At what age could your DC be put to bed by other people? (particularly if BF)

[Anone]

Just out of interest as DH thinks most DC can be put to bed by anyone (granny, grandad, aunt etc) from an early age.

I have a DD (5) who still settle to bed every night. DH can do it if he takes her away to his parents but if we are at home she always wants me to do bedtime. Neither Granny has ever tried to put her to bed but I think at 5 they would be able to but we've never left her overnight on her own with them.

DD (3) is still breastfed to sleep so obviously associates me with bed time (and on waking in the night requires me to settle her) I'm hoping to night wean her soon and will get DH to settle her to sleep though I'm sure it wont be without a lot of protest. She has always napped at nursery so I can't see why we can't get her off to sleep at night without breastfeeding but I guess we need to break the habit.

To those of you who breastfed, did you have to wean before you could get your DC to settle at night for anyone else.

I appreciate your stories

I brush teeth before bed and breastfeed after. Dentists have said breastfeeding causes teeth decay but do all bottlefed babies have their teeth brushed after their bottles. Don't they ever fall asleep on the bottle?

Mine always woke a few times in the night (youngest still does once or twice) and I don't brush teeth then. So far no sign of decay but maybe I'm lucky.

I can't remember tbh It's all very hazy! I think I must have brushed before feeding, they both have perfect strong teeth so it can't have done too much harm!

eastpoint this link here explains it all in detail but basically BFing after brushing teeth doesn't seem to have a negative impact on teeth because of the components of breastmilk (one of which is thought to actually fight the bacteria that cause decay) and because the milk doesn't "pool" in baby's mouth like drinks from a cup or bottle would do.

Since our DS moved into his own room at 6 months, DH and I have been taking it in turns to do bedtime. I broke the evening feed to sleep habit and it now works very well (unless he's teething as then nothing will make him go to sleep). I do sometimes feed to sleep for his daytime naps.

From birth, I breast fed but never 'breast fed to sleep' - ie: he would have a feed, then bath and straight to bed so DH could happily put him to bed, my mother babysat when he was about 10 days old and put him to bed. I never got into the milk before bed either so tooth brushing wasn't a problem after a drink.

Thank you all for answering.

I can't put DS to bed without feeding him. DP can. I don't remember him doing so much before 6 months, but he did manage to get him down a few times. Our bedtime routine is usually that DP does bath while I get ready for bed, and then I feed DS to sleep, but sometimes DP does both bath and bed, sometimes I do.

Dd turning 2, still bf to sleep if I'm there, but once every couple of weeks or more she will have an extra bottle and be put to bed fine by MrNC or aunt. Babysitter will be trying for 1st time this weekend.

Ds had a few nights without me while still bf - some fine, others refused to sleep so ended up on grandpa/sitters lap being subjected to a boring tv programme until he nodded off. Worse age 2 when bf not a factor but would wake and play merry hell - he was fine with sitters who played with him but then had to try to get him back into better sleep habits.

So all fine in the sense of child being happy from around 8 months, but didn't do it expecting ds to sleep well for much longer.

Grandma could only after I stopped bfing after 18 months, and that was only after a good few months of going to sleep without the boob.

Not until I stopped breastfeeding.

I always fed to sleep, so TBH I never even tried it. Just seemed so much easier to do it myself.

Once I stopped breastfeeding they were fine to be put to bed by DH. In fact, he took over bedtime once I decided to stop breastfeeding.

Someone else could have done it at a pinch, but reliably I think around 3 is when they would happily trot off to bed and demand stories of any visitors.

Dd1 was somewhere between 12 and 18 months she was still bf but we did bf then stories. Dp has been putting both dd1 and dd2 to bed since dd2 was 6months. She mostly self settles and I give her a breastfeed downstairs before hand.

Dd1 was just under 2 when we stopped the bedtime feed.

Ds1 (bf) about 12 weeks (never fed to sleep) ds2 (also bf) currently 13 weeks and my husband ha since or twice- with little success. Ds2 is a nightmare to get down, ds1 seemed to get it v quickly. They are all soooo different!

From birth.

But only bf for 6 weeks

Weaning wasn't key for us.

I fed DS1 till he was 3, never fed to sleep, and he settled for others from early on.

DS2 fed till just 4, and did feed to sleep and was generally more clingy. He would settle for DH if I was out well before we stopped feeding to sleep - maybe 18 months.

I'm still bf DD (11 mo). I missed bedtime when she was about 8.5mo as I was at a funeral and DH put her to bed no problems - he just gave her bedtime feed as expressed bm in the sippy cup (same one she has her daytime ebm in). However, I stopped feeding her to sleep ages ago (at about 5mo), and I think that makes a big difference. If I still fed her to sleep I'd be nervous about someone else putting her down.

So - I don't think it's stopping bf that's key, I think it's stopping bf to sleep...

15 months. She will go to bed for oh from 13 months and will go to sleep on my mum but won't be put down. Came home to find her happily asleep on the sofa last time. Still, she went to sleep so it counts!

From about 18mths, the still bfed bit would settle without a feed at bedtime by then, tho it varied with each child. Dd is 3 amd still prefers me to put her to bed, she so getting better tho.

From birth - we did it alternately. Never a problem, ever.