No More Sippy Cup for Bed

[winslowtribe]

Anyone have any tips on keeping a two year old in bed My 2 year old daughter is going without the sippy cup tonight and is having a very rough time she fell asleep at about 8:00pm and woke up at about 11:00pm wanting her sippy cup of milk, I offered her a drink of milk in a big girl cup to which she threw a fit about, but later agreed, it's now 1:30am and I'm exhausted and need to shower but she is still climbing out of bed. and nights prior even with a sippy cup is waking up two to three times a night for refills, she's a good eater so I don't think she's hungry it's more of a comfort thing, I know I have to keep up with it or it will just confuse her, but their has to be something??????

Tired Mom of Two

[sarahdennisscott]

I think you could let her have the sippy cup, but tell her that she can only have water.

Letting her have anything besides water after she brushes her teeth at night can cause cavaties and the milk could spoil and make her sick.

[gorgeousmom]

Give her a choice, sippy cup with water or no sippy cup. It may take some time, but she'll take the water just to have the cup. For comfort, you could give her something of yours to sleep with. Surely you have some small comfy that she would like. Tell her she has to sleep soundly and stay quiet in the night for her to get your precious item.

[KelEMcE]

my six year old still takes water to bed. she drinks the entire thing by morning, and has never had an accident in her bed, so I let her do it. I take a glass of water to bed with me! I just don't think it's a big deal if it's water. But if she's accustomed to milk, you will have to give it time before she's used to it, just like anything else in parenting - taking away the pacifier, the bottle, the breast, whatever!

My kids were out of the crib long before 2 (they were climbers) and my pediatrician told me to put a gate up the first night. After a few weeks, if they weren't trying to get out, then take it down, she said. If they come out, start putting it back up. Explain that if they stay in bed, no gate, but if they come out, gate goes back up. (I would make sure to take it down before I went to bed if you are concerned about them being "trapped" in their rooms all night.)

I never did it, because my kids stayed in bed and called for me when the woke up the next morning. But I did tell them that the gate was there, even going so far as to prop it up on the wall next to their rooms.

[Galikian]

It is a good idea to get rid of the sippy because even with water in it sippy cups cause tooth decay (I was told this by my child's doctors). With my daughter I took the lid of the sippy cup and threw it away but let her keep the bottom half of the sippy cup with water in it by her bed to drink whenever she wanted. At first she wasn't crazy about water but when she realized she wasn't getting anything else she learned to deal. I never tried the child gate thing but it sounds like a good idea. So long as your little one isn't the supreme climber that my little sister was, lol

[KelEMcE]

I was really unsure as to how water could cause tooth decay, so I asked my pediatrician and my pediatric dentist. Maybe someone with a health care background could weigh in here, but both of them said that water in a sippy at night cannot cause tooth decay. Both were adamant that DAYTIME sippy use above the age of two is a bad idea for speech development and motor skills, but said that nighttime sippies with water is fine. And both being moms, they said they give their young kids water in a sippy at night so that they aren't waking up the whole house having to change sheets from spilled water at night.

My kids are too old for sippies now, but had sippy cups of water in their cribs at age 1 and in their beds until age 3 when they switched to real cups at night. They never had anything but water in a sippy. They have perfectly healthy teeth, no decay, no problems.

[winslowtribe]

Wow that is a really good thing to know. I had no Idea that DAYTIME sippy use above the age of two is a bad idea for speech development and motor skills.

Good to know thanks for the info