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

[Martha91]

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!

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.

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 .

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.

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

Really?

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

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

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.

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

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 :/

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.

Holy crap on a cracker.

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.

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

This will be on the wright stuff by Monday.

SeaEagleFeather

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

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.

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?

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

I think the OP is drowning her sorrows in

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?

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

Works every time.

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

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