leave him with his bottle.





As long as your son doesn't take his bottle into bed with him, let him have his bottle, he will grow up soon enough :-)



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