Could my son's lovey be a bottle?

[zuzunel09]

Ok, so after failing miserably at bf'ing the first time around, we bottle-fed my son.  We switched him to whole milk at 12 months.  He LOVES his bottle and milk.  Or even just his bottle with juice-flavored water.  He spit out the paci at 3 mos. and never looked back and throws stuffed animals and blankies away with contempt. 

My dh watches him in the afternoons and evenings while I work, and even though we have had several serious conversations about weaning him from the bottle, dh hasn't stopped giving him that afternoon and bedtime bottle.  We've talked about tooth decay, etc, but it really is sometimes the only effective soother for the little guy.  Even if we switched to water, he would still want to have it from a bottle.  He will use a sippy cup if forced but when he's in a cranky mood he goes to the kitchen and points to the corner where his bottle stuff is.

Ummm...he's 20 mos. now, too.    I read in Super Baby Food that a child's need to suck can last a long time, but there was no further advice. 

[pbjmama]

I think it is common for children to be attached to bottles. I would probably just do water and nap and bed time because of potential bottle rot but otherwise no biggie!

[Belia]

I nursed DS to some extent until he was two, but also did bottles of expressed milk so I could sleep and go to work.  And I still give DS a bottle of milk before bed while we cuddle in the rocking chair.  When he gets home from daycare, too.

And he's almost three.

*sigh*  I've been feeling like such a bad mom lately and one of the reasons is stuff like this.  We have a routine and it works SO WELL.  So I haven't wanted to change it.  But my kid is 3 and still uses a bottle. 

[irishmaji]

My son is the same way.  We had to go to formula due to a dairy allergy, and he never took to a pacifier and hates blankets!!  I did manage to cut out all daytime bottles and he only gets a bottle of formula before bed and once or twice during the night when he wakes up.  He just turned 18 months.

I've wanted to get rid of the nighttime bottles, but it's the only way to get him back to sleep when he wakes during the night.  I keep telling myself that once he starts sleeping through the night we'll work on getting rid of the bedtime bottle, but I'm starting to wonder if that is ever going to happen.  I'm worried the longer I wait the harder it will be, but I also need some sleep!!!  I've tried just cuddling him during the night to get him back to sleep but his crying will only escalate and he'll ask for a bubba - I give in cause I have to get up and go to work the next day :(

If anyone has suggestions, I'm all ears! 

[zuzunel09]

Irishmaji, I'm the same way.  My dh works at night so it's just me and my son.  I know I have to get some sleep so I can be functional at work, so I try to put him down as effectively as possible.  Luckily within the past two months he's started sleeping through the night fairly regularly, but sometimes I know he's thirsty in the middle of the night because of the colds we've had and the dry air, and guess what?  He wants water in a bottle.  Sigh...

[JudiAU]

It is common for children to like their bottles. But I would limit it to milk, get rid of juice water all together, and use a sippy cup for the water. I wouldn't stress about 2 bottles a day before sleep but I would be really concerned about all bottle all the time. You might want to consider using a sippy cup that has the valve removed. The water flows faster.

[tillymama]

My daughter is 20mo too, and still has a bottle at bedtime, for any night feeds, and usually first thing in the morning (between 5-6am). She has a sippy cup for water and milk during the day.

I've gently suggested she has her cup for her bedtime feed once, but she wasn't having any of it, so she had the bottle.

As PP said, it's not as if she's running round with the bottle all day with juice in it or something. She has her milk, and goes back to sleep. I figure she'll give it up when she's ready.