12 month old refusing bottles
What people in these threads say
Four threads in r/Parenting come from parents of children around their first birthday and up to two and a half, and each is about a routine that suddenly stopped working. A parent of a 12-month-old says their daughter now spits out and plays with her bottles, takes only a couple of sips from a straw or sippy cup, and will only fall asleep while eating or lying on someone; put in the crib awake, she stands up and cries hard enough to vomit. A parent of a 2.5-year-old who used to settle alone after books and a cuddle says bedtime now takes about an hour and a half, with refusals to change or bathe and screaming if the parent leaves. A third parent is reworking a 13-month-old's schedule because night wakings are getting longer and wonders whether bedtime is too early. A fourth says their 13-month-old screams whenever he sees food being prepared, at home and in restaurants.
What parents have already tried is spelled out. The first family has tried patting, white noise, hand holding and talking softly, which they say only upset their daughter more, and putting milk into different cups. The toddler's parent says she has stayed consistent and not given in, but finds it a test of patience.
Replies mostly reframe the problem rather than offer a single fix. One commenter notes that a child that age does not strictly need cow's milk because the same nutrition can come from other foods. On bedtime, advice ranges from strict consistency, including letting a toddler cry for a few nights, to having no fixed bedtime at all for children not yet in school. Several parents share their own times, roughly 7 to 8 PM with a morning wake between about 6:30 and 8, and one suggests the real lever may be dropping from two naps to one rather than moving bedtime. For the food screaming, the practical answer is to hand over a small snack or one side dish while the meal is cooking or on the way, and commenters warn against disciplining what they see as normal behaviour.
The common gap is a way to tell a passing phase from a schedule that needs changing, based on the child's own naps, wake times and feeds, so parents are not left comparing other families' bedtimes one reply at a time.
“If they’re still on two naps maybe it’s time to drop to one rather than adjust bedtime.”
u/DameJudyDench on Reddit
“This is literally just developmentally normal for a 13 month old.”
u/TheDudette840 on Reddit
At a glance
This is a recurring parenting question: 4 separate Reddit threads asked a version of it between Oct 21, 2026 and Oct 25, 2026, in r/Parenting. It has appeared in the daily top list on 4 different days, peaking at #283. The threads keep coming back to the same themes: food, month, scream. That repetition is the signal — many people are hitting the same wall, so it's worth understanding before you post your own version.
How often does it come up?
| Date | Daily rank |
|---|---|
| Oct 21, 2026 | #489 |
| Oct 23, 2026 | #396 |
| Oct 24, 2026 | #283 |
| Oct 25, 2026 | #438 |
Where is it being discussed?
- r/Parenting: 13 Month Old Screams for Food
- r/Parenting: bedtime for 13 month old?
- r/Parenting: 2.5 year old refusing bedtime
- r/Parenting: 12 month old refusing bottles
What's a sensible first step?
General parenting checklist (not specific advice for this thread):
- Look for the pattern: when, where and with whom the behaviour happens.
- Check basics first: sleep, hunger, screen time, big changes at home or school.
- Stay calm and consistent; pick a few clear rules with predictable consequences.