Bottle v Cup
Advice please.
Baby B is 21 months old and righty or wrongly, he still has and loves, his bottle. He has two a day, one first thing in the morning and one last thing at night.
On Sunday I was talking with a ‘sleep consultant’ at the Baby Show about my Baby B waking so early (5am everyday for the past week) and she straightaway asked me if he still had a bottle, to which I replied yes. She was adamant that this would be one of the reasons why he was waking so early and that it had to stop.
I know that you are supposed to wean babies off their bottle after the first year (or so I have read) but he loves it and I have never really worried about weaning him off it. Quite frankly you don’t see adults walking round with bottles, so I am pretty sure he will give it up at some point! Just like he did his dummy.
The problem is that now I have told, I feel that I must move him off the bottle, or essentially I am ignoring the advice of a professional. This however, is easier said then done. He LOVES his bottle and whilst he will drink water from his tippy cup, is not a fan of his milk being presented in one as I did this morning.
As I write, the tippy cup sits three quarters full on the floor and I am sad that my little one hasn’t enjoyed his morning warm milk. I felt a real pang of sadness when I gave him the cup as I felt that it is a big step and perhaps it’s me that isn’t ready to move on. Feel that he is still my baby and that he should still be able to have a bottle if he wants one.
Am I wrong, it is me that is holding him back!? After a couple of days I am sure he will accept his milk in a tippy cup but then that would mean the end of bottle and the end of my baby baby stage.
I have to stop this?!
Advice/comments really welcome and appreciated please!
Thank you x
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Not advice, more of a ‘sharing of experiences’….here goes.
Baby J loved his bottle and had his milk in it (morning and night) until he was nearly 3. Like you, I felt mean depriving him of his warm milk and if I’m honest I enjoyed our snatched cuddles and I wasnt in a hurry for him ‘grow up’. Drank water from sippy cup fine but when I offered milk he would have a few sips but never impressed. Can’t remember exactly what age, why or how we eventually ditched the bottle but I guess the main thing is he did and it doesn’t seem to have caused him any harm and he was a brilliant sleeper, waking at a very respectable 7am onwards!
Baby G on the otherhand is a different kettle of fish! (16 mths old) For a while has been waking most days at 5am, 5.30am if we’re lucky. He also has his milk in a bottle morning and night so when I saw your post my ‘eyes pricked open’ as I drove to work half asleep from yet another early morning wake up call! At 5.15am this morning I decided to give him a bottle of milk in his cot (never done this to date but had read on a forum some mums have done this) and see if he would settle himself after a drink. Nope, he screamed and wouldnt even take the bottle of milk from me. After good old dad intervened and calmed him down after my pityless offer of milk he went quiet and actually went back off until 7am which has never happened before.
So in short, you are not wrong…… but if like me you are looking for a solution to these ridiculously early wake up calls then I guess it may be worth a go. However, before I stop G’s milk (he doesn’t eat that great so loathe to take away his milk) I will probably look at other stuff first like sleep in the day, bedtime etc..to see if any other reasons as I’m thinking maybe he just doesn’t need as much sleep as J did. I also read some advice on a sleep forum and they suggested not to get them up and to try and settle them (i.e. possibly controlled crying) so they eventually know it is really not the time to get up! This seems to be helping as even if he doesn’t go back to sleep (although today was a first!) he doesn’t scream like he used to and it gives us maybe an extra 30 mins to a more respectable 6am!
More of a sleep post opposed to cup v bottle – sorry ; ) so I will be interested to see any other suggestions, advice, comments on this!!!
Yours
A fellow sleep deprived mum (who also still gives milk in a bottle!)
x
Hey, Thank you so much for commenting.
The whole bottle debate came about solely as I am desperately searching for a way to get him to sleep later in the mornings. Like you say, 6am would be great!
This sleep expert was adamant that the bottle at night was responsible, although she did say that there would likely be other things to. Effectively his body clock is now programmed to wake at 5am.
We have tried leaving him to cry it out and it was just awful! He literally cried for 40 mins and then did eventually go back to sleep but solely as he was just shattered from all the crying. He was a snotty mess by the time he was done! I am not opposed to controlled crying but I found it hard leaving him to cry after he has been asleep for approx 10 hours.
Baby B has never been a great self-settler so we are working on that now in the hope that perhaps he will be able to settle himself back to sleep in the mornings. When he wakes up he is literally wide awake and ready to go play. If we don’t go in, he just cries and cries, so no one gets any sleep.
Does Baby G self settle well?
Have had a great response to this post on twitter. It is really common which is great to know but doesn’t change the wake up!! Will keep you updated with feedback, in fact, I think a specific early riser post is required! x