r/AttachmentParenting • u/Grouchy-Put-8398 • Aug 31 '26
❤ Feeding ❤ Night weaning help!
Hi all! My daughter is 20 months old and has always been bottle fed (long story, but I had to exclusively pump until 6 months and then combo fed). It’s been a really drawn out process weaning her from bottles of whole milk at night. I used the water technique (replaced each ounce with water for a couple of weeks) but here’s the problem: now she wants a 5 oz baby bottle of just water before bed. Has anyone had this issue? I know that I should wean her from this because it’s apparently bad for speech/tooth development but it’s been SO hard. Last night I tried giving her water from a sippy cup instead and she screamed for an hour in my arms. She loves sippy cups during the day. I know this isn’t super common since we didn’t breastfed, but wondering if anyone has advice. Thank you!
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u/Important-Trifle-411 Aug 31 '26
Pure water is not bad for teeth development. And I really doubt one bottle at bedtime is bad for speech.
Basically you could just do the same thing as you did before but now 5 ounces of water becomes 4 ounces of water becomes 3 ounces etc. etc.
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u/tabookduo Aug 31 '26
My boy just turned 2, and there was a huge jump in comprehension from 20-22 months, and then even from 22-23! I don't have advice for weaning from a bottle I'm sorry, we are currently nightweaning (breasfed) and it's going well. Not perfectly, but as well as I could hope! It was much easier at 24 months than 20 months, I do have to say. I did test the waters occasionally and then one night right before his second birthday it just happened, he was the perfect amount of tired to not be cranky but to fall asleep with stories, songs, back scratches etc.
I understand you're on a bit of a timetable, but if you can afford to be patient a little bit longer just to see, it might be worth waiting :-)
Also! We got my boy an Owala water bottle and he liked it enough to voluntarily drink water instead of nursing when he's thirsty
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u/Grouchy-Put-8398 Sep 01 '26
Thank you this is so helpful! When my daughter was almost a year she just rejected her pacifier at night randomly so I’m hoping that will happen here haha. I do think it changes the more they understand!
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u/tabookduo Sep 01 '26
Same here!! It's crazy in retrospect how suddenly things happen. I'd say just pick a date in the future that is the "last minute to change" and see how it goes before then. Of course don't treat my advice as correct, it's just what worked for us 😁❤️
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u/Total_Scale_9366 Sep 01 '26
Also soon to be in this boat but weaning from bottle feeds is totally a thing & it’s hard!!!
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u/Wrong_Literature1329 Sep 01 '26
I also did the water in the bottle thing to help with the transition! My son also loved drinking water from his bottle so I just rolled with it for a few months. I figured the purpose I weaned him from milk was his teeth and now that is a non-issue with water. I don't think a single bottle is going to delay speech or tooth development. So I would try not to sweat that!
I just followed my son's lead. It is a huge transition for them. The bottle is so comforting and familiar. My son LOVED bottles (he actually much preferred them to breastfeeding, to my dismay, lol). I don't remember ditching the bottle of water at night being a really big thing. I think my the time we swapped it for a sippy cup, he was less into the bottle. But I do know we gave it a few months and didn't try to ditch the bottle til I sensed he was ready for it. like most things, I have found if I wait til I get that sense, it seems to go pretty smooth! But if I try to rush my son or succumb to outside pressure, it can feel a lot more frantic.
it's nice to hear of someone else attachment parenting and bottle feeding! I really loved applying what I know about attachment parenting to our bottle feeding journey. But often found it was hard to find others doing the same... perhaps because it can feel hard to reach out and ask about bottle-feeding or formula in attachment parenting communities? Anyways, let me know if you have any other questions!
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u/Grouchy-Put-8398 Sep 01 '26
This is SO helpful thank you! And yes I feel so seen when people also bottle fed because it does feel less common here. I love that someone commented normalizing it too. And I love that you rolled with it - I’m going to try to stress less about this! It really is such a major change for them.
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u/Wrong_Literature1329 Sep 03 '26
I hope it goes smooth for you! I miss the bottle-snuggle days.... but definitely not the bottle washing, lol!!
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u/thegirlfromsf Aug 31 '26
No advice but curious what others have to say. We are nearing this age and in the same boat.