i can't soothe my guy back to sleep

[celesterra]

I have 17-month old twin boys, who sleep in cribs in separate rooms (one is a very light sleeper, and the other has very loud night wakings).

The loud one is the one in question. From the beginning, I had to supplement bf'ing with bottles, so when they both self-weaned at 11 months, we continued on with bottles.

I have tried many, many times to get rid of this guy's night bottle - it comes anywhere between 1 and 4am. Until this week, I thought he was going to drop it (he was sleeping straight through the night), but his canines started coming in and all hell broke loose.

There doesn't seem to be anything I can do to help him go back to sleep when he is upset - other times he's a great go-to-sleeper, settling himself down for naps and bedtime. But now, since this teething, I can't get him to go to sleep at any time of day - or get him back to sleep at night - without a bottle. He cries and wails, kicks and arches his back - and this babe is almost 30#s! He's heavy! I try singing, bouncing (god forbid we go back to bouncing!!), I gave him a brighter nightlight... I just don't know what to do.

I put xyletol in it for his teeth, and I'm giving him only 5oz, so I know it's not because he's hungry, but because he needs the comfort of sucking...

The teeth are all through, and now I fear I've really set him back.

I know I'm posting to a mostly nursing crowd, but do you guys have any thoughts? How am I going to get out of this mess and ease him off this nighttime bottle once and for all???

[azzeps]

I'm so sorry! I know how heartbreaking it is to not be able to soothe your little one! I guess I will preface by saying that we didn't do any bottle feeding, so I can't claim to know the first thing about it, but I heard somewhere about how to "night-wean" from bottles would be to gradually water down the formula until it's all water. Or maybe you could try offering a cup of water? No, because you said he needs the sucking to soothe.... a pacifier? I'm sure you've tried that. What about something cold to suck on like a frozen washcloth, since you said he's teething? Or does he have a favorite teether? Massage his gums? Have you tried walking him around (I know what you mean about not wanting to go back to bouncing!!! gah!) but maybe walking. At one point my DD was waking and screaming inconsolably, and I had to totally do something different from the usual... so I would take her downstairs and walk around and around down there until she quieted down. Have you tried ibuprofen for the teething? That seems to help mine when she's got teeth coming in. Maybe you could just continue on with the bottle until he gets through this round of teeth, and then when they're in, try to wean him from it. My 22 month old daughter doesn't have her canines yet... but the first year molars were the pits! She was miserable. I wish you luck, mama, and I know how you feel! Do you have a partner who can take over for you once in a while, or at least come to the rescue if you've done everything you can at night and nothing's working? I hope so. Here's hoping for better nights for all of us!