Will recently turned fifteen months old and, as an official toddler, is shedding many of the things that made him a baby. Most notably (beyond the speaking and running!), he has begun to make some natural transitions when it comes to sleep – and we’ve begun the process of forcing some other ones that will, in the end, be best for him. I wanted to share what the internet said about some of these transitions, plus what my pediatrician recommended at Will’s fifteen month appointment last week.

T H E  B O T T L E

What the Internet Says: Transition from a bottle between 12-18 months; the earlier the better. It’s important to do it because of teeth and palette issues – too long on a bottle, and it can affect baby’s mouth structure and cause more tooth decay due to prolonged interaction between the sugars in milk and teeth. You can drop the bottle suddenly (cold turkey) or transition over time; cold turkey is often fastest but hardest.

What the Pediatrician Says: Drop it cold turkey. Do it over a holiday so it can be consistent, and find another way to get milk. Try regular, non-breakable cups and sell it as exciting (“look at the big boy drinking out of his big boy cup!”). Feel free to offer milk at nap and bedtime, just not in a bottle. Prolonged negative effects are more pronounced as time wears on, so before 18 months is a must.

My Thoughts: I knew it was coming sooner rather than later – and we should have tried to drop it sooner. As it is, we’re in the flux of this right now. We made the mistake of not introducing milk in a sippy/straw cup alongside water and thus, Will only likes milk out of a bottle…or his ‘night-night’ as he calls it. It was only in the last month or so that he began to call milk this, and, I think, attach the bottle the idea of milk. I think if we had transitioned off the bottle sooner – say, right around twelve months – we’d be having better success right now. We’ve gotten a few ounces in him via a spill-proof cup (no spout or straw), but we’ve had to increase his yogurt intake to ensure he is getting enough calcium and protein. I’m hoping this is just more water under the bridge of challenges in a few weeks – and in the mean time, any advice from mamas whose babes associated milk just with bottles and struggled is welcome!

ADVERTISEMENT

image

T H E  S L E E P  S A C K  /  B L A N K E T

What the Internet Says: Blankets can be introduced around twelve months, but also, if advice is coming from a place that sells them, buy these sleep sacks forever!

What the Pediatrician Says: Blankets at 15 months is a great time to introduce them. Baby likely won’t ‘get’ it fully for a few weeks, but will learn quickly. This will support transition to a toddle bed in coming months.

My Thoughts: What about his poor cold feet?! I’ve been waiting for the day to give Will his Aden and Anais dream blanket – but I can’t get past the worry that he won’t keep himself covered with the blanket during the night, and as it’s coming on winter, he’ll get cold. I’m also concerned about ruining his currently good night sleep – won’t a new distraction lead to setback? Despite these concerns, we’ll probably give a blanket in coming days – he’s pretty much busting out of his sleep sacks as it is!

N I G H T  T I M E  O R D E R  O F  O P E R A T I O N S

What the Internet Says: Beginning when baby is 9-12 months old, slowly move the nighttime bottle earlier in the bedtime process so that baby doesn’t fall asleep on the bottle and develop an association of bottle/milk=sleep. Try bottle, bath, cuddles, crib.

What the Pediatrician Says: Try to not let baby fall asleep on the bottle. Now that the bottle is being stopped cold turkey, you’ll see if you need to adjust the order, but hopefully kiddo will use self-initiated tactics to help himself fall asleep naturally and by himself.

My Thoughts: Man, oh man. The first nights of no bottle were rough emotionally. We’d definitely NOT followed the internet’s advice to prevent a bottle/sleep association – Will had reliably fallen asleep with a bottle for naps and bedtime for a solid five months until we stopped the bottle cold turkey last week. We didn’t change anything about our routine – bath time, books, bed – but the missing bottle was pronounced! Lots of asking for ‘night night’ and clamors for more books. Eventually, Will has settled down despite a lack of bottle and gone to sleep pretty well. He is definitely going into his crib more awake than he was previously, but a stuffed lamb and lovey blanket are helping him, I think.

T W O  T O  O N E  N A P S

What the Internet Says: Somewhere between 12-24 months, baby will begin to fight a nap – usually the morning nap – and you’ll see signs that it’s time to transition to one nap per day. You can slowly transition in 15 minute increments. Be prepared for days when two naps are still needed and one nap isn’t very long. Eventually, it will work itself out.

What the Pediatrician Says: It’s bound to happen at some point. Try slowly moving naptime back. Don’t stress too much; baby will figure it out for himself when he’s ready. Follow cues for tiredness and as long as he’s getting between 10 and 14 hours of sleep every 24 hours, you’re great.

My Thoughts: Whew. For about three weeks now, Will has not actually slept for his SECOND nap of the day. In these three weeks, maybe three times has he slept for about 45 minutes. I was waiting for daycare to let me know it’s time to transition – but they haven’t and I’m beginning to think they’re reluctant to move to one nap because Will is the ‘oldest’ baby at daycare and they have a good schedule/rhythm. We’ve been trying one nap on our own, and it’s going ok – Will isn’t sleeping a good 2-3 hours yet in one long stretch- it’s typically only 90 minutes. I’m confident it will regulate soon – I mean, both the internet and Will’s doctor are telling me to trust the process!

.  .  .  .  .

What did baby to toddler transitions look like for you? Any advice for my milk-resistant kiddo?