I know that we are probably sooo behind on this (especially according to the dr.) but our bedtime routine is like perfect so I haven't wanted to disrupt it. So Jada and Justin still gets milk in their sippy cups when they go to bed. I feel guilty because I know they shouldn't, and actually Justin would go to bed without it but Jada will scream for over 20 mins. (we did try once) if she doesn't get it.

Other than the obvious reasons, this is also becoming a problem with overnight potty-training. SInce they go to bed with milk, of course they wet theirselves overnight. I would like to tackle this phase and get it over with so I was wondering if anybody used any special techniques or anything?

what do you mean by getting milk at bedtime? like they take a sippy cup to bed with them? or they drink some before bed?

I broke Jacob at about 15 months and the girls at about the same age... I gave warm sippies of water for the first few nights and then gradually let it get to room temp, so they all get sippies of water at bedtime now.

I have the same problem:blush: and Jayden is 3! He HAS to have a sippy of WARM milk :dead: To take IN THE BED with him. Then I take it away when he's asleep, I need help too:(

The kids never took bottles to bed with them, so they never progressed to taking sippy cups to bed with them.
The twins DO have a sippy cup of milk after bathtime, before bed, but I've never been told that there is anything harmful in it.

I am not sure when we started it, but Aidan LOVES having a glass of water after storytime, right as we are about to tuck him in. Not a sippy either..a glass. Fine with me. I dont care about PT right now, so.... :lol: Besides, arent you thirsty before bed? :lol:

I misread your post, sorry, guess mine wasn't much help at all either :mope:

We never let Isabelle actually take milk to be with her, but did let her have milk before bed. What we do now is to give her a sippy of water to have at bedtime (we let her keep that with her) since she doesn't drink water for comfort, like she did milk- only when she's thirsty. We made a policy for her of no milk after you brush your teeth, and she didn't like it at first but we stayed firm (which is important; if you cave once, it'll be that much harder next time you try), and she's ok with it now.

Rebekah still gets a cup of milk when I tuck her into bed. She used to fall asleep drinking it but now she drinks some of it, puts it on her nightstand and then goes to sleep. It's just not something she's ready to give up so we let her keep it.

Oh - milk in a sippy is Rebekah's comfort item and it helps her wind down so that makes it even harder.

See, the BAD thing with us is he NEVER took a bottle to bed, but this is his comfort thing, and I feel like I'm depriving him if he's thirsty:(

We do the same as Karri and clan.
Dylan never went to bed with a bottle/sippy cup w/milk.
He loves his water in a glass and will have some before bed. PTing isn't a buge concern here either right now.
I wish I had some advice.

Colin esp. (turned 2 in Feb) always wants a sippy before bed. Sometimes he brings it in to bed with him, sometimes he finishes it first. Because Aidan sees Colin with his drink, he often asks for some too. Again, not necessarily to bed but before bed. But I've been trying not to give any to potty trained Aidan to minimize the chance of overnight accidents, even though he will get up to pee if he needs to.

Not sure my story helps but the answer is that I've mainly stopped giving a pre-bed drink once night potty training happened. And it was mostly a cold turkey thing...we didn't wean him or anything. We just said no.

Alex also never went to bed with either a bottle or a sippy....so I also can't help too much with that issue. :hug99:

However....when Alex was younger, I wanted to to create a habit of him not being nursed to sleep (having warm milk in his mouth/belly just before drifting off....then not being able to sleep without it).
So....I just pushed the time I did the final nurse of the evening earlier and earlier....until finally it was a dinner-time nurse instead of a bedtime nurse. :) Of course, this was well before Alex realized what was going on and could voice a preference of having something specific at a special time. I suppose that doesn't help the older kids needing milk at bedtime in this group.....
You might just have to make a rule of no milk (or food) after the bedtime tooth brushing, and push that final glass of milk a little earlier. Or....you might also have to do a round (or two) of letting them be upset about the change while you go in every so often and let them know it's all going to be alright. :hug99:

I wish I had some tried and true ideas to offer......

I think I might try telling them there's no eating or drinking after getting their teeth brushed and see how it goes.

I know that it is purely for comfort, not that she is thirsty. And for Justin, it's just a monkey-see, monkey do type of thing. They've always went to bed with a bottle and then a sippy when we tossed the bottle.

I would try the teeth brushing thing. Just be firm with it. I would think it would work. :dunno: GOOD LUCK

You could try cutting the milk with water gradually. First 1/4 water for several days, then 1/2 water, etc. and work your way to all water. Just make sure if you do this that you don't give in or you will actually teach Jada to cry LONGER for milk. Good luck!!

