How To Wean Your Two Year Old Off Nighttime Feeds

Hi there!

I’m Dana Obleman, creator of The Sleep Sense Program.

This week’s question is from Hailey, who says:

“Charlie George always wants a drink in the night and he goes mad if his pacifier falls out of his mouth. He’s going to be 2 in December. Please help me!”

This is another very common question. A lot of toddlers wake for bottles or pacifiers, in the night. The main thing you need to think about Hailey is when you put Charlie George to bed at night. You want to make sure that while he can have a bottle in his routine, once the bedtime routine is finished you are putting Charlie George in his crib without a bottle and without his pacifier.

I know a lot of sleep specialists have said that a soother is okay in the night but what a lot of babies and toddlers run into is that if the actual act of falling asleep is done with a soother in their mouths and they wake in the night with no soother, they usually need someone to come in and help make the journey back into sleep.

If you’re lucky, your toddler will be able to find his soother on his own in the night and get it back but most children, especially babies, cannot. So, my best advice to you is to teach Charlie George how to sleep without a soother and when you do your bedtime routine, put him in his crib with no soother.

Now, of course you’re going to go through a night or a few nights of protest, from Charlie George but follow the steps in the program where you stay in the room to be supportive, and he will learn a new way to fall asleep. Then, when he wakes in the night, he won’t be looking for his soother any more because he’ll already know what to do to get himself back to sleep! Similar with a bottle. If he’s waking for a bottle in the night, you want to make sure he’s not falling asleep with that bottle at bedtime and that he’s learning the skills for getting himself to sleep, right from the get-go. If he wakes in the night, I wouldn’t be giving him a bottle, especially if he is well over the age of 1. He’s going be 2 soon so I would suggest you just go into his room, tell him it’s still night and not offer a bottle.

I hope that helps, and thanks for your question Hailey! Sleep well.

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