Drop of alcohol to help him sleep? What do you use?

Op No No No please do not give the baby alcohol, yes it happened in the olden days but not now, a lot of people on here are taking the piss, but if you are young and gullable I would not like to see you try any of these things posted on here.

If serious, it's illegal. I don't know anything about the science, but stop it.

No, no ine sane does it anymore, k, OP? Years ago people didnt have the knowledge we have now.
If anything it is illegal to give your child alcohol at home till they reach 5 (no idea wtf happens at 5 that it makesnit OK).

Alehousewench (love your name)

To be perfectly blunt someone who doesn't realise that alcohol isn't good for babies shouldn't be having babies!!

Possibly not but they do, I personally think that when some kids are born there should be supportive intervention but resources are too stretched

Orange blossom tea is good for sleeping

Laughed and almost cried my way through this thread.

I had babies in the 80s and when firstborn was still tiny and developed colic we had some visiting family from Australia. To my horror one of them dipped his finger in his whisky / brandy / some spirit or other and let my DS suck his finger. I was too young / shocked / naive / polite to stop him, especially as my mum was in the room and didn't bat an eyelid or try to stop him either.

I've never forgotten it and felt terrible guilty that I allowed it to happen, but it just shows some people really did (and probably still do) think it's perfectly normal.

Not everyone knows that alcohol is bad for babies /children!

Really. Really?!

Just give him a space cake to munch on

A nice chilled bottle of desperado does the trick PLUS teaches about other cultures. Two birds one stone innit.

Btw, it depends on which Heinz jar they have.... A merlot with the beef ones or a crisp white with the chicken

Deletion or classics.... I can't decide!!!

Works every time.

You are all doing it wrong....methylated spirits is the way to go!

This sort of thread really isn't good for me. Ds is down to waking 3 times a night from about 10 a year or so ago but I'm still quite susceptible to quick fix ideas.

And if there's a boy in creation who looks more like he'd enjoy one of the oddly named real ales Dh has in the fridge I have yet to meet him... Hmmmmmmmmmm... In a bottle you say?

I think they're from Waitrose. Surely everything from Waitrose is ok?

I think the OP is drowning her sorrows in

Have you tried freezing an Ella's fruit pouch and mixing it with gin? Worked for me.

Is your baby not sleeping, OP?

I find that reading aloud to my DCs helps them sleep. The Daily Mail or research notes for the Wright Stuff tend to have the best effect, and I think you've probably got unfettered access to one of those?

AleHouse that's a bit harsh. None of us are perfect parents, none of us has got it spot on every time. If your mother gave you brandy/whisky and her mother before that it's a reasonable question to ask if it's still the done thing if you don't know any different. I think the OP has her answer, no need to be nasty about it.

SeaEagleFeather

To be perfectly blunt someone who doesn't realise that alcohol isn't good for babies shouldn't be having babies!!

This will be on the wright stuff by Monday.

Thanks koan I gave him vodka and a bit of whisky. He's out like a light now

I've never done this but can anyone taking the piss/expressing outrage explain to me what actual harm, as in physical or mental harm is likely to be caused by a few drops of brandy?

Quite a bit. Apart from being much smaller in volume than an adult, so a few drops isn't a small amount...Their kidneys can't deal with the changes in fluid balance it causes. Even a very small amount can kill.

So don't do that.

Holy crap on a cracker.

DH is a HCP and after DS was born, he was advised by so many older ladies he met through work to put a drop of whiskey in his bottle if we had any trouble with him sleeping or teething. It was obviously very common practice in Ireland in previous generations; and could IMO be an area worth looking at for anyone investigating our generally unhealthy attitude to drinking.
That being said, if I didn't have access to Calpol, Nurofen and teething gels when DS is having his frequent bad times with teething, and someone suggested alcohol, I would be grabbing that suggestion with both hands, so I can completely understand why mothers of previous generations would have done it.

Is pre-natel education so bad that people don't know that alcohol mustn't be given to babies? Really?

No, it's not.

but

1. some people do as their parents did
2. some people don't listen to the child-rearing advice too well. As a teacher friend put it, "it's the ones who desperately need the childrearing advice who won't take it"
3. there's a load of hysteria about even the tiniest of alcoholic drink in pregnancy. Unbalanced advice and absolute woman-controlling policing of anything a woman drinks by total strangers. That overegged attitude tends to turn some people off and sometimes they carry that "yeah they'll say anything" attitude over after the preg too :/