[jennynabee]

OK, I need some help. Lilah has been with me for only a week. she is amazing. She is not as cheerful as I think she can be but she is doing remarkably well--Here is the problem. FM told me that she has a bottle 3 times during the night. FM put her to bed with a bottle, so I am doing the same thing. However, Lilah is waking up ever hour - hour and 1/2 crying and searching for her bottle. As soon as the bottle is in her mouth and she starts to suck she goes back to sleep. Since the formula is only good for about an hour I find that I am up every hour or so getting her a new bottle. The FM said she was not on a pacifier and I really wish she was. Tha last night and most of this evening she managed to get into a sleep position on her stomach and she absolutely could not find the bottle so she was has been crying about every 45 min.! I tried just putting water int he bottle, but that did not work! Help! Do you think this is just her trying to adjust or do you think this is just a problem of not being able to find the bottle? Any input would be greatly appreciated! I can't think of anyway to make this a bit more doable. YOur input will be greatly appreciated!! thanks!

[Disneycrazed]

First off .... I am as new to this as you are LOL
But ....
We found that some of the things that the foster mom told us just don't work for our baby . We did some of them but just kind of went with what Malea seemed to want.
We found that making a whole bottle was kind of a waste since she didn't drink it at times. SO we have those 4 oz bottles that she will use at times.
Maybe if you hold her and give her the bottle before she goes to bed it will satisfy her more and longer.

Malea sometimes wakes 1-2 times in the middle of the night and we get her up and give her about 4 oz of her bottle and then she is back to sleep.

Malea did not take a pacifier in Guatemala but she likes it. She doesn't really keep it in her mouth the whole time but chews on it some as well.


Good luck and i think that things will work out...use and try different things and see what works for you and her!!

[DoraDora]

It sounds to me like she isn't hungry but has a desire to suck. So, I would try really hard to get her to take a pacifier. There are several different types on the market. Try them all. My youngest bio daughter wouldn't take a pacifier when she was very small -- but when she was about 10 months old, she discovered it. It was a life-saver.

Good luck! You'll make it through this!

[DD Amasa]

My son was also put to bed with a bottle by his foster mom. Since I know that is a really big no-no, I was able to switch him to a pacifier. It took a week or so though. At first he wanted nothing to do with the pacifier, then all of a sudden he decided he wanted them. Of course once he got hooked on the pacifier, he would wake up during the night if he lost it. So now he goes to bed with five pacifiers scattered around the crib. But they're harmless (unlike the bottle) and easy to sprinkle around the crib.

Good luck.

[SAVeronika]

I would advise you to try and swith her to a paci and teach her to find it in the dark. I've read that even 6 month old babies can learn to follow a short piece of ribbon pinned to their clothes (in the same place all the time) to find a paci attached at the other end. Going to bed with a bottle is not good for your little girl at all as it will spoil her teeth in the long run. Neither one of my kids ever had a paci and my son attached to his pillow for comfort, while my daughter has her blankie that she won't sleep without. I hope you can transition her to something new. All of this seems to me that she has been taught to rely on something else to get to sleep, namely sucking on the bottle.

[isabel41206]

does she have a bright night light also to help her see better in the dark? also I agree with others that maybe you could feed her a good bottle(with maybe some cereal to fill her up) and hopefully that will help.

[kare4you]

Our FM said our son would only wake up 1 time a night, but he was waking up more, so we have started to give him cereal with dinner. I mix 1 1/2 Tbl of rice cereal with 2 tsp of bananas and a little warm water. He now only wakes up at about 0430 for a bottle. He is quite the eater though. He takes 40 oz of formula a day and 5 Gerber 1 foods! I would also try the pacifier...kids will adjust quickly and it is bad for their mouth/teeth to put them to bed with a bottle. I also noticed our FM left bottles out longer than we would. Our FM also put cereal in Drew's formula when he was younger.
Karen

[jules17]

At first, Sam was waking up more often and not taking his full bottle. We knew he was a good eater, but he would just push it away. He wasn't upset, so we just went with it. After about two weeks, he had his full bottle and up once a night (and now it is very rare for him to wake at all during the night.)

So in hindsight, I think he was adjusting to us and his new world.

It sounds like sucking calms her and the bottle is her security blanket.

