Feeding to Sleep

[Dexy2020]

Just wondering if it's OK to continue to feed my little one to sleep at bedtime? He's just coming up to 6 months old and we've got a lovely routine in the evening of coming to his bedroom around 6:30, having a roll around the floor in nappy while daddy runs the bath, bath, dry, massage, dressed, into sleeping bag, bottle in darkened room into cot and sleep. Do babies grow out of wanting a bottle to sleep with or is it something you have to teach by stopping it? Thank you :D xx

[Lockdownseperation]

Teeth need to be brushed after bottle feeding.

[Footlooseandfancy]

We did till about 10/11 months when we did a bit of sleep training and knew we'd be ditching the bottles in a few weeks. Moved to bottle, teeth then bed. I found the gap between finishing the bottle and falling asleep took longer and longer so it was a sign to change that element of the routine.

[Foxinthechickencoop]

I wouldn’t, because
A) teeth need cleaning after bottle
B) it creates a sleep association

But to be honest, if they are sleeping through, then just enjoy it 😁

[airo]

I still feed to sleep but I'm breastfeeding, at 21 months. As far as I know re teeth, they need brushing after they have formula.

[Dexy2020]

Hehe we've got no teeth yet but I think they will be making an appearance soon, he generally wakes once anytime between 2-4am for a feed, hopefully once weaning comes on we will be getting a sleep through 🤞🤞🤞😂😂xx

[cosycatsocks]

Feeding to sleep is only a problem if its a problem for you. I feed to sleep at night1 but not in the day, and gradually ds stopped feeding to sleep at night too.

[Dexy2020]

@cosycatsocks we just feed to sleep at night aswell, occasionally be will fall asleep on me in the day with a bottle but not very often :) no problem for me I enjoy the sleepy cuddles at bedtime :) xx

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

Watching for advise on the how to's because it's a habit we're really struggling to get out of.

At the moment we brush ds's teeth before his bottle as he's dead to the world by the time he finishes it.

[Dexy2020]

@Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese aww how old is your little one? I'm also a bit unsure how we would do it without any upset which I would hope to avoid at bedtime xx

[Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese]

@Dexy2020 he's just turned a year, so really we should be weaning him off the bottle too now (we've cut it down, he's only on bedtime and morning now) and he has sippy cup things of squash and water during the day now.

For some reason when the children are with my parents and my inlaws overnight, he will have his bottle, have his teeth brushed and be put down in the travel cot for a story and sleep, but when dh and I try he just sits up and starts singing and clapping🤦‍♀️he's not unhappy, but just won't go to sleep for us.

[mindutopia]

Yes, it's absolutely fine. And no, I never brushed teeth after feeding. You feed them throughout the night. You can't wake them up and brush their teeth 3 times a night. The concerns about tooth decay have to do with having constant contact between food and teeth (think here: babies who are given a full bottle to have in the cot and suck on it for comfort throughout the night). But both of mine feed to sleep until between 12-14 months. Oldest one continued to have a cup of milk at bedtime until she was 4. Never had any tooth decay and when feeding to sleep was no longer necessary, they just transitioned to lying down and putting themselves to sleep.

[Dexy2020]

@mindutopia awww that's great to hear thank you very much for your reply 🥰
@Cheeseycheeseycheesecheese aww how typical he will do it for the parents 😂bless him!! X

[Harrysmummy246]

Ignore the sleep associations bs.

It's a normal thing for a baby to do

But yes, once teeth appear, formula is a risk for tooth decay at night.

However it's totally normal to need feeds at night until at least 1yo!