Dropping Bottle before nap/bedtime for 19 month old..help please

[Little Gorilla]

My 19th month old currently has about 100mls of cows milk in a bottle before his daytime sleep (from 1 till 3pm) and then a full 240mls bottle of cows milk before his bedtime at around 7pm.

I still give him the bottle and then cuddle and rock him for about 5 mins and then put him in the cot to go to sleep.

Recently whenever he sees me preparing the bottle for his sleep/s he chucks a wobbly....saying "no, no, no, no" shaking his head etc. The bottle used to be the "tool" we used to get him to sleep, but now its seeming like more of a hinderance iykwim. He has started playing with it in his mouth etc....he also still has a dummy (which he is VERY attached to).

So, what I want to do is just get rid of the bottle altogehter....he is obviously old enough to do this, my questions are:-

1. he is moving into a new bigger room in the coming weeks...should I co-inside the getting rid of the bottle with change as well?

2. how am I going to settle him with out the bottle - should I stop the rocking him to sleep as well?

3.do I just change the bottle time to say story time in his new room?

It seems like I will need to re-do his whole bedtime routine...I just feel he is getting too old for the bottle and the rocking.

Any suggestions most welcome:yes:

[MrsMiggins]

I've been wondering what I'll do with DD when we face that time too. She is still too young to worry about it just yet, but I will be facing many of the same issues you are currently facing when our time does come.

Will your DS drink from a cup or a sipper cup? Maybe he won't associate this with bedtime?

Also re: the rocking issue, I'd say if it doesn't bother you to do it, then keep it up for as long as you like.

I also think your idea about changing location with your routine is a good one. Helps them separate the two things (ie: the old & the new).

I think you should give changing rooms & routine a go at the same time & if it doesn't work, then you could always go back to giving him the bottle til he's more settled & try again later. That way, you're either going to be able to kill 2 birds with the one stone, or have a little trick up your sleeve (going back to the bottle) to make the transition to his new room easier.

Good luck with it all!!

[Foxy]

I recently dropped a 200ml bottle before the daytime sleep. I bought a tommee tippee cup with a very soft "sippy bit" from Woolies that is only used for milk (he has other cups for water). I actually made sure that everything else in the daytime bedtime ritual remained the same (eg, time, stories, songs etc). Being a huge bottle lover, DS was not happy at first, but slowly he accepted it, and now drinks around 50ish mls, which I am happy to continue.

Personally, I wouldn't make all the changes you are proposing at once, but then again, you know your son and if he will adpat well to the changes. IMO, I would change rooms first, and the get rid of the bottle & rocking after a couple of weeks.

[Little Gorilla]

thanks for the replies ladies

anyone else got ideas...perhaps how they stopped the bottle for putting their bubs to sleep