When is the right time?

So Katie turned 1 in April. According to my oldest daughter (who's son turned 1 in October) babies should not have a bottle after their first birthday. Apparently the correct thing to do is throw out all their bottles at their birthday party and be done with it. Well it worked for her but I don't remember bottle breaking being that easy.

I helped a LOT with my adopted brother and sister, I was 12 when my parents adopted my little sister and I don't know 14 or so when they adopted my brother. I took care of them so much that people thought that they where mine. If I recall correctly breaking them off of the bottle was pure hell really. They cried for hours before they fell asleep.

Steven and Summer where 2 and 4 when I married their dad and even though they lived with me until they where 15 and 17 I was lucky and didnt have to bottle break or potty train either one of them.

Sara was pretty easy to bottle break well sort of. I went to military boot camp on her first birthday and my mother helped take care of her for my X. She was bottle broke when I got back and only had a bottle because I felt like I missed so much and encouraged her to take her bottle so that I could break her from it. Dumb I know but well I was young and wanted to be mommy, I was upset that my mother had done such a huge thing and I had not been a part of it.

Shelby was the hardest of my children. I wanted her to still be in her crib in my bed room. Her dad insisted that Shelby and her crib move into her sister's room. I reluctantly moved her but this in its self was a mistake. Summer had the choice she could have the smaller bed room to herself or take the bigger bedroom and choose either Sara or Shelby to share with. She chose to share with Shelby. Another mistake, Summer chose Shelby because Summer hates to sleep alone. So every night I would give Shelby a bottle, turn on Barney and leave the room. Shelby would lay down and go to bed. I had no idea that Summer was taking her out of the crib and putting Shelby in bed with her.

When bottle breaking time came Shelby first would stand up in her bed and yell "sissy come get me" when that wouldn't work (I was being strict and making Summer let Shelby start falling asleep alone) Shelby would cry and cry and cry. It was terrible, I honestly don't know how I ever got through it.

I really didn't let Katie lay down with a bottle until she was able to hold it on her own. For some reason until Katie I had no problem with people propping babies bottles, I know my brother and sister and Sara and Shelby had their bottles propped at daycare all the time. I worked at the day care where Shelby went and I know all the babies got their bottles propped at one point or another. I never really propped bottles in the baby bed though I was always worried that they would choke.

I read some where that propping bottles causes ear infections and cavities. So Katie never had her bottle propped and never had a bottle in bed with her until she could hold it herself. Maybe its just that I am not an 18 year old mother this time, but I was very against the whole propping bottles idea.

Now at 1 Katie seems quite happy to drink from a cup and would really rather have a cup than a bottle. I only really give her one when she is sleepy. I honestly think we could break her from the bottle easily except at bed time. I am so dreading it and recently read some one's blog where mom said she got 3 hours of sleep on day one of weaning I don't know if I can handle that at the moment. Things are crazy enough here with Stephen's job changing his hours every day and me leaving for annual training I don't see either of us managing on 3 hours of sleep.

The other thing I am stressing over is the baby crib. Summer and my daughter-n-law are both pregnant and still has a few months to go. I bought Summer a used but very nice baby bed when her son (Talan) was a baby. Summer still has that bed and plans to use it for her next baby. My daughter-n-law is having her first baby and needs a bed. I was thinking that by the time she has the baby Katie would be in a toddler bed but its only 4 or 5 months away and I am in no way ready to move Katie out of her crib or out of our room.

Katie don't sleep through the night as it is. If I moved her into the bedroom with Shelby now she would wake Shelby up during the night, so I am waiting until school is out so that Shelby can sleep in if Katie does wake her. If I put Katie into a toddler bed, holy cow the house would be destroid every moring. I could see every toy pulled out of the toy boxes and DVDs every where. I just can't bring my self to do it.

When is the right time to break them from the bottle and put them in a toddler bed? Geeeesshhh Shelby is 10 I don't remember when to do all this stuff.