8 month old will not sleep unless she has a bottle in her mouth.

My baby is 8 months old and she can absolutely not fall asleep unless she has a bottle in her mouth. It's driving me insane. I'm so jealous of those people whose babies just sleep independently, or at least go to sleep just holding their Mom's finger, or getting their butt stroked or whatever.

I've tried so many times without the bottle, for both naps and bedtime. She will SCREAM and kick and scratch me, pull my hair, and try her hardest to get out of my arms. If I just put her in her crib, she will scream, and sit up, and pull herself up to stand. Nothing has worked. Of course her room is dark, white noise machine etc, so I've done all the usual sleep aids. We also have a bedtime routine that's always the same, and it hasn't changed anything. It's so frustrating. It's the same at night, she still has multiple wake ups, and won't go back to sleep unless there is a bottle in her mouth. Even holding her, or rocking and shushing doesn't work.

I'm at the end of my rope and I'm starting to worry what's gonna happen a few months from now, when we'll wean her off the bottle, and when she's too heavy to be put down asleep. Does anyone have advice? Is sleep training the answer? I'm def considering sleep training, but knowing how she acts when I put her down in the crib and walk away, and come back makes me almost sure Ferber won't work on her, so I guess it would be CIO which I'm a bit scared of. Unless anyone has other advice?

Thanks,

One defeated Mom.