Ours lasted 2 weeks tops...hope the same is true for sweet Lilah. We also introduced more foods and that helped, too. Best of luck - I know the lack of sleep is hard.

[arthymom]

Same advice as others, and I would add

Make sure she eats enough throughout the day.

[kacmom1]

I have to tell you.,...you really need to get rid of the bottle in the bed routine. Our son, Luca, came home to us last year. He was 2 1/2 years old....and everynight, he was given a bottle to sleep with. He came home to us with decayed teeth. He had to be seen by the dentist every 2 months for the first year. His teeth are stained and you can see the brown decay on them. Luckily they are his baby teeth and they don't think the permanent teeth will be damaged.

I know that it's hard to break that habit, but you really have to. We have 5 kids....and never gave a bottle in the crib with any of our kids. You should feed her a full bottle at bedtime, and then put her to bed without it. It will be a hard adjustment, so maybe you should consider WHEN you do it. I'm not sure if she is ready yet for that change after coming home such a short time ago. What I did with Luca, after the first week, was give him a bottle with very little milk in it. Each night I decreased the amount. Then I put water instead....and then he wasn't interested and didn't want anything. He weaned very quickly. Also, he was eating a lot during the day and his hunger was satisfied then. You may need to start feeding her more during the day.

What I think is that your little girl is craving the bottle as a security thing. I would try to wean her slowly and DON"T GO BACK. Once you decide not to give her the bottle at bedtime, don't give up.

Your daughter should be sleeping through the night by now and there is no reason that she should be waking 3 times a night. You just have to break that habit.

Also, I don't think you should offer a pacifier, if you can help it. That's just another habit that you will have to break. If it helps with the weaning, I guess you could try it...but I'd try without the pacifier first.

Be patient, consistent and then you'll start getting some well deserved sleep. She'll be fine....

Good luck!!!!

[riverview]

ohmy gosh, that is us also..........help anyone!!!!!!!!!
so so tired.........

[maak]

I agree with Kelly's advise--get rid of the bottle in bed. It is not good for your baby!!! I had a very hard first month w my 9 month old who had bottle propping at night by her FM. Very restless sleep and I would get up to feed her 2 times sometimes 3 in the night. I was so tired but it got better and she eventually dropped the night feeding after 2 months and now is sleeping through the night since 11 months.
THIS WILL GET BETTER. I think it is part of adjustment to the big change in your little ones life. I think rocking and getting up to feed but with minimal stimulation and no playing, etc may work. Consider co sleeping. I don't think rice cereal has been shown to work but our dd needed less bottles when we started to give her puree meat and egg yolks and she gained some weight.
Good luck-this is really hard on everyones day time life and you can get so so tired!!!! REMEMBER IT WILL GET BETTER.

[Snook182]

Our Baby was the same way and our FM said No Pacifier Well......We Introduced the Pacifier and It has worked Perfectly.Our baby girl Just likes to suck when she sleeps and The Pacifier Is perfect for that.We only give it to her at Night so she does not have it all day, But works wonders at night.

[widgit]

We put our kids on pacifiers shortly after coming home and breaking the habit was not hard. They rejected the clear ones that are formed like the inside of a mouth and latched onto the ones that are yellow and shaped like the bottle nipple.

Our pediatrician did not have a problem with a bottle immediately before bed as long as she didn't sleep with it. Is your daughter finishing her bedtime bottle? If not, she may be waking up hungry. We had to fight to get our DD to finish her bottle without falling asleep, but a full belly helped her sleep.

And to answer your direct question. YES, a good part of this is transition. It will get better. I promise. Hang in there.

[DPline]

I would bet a lot of it is the transition, but I am also going to go a different direction and wonder if maybe it is more she is overtired and not able to stay asleep. Then wakes up and needs the bottle to suck to put herself back to sleep. When my daughter came home she was waking multiple times a night and wanted the bottle to suck, but the real issue was she was overtired. We went to a very early bedtime (5:30/6:00 PM for a couple nights, and then 6:00/6:30 PM going forward) and naps at 9:00 AM and 1:00 PM and it did wonders. She didn't/doesn't sleep well when she gets overtired. I was able to water down her bottle until it was just water so she could have that at night as she needed it.

Good luck!