https://boards.hellobee.com/ Pregnancy, Baby and Parenting blog, by Hellobee en Sun, 05 Apr 2026 22:41:07 +0000 https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661615 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 14:47:44 +0000 Eko 2661615@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Still going strong at 18 months </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661544 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 13:16:46 +0000 Mama Bird 2661544@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>About 15 months for both kids. Both of them went through a phase of very bad sleep between 12 and 15 months, and it didn't seem like a good time to change routines. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661529 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 12:42:18 +0000 psw27 2661529@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We went cold turkey on bottles at 12 months and moved to sippy cups. Now he is 2 yr 4 months and he will sometimes have milk in a miracle cup before bed before tooth brushing, sometimes not. If we stopped offering, he wouldn't care 75% of the time. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661507 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 12:28:25 +0000 SweetiePie 2661507@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For us it was 13 months, maybe slightly past (days not weeks). That was the deadline I had set for myself.<br /> We were also on 4 bottles a day, one of them being part of the bedtime routine. And I was also afraid of dropping that one!<br /> I started with the two easiest to drop - 11am and 3pm. He barely missed those. I think I staggered them about a week apart. I replaced them with offering milk in a straw cup.<br /> Then we got rid of the morning. Also really easy. I just made sure we gave him breakfast right when he woke up and offered milk in a straw cup.<br /> Finally was bedtime and I was dragging my feet. But it really was just as painless as the others. By then he was used to milk in a straw cup so one night I just offered him the milk in a cup while we read a bedtime story. We brushed teeth after. Light off and a quick song then in bed. He didn't miss a beat. I think a lot of times us parents stress more about change than they do!<br /> After just a couple of weeks we didn't even need the milk in a cup at bedtime. We just offered the last milk with dinner. Bath. Brush teeth and then PJs. Book. Song. Bed. </p> <p>My initial plan was to drop all bottles cold turkey but I'm so glad that we paced this one out. It was painless and I think a happy experience for all of us. </p> <p>Oh another tip I got from my ped - don't change to wcm and drop bottles at the same time. She suggested first getting him to straight milk in a bottle and then dropping bottles. If you change two variables at once and he resists, you don't know what he's resisting - the straw cup or the milk.<br /> So mix milk and formula/BM and slowly adjust the ratio. We changed it by an ounce every couple of days. He was drinking straight milk from the bottle in about a week. Then we started offering it in a straw cup and dropping bottles. It was very effective!</p> <p>ETA: when you decide that one night is the last night doing a bottle, cherish it! I made a split second decision that I just wasn't going to do one one night and then I realized the night before was the last one and I didn't really savor it and it made me kinda sad! I celebrated because bottle feeding is kinda annoying but then I was like "oh wait...that's when I get my best snuggles in". </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661497 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 12:13:26 +0000 chibee 2661497@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We took away night time bottle and just a bottle in general right at 12 months since he'd been using straw cups since he was 7 months. It also was the only smooth transition for us so far (took away the pacifier right before age 2 and it was a week of no sleep, and we're still cosleeping!!!) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661481 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 12:01:14 +0000 littlejoy 2661481@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>@travellingbee: My LO rejected my boobs and her bottle in the same day (literally on her first birthday). I think it was harder for me! ;) </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661474 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:58:10 +0000 snowjewelz 2661474@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>She always had a bottle after wake up and before bed; when she turned 1 I think we kept it for another week or so then just switched to a straw cup. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661471 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:55:20 +0000 travellingbee 2661471@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Well with LO #1 he was nursing at bedtime (we didn't do a bottle) and he stopped at 13 months. Dunno with this one. Bottle weaning seems harder!! </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661469 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:52:48 +0000 littlejoy 2661469@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>The last two responses reminded me that we took the bedtime bottle away at 11 months - we did it after dinner, so it wasn't a part of the bedtime routine anymore (it was her crutch to fall asleep). I think that made the bottle less interesting to her, which really helped that transition. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661468 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:49:48 +0000 raspberries 2661468@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>I voted for 12 months, but it was actually at about 11 months that we stopped that last feeding - we started giving him milk with his dinner in a sippy and replaced the bedtime bottle with an extra book. By the time he turned a year, he was completely done with bottles. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661466 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:44:03 +0000 ShootingStar 2661466@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We dropped it around 9 months. Around 7 months we moved it to the first step in the routine. At 9 months we were really struggling to do a dinner with solids (and provided a sippy of formula) and then still have time to do a bottle. Plus he wasn't hungry for it after dinner. So the ped said it was fine to just drop it. At that point we had really amped up the solids during the day so his sleep was getting better, even without that bottle. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661465 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:43:17 +0000 littlejoy 2661465@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>Our doctor recommended taking bottles away at 12 months, which we did. It was easy. LO wasn't really interested in them anymore (she was eating most foods and drinking water at that point). We did not replace with a soppy cup of milk - in fact, we never gave milk after she weaned. We do water for hydration. She would sign for water when we brushed her teeth, but that was the extent of water before bed. This is basically the only transition that went really smoothly in our house ... (ya know, like our 3 year old who still has a pacifier). :wink: </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661464 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:42:12 +0000 KT326 2661464@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>We just switched from a bottle to a sippy cup at 15 months when we bottle weaned. We cut out the milk before bed around 20 months and switched to water. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661461 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:36:51 +0000 2PeasinaPod 2661461@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>For LO1, we went until 18 months when he cut it himself b/c he had an ear infection and it hurt to suck his bottle. </p> <p>For LO2, we're still going strong at 14 months. He doesn't drink a ton during the day, which concerns me. I don't want him getting dehydrated, so I continue with the bedtime bottle. He just moved up a room and they won't give bottles, so he's been drinking at total of like 6 oz of milk during the day. That doesn't seem like much to me (and he isn't drinking water to replace it either), so I'm continuing with a 6 oz bottle at bed. I'm hoping he starts to get the hang of no bottles during the day and starts drinking more. </p> <p>The good thing is, he's starting to eat a lot more with us cutting bottles during the day. He isn't filling up on milk, so he's housing food. He'll eat half a carton of blueberries in one sitting, even though he's a really little dude. So I know he's getting enough food...it's just the drinking that concerns me. </p> https://boards.hellobee.com/topic/how-long-did-you-keep-up-the-bedtime-bottle#post-2661454 Mon, 05 Dec 2016 11:28:20 +0000 DesertDreams88 2661454@https://boards.hellobee.com/ <p>If you bottle-fed as part of the bedtime routine.... when did you drop it and how did it go? Did you replace with a sippy cup of milk? LO STTN 8ish-7ish, with only feed at 5am, and I'm scared to drop that bedtime bottle when he turns one! He still has 4 bottles a day because he's only 10.5 months but I'm thinking ahead... </p>