Bedtime routine

Back in the day when Mr. Meh was nursing (which was less than 3 months ago), I'd nurse him after his bath and put him to bed, still half away but ready to roll over and sleep. I could actually tell whether he would fall asleep: If he was beginning to roll over onto his side as I was laying him down in his crib, I knew he'd fall asleep. If he would lay flat on this back and start kicking out his arms and legs, I knew that I crying/screaming would ensue.

Well, at some point during the day, my dad introduced the bottle to help Mr. Meh fall asleep. Then the few nights when I wasn't around to nurse Ivan to sleep, the night bottle was introduced.

So fast forward to the last three months: Mr. Meh is so addicted and used to his bottle that he can't go to sleep without it. He fusses and cries and screams. He has become a milk addict. If he wakes up during the night, or early in the morning, he gets his bottle and falls back asleep (he's usually awake around 6 am when we give him a bottle and he continues sleeping for another hour.) And it has to be the bottle. He won't drink milk from a sippy cup. I've tried 3 different kinds and introduced them at different milk drinking times - during the day, before nap, in the middle of the night, at the 6 am milk time,.....he always promptly rejects it and continues to scream until the bottle arrives.

Since he's almost 15 months now, it's apparently due time to:
a) get rid of the bottle and replace with a sippy cup;
b) stop going to bed with milk, but drink it before hand and then brush his teeth. Otherwise, he's teeth will rot and fall out, baby advice of du jour says today.

These are obviously two separate battles to fight. Over the last week or so, I've tried fighting them simultaneously, but without any luck.

He adamantly refuses to drink milk from a sippy cup. I've decided to introduce a moratorium on the sippy cup front. So fight A has been temporarily shelved. I'm fully focused on fight B.

Fight B: Changing the bedtime routine, ie trying to revert back to the nursing time routine -- have him drink his milk while he's cuddling with me, then lay him to bed still awake with the empty bottle. And then add brushing the teeth. He likes to brush his teeth and gladly brushes them in the morning and during bath time, so that's not the issue. (I actually have to fight to take the toothbrush away.)

The problem has been that since Mr. Meh has started walking (about a month ago) he's too busy to calm down and cuddle with me. I can barely put a diaper on him, before he wants to slide off the bed and run around the upstairs, make faces at this mirror, play with his toys, take his shoes around......It's impossible to have him calm down. I try to cuddle him and read to him, but it lasts half a second, before he's off running around again. (But as soon as I put him to bed with his bottle, he calms down and eventually falls asleep).

It's also been partially my fault, because sometimes when I come home from work, I'm too tired and exhausted to play with him too long, or try to calm him and cuddle him. After 1/2 hour I give up. Laying him down in his crib with his milk is easier. Also, I thought that was a way to do it -- put him to bed awake, so he doesn't get used to falling asleep on me, which would them make him dependent on me.

But this evening, a miracle happened. I put his jammies on and gave him his milk. And instead of scurrying off the bed, he picked up one of his books (A Bright Baby Book, first words), which we've looked at over the last few months, and proceeded to drink all of his milk while flipping throught the book. I was shocked and amazed. Still no cuddling with mommy (which I miss so much), but at least he was calm.

Then I put him to bed with his milk, brought the toothbrush and quickly brushed the teeth, and laid him to sleep. He cried for about 10 minutes or so and then silence....he fell asleep.

I hope that this is the beginning of this modified bedtime routine. If I succeded in this fight B, then at least I'll stave off some cavities.

Eventually I'll tackle Fight A -- getting rid of the bottle.