Well, I have started saying no, but I do give him a drink of water before he gets in bed, and he cannot have sippy cups at all anymore, because I think that he is drinking too much therefore not going on the potty. And he has fought it a bit, but he's doing okay. He has been waking up in the middle of the night and coming to my bed to ask for warm Milk, and I say no, and he goes back to sleep fairly easily. However, when he wakes up he wants warm milk. So I've been giving it to him in a "big boy cup" I guess maybe it's a step in the right direction.

You could try making a special time before bedtime where they cuddle with you and drink their milk and you read them a story? And then let them have a sippy of water while in bed.

Both Janelle and Caid still nurse right before going to bed at night, so I was thinking along the lines of that.

Rebekah still gets a cup of milk when I tuck her into bed. She used to fall asleep drinking it but now she drinks some of it, puts it on her nightstand and then goes to sleep. It's just not something she's ready to give up so we let her keep it.

Oh - milk in a sippy is Rebekah's comfort item and it helps her wind down so that makes it even harder.

Mason has been a terrible sleeper from the time he was born. He is 3yr 4mo almsot and he still gets up in the night EVERY night at some point or another. I let him have a drink of milk in a sippy when we are reading stories before bed. Sometimes at night he wants a drink as comfort before he can go back to sleep. Either that or he needs to be touching me. I let him do both (even though his teeth are bad) because I figure at some point, sooner or later, he will become a good sleeper, he's only small once and I don't see the need for causing a big fight, which is what will happen.

I can tell from last night that this is going to be like fighting WWIII :lol:

DH messed up and brushed their teeth as soon as they got out of the tub instead of waiting like I asked him too so that they could have their milk first and then be told no more drinking. Since that was blown, I poured their milk in regular cups and didn't warm it up. Justin just started drinking his - no problem. But Jada starts jumping up and down in a fit screaming that she wants her lid (the sippy cup). After a few minutes I gave in and told her that she could have the sippy cup but she had to drink her milk before we went to bed. Then Justin sees Jada with her sippy so he starts asking for his - I gave it to him because I have a same-rule theory thing going on :lol: Justin continues drinking his milk though he didn't really want it, just being a copycat. Jada refused to drink her milk, I told her to lay down on the couch with me while she drank but she wouldn't budge. Yes, she's my stubborn one.

After 30 mins past their latest bedtime, she was incredibly sleepy and started nodding off in my arms. But of course when I put her in the bed she was up again; I thought since she was so tired she wouldn't miss it so I hid her cup. As soon as I close the BR door she starts crying for her milk again. I acted like I forgot it downstairs and she told me that she would go get it. I told her to stay put and that I'll bring it up and was hoping that she fell asleep (I stalled for time) but she didn't and so I ended up giving in :blush: by telling DH we'll wait until the weekend to start.

If I wasn't worried about her teeth, I don't even think I would bother.

David took a sippy of milk to bed until after he was 2. I don't remember how old he was when I stopped it. What I did was make a big deal about brushing his teeth and getting out all the monkeys. When he asked for his milk I told him that they would bring the monkeys back but he could have some water. He didn't want the monkeys climbing all over his clean teeth so he happily took the water. Good luck. I hope you find a solution that helps. I know next time to not even start with a bottle in the bed. Such a hard habit to break and not good for thier little teeth!! Now I am trying to stop the water before bed so he will be night trained. It's hard because I don't want to deprive my child of drink if he's thirsty. Oh..well night time pt will come..and he will still have his water! ;)

The big thing is to stay consistant. If you say they can't have milk after brushing their teeth, don't give in just to stop a tantrum. They learn that they can win with a bit of tears. Hold firm, offer water or nothing. Good luck. It's going to be a rough couple of days! :hug99: You'll need a few of those!! Also make sure that DH follows the same rules!!! You can do it!!

Hi,

I'm going through the same thing. Sam will be two on Wed. and he still has a bottle :blush: at bedtime. Teddy is 3 yrs. 4 months and has a sippy cup at bedtime. Both drink while in bed. Sam was waking up a few times a night asking for a bottle. This was causing lots of ear infections. I started putting a few sippy cups with water into his crib at night. This works well, if he wakes up at night he finds a cup and drinks and falls back to sleep.

But lately it has been hell! They have been waking up during the night crying for milk. Of course I am totally exhausted and just give them milk so they will go back to sleep. PS: they are both allergic to dairy so they drink rice milk. It is watery and I don't think it fills them up. But with Sam I think it is more of a comfort sucking thing. Don't know :shrug:

I want to take Sam off the bottle. Should I try the milk in the sippy cup or not even start that?! Just take him off the milk cold turkey. I know this is going to be a nightmare. He is very stubborn and will fight me all night. I'm going to try to have them drink their milk while we cuddle and read and then no milk after brushing the teeth. Any other advice?