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

234 replies

Martha91 · 01/09/2016 16:03

I have a 1 year-old who (like many I'm sure) is an absolute nightmare with sleeping. Not often but occasionally I've popped a few small drops of brandy (he seems to quite like the taste(!)) to help him off. It was something my nan used to do to me.

I wondered if this was something others did and which alcohol they tended to use?

Thanks in advance!

OP posts:
MotherOfGlob · 01/09/2016 20:53

In the 70's my mum remembers her NDN's 2 yo asking for his 'grandy' in his bottle Shock

JasperDamerel · 01/09/2016 20:53

I used to, but dealing with his hangover the next morning was a nightmare, so he gave up alcohol and I now I get him to sleep by giving him a bottle of green smoothie, doing some yoga with him, and then meditating to clear his mind before bed. Sometimes we do some chanting, too.

elQuintoConyo · 01/09/2016 20:46

We gave DS Inedit beer (designed by Ferran Adrià) to be drunk with his baby rice and apple puree at 6mo.

I thought everyone did Confused

mrschatty · 01/09/2016 20:32

Argh!!!! Hope op has got the message now!!!

lifesalongsong · 01/09/2016 20:28

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

Really?

Waltermittythesequel · 01/09/2016 20:28

A nice chilled glass of pinot grigio or a merlot does the trick in this house.

Sometimes you can't beat a happy brownie.

But I'm here to tell you, nothing beats an oul swig of poitín.

Batteriesallgone · 01/09/2016 20:20

Oh come on Pacific you can't play sleep-deprivation bingo without coming across someone who tells you you need to sleep train your child because otherwise their brain won't develop properly .

PacificDogwod · 01/09/2016 20:16

i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2012/02/02/article-0-118CA052000005DC-829_306x732.jpg

I find it hard to believe that there are people out there who think that alcohol might be good for their baby.
Lets face it, usually when we are desperate for our baby to sleep it is for our benefit, not necessarily the baby's.

MrsDeVere · 01/09/2016 20:04

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

QOD · 01/09/2016 20:03

Omg!!! The sugar.

SeaEagleFeather · 01/09/2016 20:02

Agreed with Pictish the OP is being given an unfair kicking though.

Not everyone knows that alcohol is bad for babies / children! You lot might. But not everyone does, even now. At least Martha91 actually asked and will hopefully listen!

iklboo · 01/09/2016 19:55

Vodka & night nurse smoothies. That's the way forward.

Tutuloves · 01/09/2016 19:54

I have cried with laughter at some of these suggestions. The bong one still has been howling when I re read it.
My Nan used to put a bit of whisky in my bottle back in the 80s but I never would, I couldn't deal with the guilt...

bloodyteenagers · 01/09/2016 19:53

I would be suprised if I was sober as a baby.
Teething, not sleeping and teething where all treated with 3 different drinks. Oh and fever was treated with booze.
As a toddler on special occasions all the way through primary was given babycham or shandy, cos it's just pop really.

Would I do this to my own children? Would I fuck.

insancerre · 01/09/2016 19:46

Look
www.tanners-wines.co.uk/spirits/favourites/miniatures.html
They even make them in baby size

Boogers · 01/09/2016 19:46

As a child of the 70s I was one of the ones whose dummy was dipped in whisky and who had brandy rubbed on my teething gums. Explains a lot really.

I wouldn't do anything as barbaric as introduce spirits to a teething baby. Stick to merlot in the bedtime bottle, at least that way you're contributing to one of their 5 a day.

KittyKrap · 01/09/2016 19:44

My DM rubbed brandy on my gums as a baby. Guess what I drink now?!

MrsDeVere · 01/09/2016 19:42

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

PacificDogwod · 01/09/2016 19:34

Oh, and as an aside, Infacol in to bubbly instantly makes all bubbles disappear Sad - trufact.

PacificDogwod · 01/09/2016 19:32

There is more evidence on the effects of alcohol on the teenaged brain - I can see no reason why it would be less potentially damaging in babies.

Too smart to start - resources aimed at teenagers

More about the adolescent brain and ethical constraints

I think all of that justices a fairly horrified disbelief at the OP.

PacificDogwod · 01/09/2016 19:28

Ok. Feeding time at the zoo has been survived by all here - no alcohol was served! Grin

There are no studies because there is NO way to gain ethical approval for 'properly designed' (double-blind, controlled) study - for obvious reasons.

IMNHO, and with no scientific back-up, I agree that a one off small amount of alcohol is unlikely to cause longterm damage. Note the 'unlikely'. There IS more and more research in to Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and the short term and long term effects of unborn babies being exposed to alcohol in utero.
The upshot is that there is no safe limit - I don't see how that should suddenly change when fetus turns in to a baby just because it has been born - you could argue the opposite, without the barrier/filtration of the placenta a baby ingesting alcohol itself is at higher risk than if the mother drinks while pregnant.

The other aspect is a social one: if you do it once, and it works, well, then what?? Do you do it again? Or a bit more because it didn't work? Or will it be alternating swigs for parents and child?? What a lovely bonding activity... It normalises alcohol when really, as you said, pictish there is no need.

Some of us have experience of non-sleeping babies. There are plenty of other and safer ways to encourage a baby to sleep. And ultimately, they all do eventually, even if they cause sleep-deprivation in the parent first

insancerre · 01/09/2016 19:14

Doesn't prosseco and champagne give them wind?

All those bubbles in a bottle

What size teat do you need to avoid the wind?
Obviously, I only want the best for my baby, so that would be my alcohol of choice

Koan · 01/09/2016 19:13

HerRoyalFattyness What would everyone recommend for my 13 month old who had his jabs today?

I think in this case mix his drinks, for a faster relief. Best would be to select ones you've already introduced separately. This is NOT recommended on regular nights, you understand, but it should soothe him after the jabs today.

GabsAlot · 01/09/2016 18:56

didnt gripe water have alcohol in it?

anyway my dh used to rub some brandy on his kid gums for teething

he ddnt put it in the bottle mind

pieceofpurplesky · 01/09/2016 18:45

It used to be the case that brandy was rubbed on the gums when baby was teething. Then some clever person twigged and started making teething gel with alcohol ...

Personally I would use prosecco. Just a thimble full but as it doesn't keep I would have to finish the rest of the bottle Wink

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