Hi,
can you tell me how to stop bottle feeding. my baby is 9 months old and i think if i start taking steps to stop bottle feeding from now it wont be difficult later for both baby and me. i have introduced sipper but she sucks the water and throws it out its just play for her when i give sipper where as she drinks proper qty of water from bottle. also night feed is the issue though she is full before going to sleep she needs one feed of milk at around 3 am and then in morning at around 7.30 / 8 am i give her again one feed. she drinks water otherwise in the middle of night minimum twice. can u tell me what should i do to make her sleep thru night and stop bottle feeding. shall i give her milk from sipper i havent tried that yet. pl. help
thanks Hetal replied. babies above 6 months dont require night feeds ! if they do,it means they are either not getting enough food or fluids thru out the day ! so tell me, what does your baby eat,,how much does he eat ? and how many times a day,he eats and drinks ??????

the other reasons could be, uncomfortable or high or too low temperature, and the outfit he is wearing compared to the temperrature in the room,,,due to which he gets a very little cold or just stuffy nose due to dryness or continuous airconditioning...practise 1 hour in a day to let the cross ventilation do its magic,,prefereably early mornings for it,as soon as you wake up until 9-10am in mornings,,after that genrally in summers the temperature outside house starts to heatup and you dont want to breathe hot air...
this practise,will restore natural moisture,,result - baby or you will not feel dryness in mouth or nose,,and nighttime feeds lessen..also humidifier is a good option for that..
other than these, the other reasons could be the type of food,,was the food in any part of day, gassy, or hard to digest,,anything new that you recently introduced ? what are your food habits for your baby ? esp what are his dinner meals ?

try giving a good bath(bath should be just before his night feed or atleast after 1 hour or 1.5hrs of his dinner ) before sleep,,it helps,,and relaxes babies. babies get tired with all they do,,its much for them to even move their hands and legs contiously,,overtired babies dont sleep well and to make themselves sleep they ask for feeds...check on that.
he should complete his dinner atleast 2.5 hours before his sleeping time.and then just before sleeping,, a full bottle feed of bm or formula is good enough after a good dinner to make sleep for atleast 6-7-8 hours.
finally, The goal is to separate eating from going to sleep so that if your baby does wake up at night he won't need your breast or a bottle to make himself to sleep. but just needs a little hug so pick him up for a while,rub his back,,rock a while and he might just sleep back...so try that,,more often than anything else..
if he is asking for formula at night, if you think he has good food,,then only instead of making complete dilution of formula, go by 4oz,2formula spoons,add another 2 oz of extra water,,difference in taste,sometimes makes them stop drinking !!! slowly reduce the amount of formulaand take it to 100%water !!! sometimes that transition works...
this is all i can see right now,without knowing how much your baby is eating or drinking thru out the day....
and after all this, if still your baby continues,,please take him to dr..generally nighttime feeding babies have shown some allergies,,,that start to bother at night when they are lying straight on back,,whole day babies are active so their system responds by throwing all allergens either by cough or sneeze or saliva from mouth,,night they dont do that, like we do,,,thats onething to worry about..

so this is all i could work out from what you said,,however food intake, fluid intake,matters alot.
Good Luck and you take care... Hetal replied. hi,
about sippycup -
Some babies enjoy a sippy as early as 5 or 6 months, and others aren't interested until after their first birthdays. Most babies seem ready around 7 to 9 months, though. now this means they start drinking from it and does not mean drinking from it continuosly for whole or all the feeds !
generally that happens between 10-12months, when they have mastered control over all of their mouth muscles and sucking skills.
about trasition -
1.Start off with a soft, pliable, nipplelike spout, which will feel more familiar to your baby than a hard plastic spout. a brand name second nature has a really nice system but its abit expensive,,look at your budget,,find something that can replace that kind of product.a friend ofmine got it from onestepahead dot com.
also, i used the one available by nuby or gerber,,make sure its transition sippy cup with soft spout.
2.Show your baby how to raise the cup to his mouth and tip it up to drink.drink before him,if needed..babies at 9 months onwards like to mimick all that is done before him. they learn like that only.
3.Give it some time. Until your baby masters the maneuvers, you may want to put only water in the cup. When he shakes or throws it, even a sippy might not keep purple grape juice from hitting the carpet.so be careful and expect it,,until he is ready.

4.Don't worry if your baby doesn't use the sippy cup properly for a while upto 1 year . It makes a fine toy, too!
also start with direct feeds from spoon and direct glass,if that is interesting for him..you never know when it comes to babies..my daughter learned to drink from glass first at 5months,now at 10th month onwards,she is enjoying sippy cup.its different for all babies.but keep trying.

5.Try different models of cups until you find one that suits your baby. Some cups have valves that are so effective at keeping the liquid from spilling that children really have to work sucking hard to get a sip of drink.and its frustrating for them,,so their interest goes off..so keep changing the valve to speed to higher flow,,if it helps..my baby learned on medium flow, and in a week,she was ready for full flow..she never took slow flow valve,,,
so listen to your baby signals and reactions for all trials you make.
keep on trying,,,add in it his fav fruit juices,sometimes it makes them drink from it.
try offering milk when your baby is really hungry,,when hunger strikes,,sometimes it makes them drink from it ! they might get frustrated if its early for them and ask for bottle, but you have to be tough somewhere..also i dont mean, let them cry,a lttle cry or resiliance is ok like throwing sippy cup in anger once or twice,,give again sippy cup,,if he cries still then be ready with bottle.keep doing that...it helps..esp when the baby get addicted to bottle, this is the only remedy.
take care, good luck