Spinoff: Milk at bedtime

[justmeNmine]

This is mostly a question for bottle feeders, but I guess the same idea applies to bf too. Do you let yours have a bottle, or sippy cup at bedtime (or BFers, do you nurse them to sleep). The way I have done it with my two is to allow a bottle at bedtime until a year old and then when we have switched to sippy cups, I begin watering it down so they end up with a sippy of water. With my son, I did this until about 2 1/2 years old, when I began to think and talk about potty training. My 3 1/2 yo still has "one more little something to drink" before bedtime. I did it as a spinoff of the CIO thread because it is related to sleep behaviors at night.

[breezykc2]

We bottle-feed....no bottle at night, but when they started with leak proof sippy cups, we'd let him have a cup at night from about 15 months to 2 years.....we won't do this again with our next son....he got so attached that it was hard to break and with potty training fast approaching his last drink is before bed and then gives us a glass......

[Cheeseburger]

breastfeeding... and she does nurse right before she goes to sleep and usually at least once or twice at night... she is allowed to go to sleep while feeding if she wants, but, if she does not, then it's off to bed anyway, and she falls asleep there. She usually does fine falling asleep as long as she has recently nursed (not usually fussing for more than 3 minutes now.)

Also lately i've been feeding her solid right before she goes to bed so she sleeps a longer block of time before she wakes up for a night feeding LOL! She's 8 months.

[cjropher]

I never did only because I was nursing my first until he slept through the night (and he didn't nurse to sleep by that time anymore) and then a bit later he started getting ear infections and the dr. gave me a hard time about if I was giving him bottles in bed. I wasn't, but apparently, that can cause the ear infections. So I was very adamant after that that he never never got a bottle or cup in bed for any reason. Biggest problem was sitters who were used to doing that with other kids. Anyway, with my second, I just never did because I was nursing again, but then fears that he might get an ear infection. He never did though.

[kanaclark]

we let Bri take a sippy cup of water to bed (but that's about all he can drink anyway), gabe gets a bottle of water (a auqafina bottle refilled from the tap) and when patch wakes up during the night, I just prop him up as if I were feeding him awake, hold his bottle and we go off to sleep

[myjoyoverflows]

I nurse Maddy before bedtime. Sometimes she falls asleep and I carry her to bed, and sometimes she's just really out of it and I put her to bed...but yes, she does get nursed before bedtime.

[EmJo]

I think it's natural to nurse a baby to sleep. Sucking is their comfort mechanism, KWIM?

[Kensbev]

Breastfeeding a baby to sleep is God's gift to us, as far as I'm concerned, lol! Every night, I nurse Tory to sleep. She wakes up when I stand to put her in the crib, but once she's in, she smiles, rolls over and snuggles in for a night's sleep. With Audrey, I nursed her to sleep until she was weaned at 14 months (I weaned early because I got pregnant again, and it was really hurty to BF). Then, we just started putting her to bed, and she never had a problem with it.

With Tory, I plan to do the same thing, except I won't purposely get pregnant and have to wean early! :lol:

[MomFromCanada]

We also bottle fed. We switched to sippy cups and eliminated the bottle right after her first birthday. We used to give her a sippy cup of milk before bed (which we still do with a snack) but when someone mentioned to me about the sugar in milk on their teeth I got concerned. So now we give her a cup of milk, then get her to brush her teeth.

[justmeNmine]

I think it's natural to nurse a baby to sleep. Sucking is their comfort mechanism, KWIM?

I do KWYM, I think that's why I give a cup to my daughter still, for the comfort.