Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

DD seems to be only going down for a nap/bedtime with a bottle beforehand. It calms her. Sometimes she passes out in the middle, sometimes I still put her down sleepy but awake...but always after a bottle. Thismorning I gave her a bottle when she woke, but saved an ounze before naptime. It works, but am I screwing her up? She can still fall asleep on her own...

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

We gave DD a bottle before bed up until she was a year old. When we stopped doing it we had no problems. She goes into her crib and falls asleep without any issues.

On the weekends we still give her a bottle before her nap and usually she falls alseep drinking it but I know at daycare they don't do that.

The only issue is when they have teeth leaving the milk/formula on them overnight can cause issues.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

we give DS a bottle before bed at night. I never thought this was wrong. I know they say a baby should go to bed WITH a bottle, but before bed I don't see as a problem. especially for infants.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

T his was our routine until about 10 months. The only reason we stopped that was because DS was waking up gassy so we started giving the bottle earlier so he had time to get all his burps out before bed!

DS had no issues when we switched his routine so I don’t think you are “screwing” her up at all!

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

We still do this and Kyle is 15 months old-it was the same routine with my 4 year old when she was a baby too. Bath, bottle then bed.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Why would you think this was bad?

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Message edited 4/16/2009 11:52:23 AM.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

When they're older and have teeth it's really not a good idea, especially when they are on milk. Milk has sugars that can cause cavities on the teeth.
That being said my friend gave her DD a bottle before bed until she was 3 and her teeth are fine.
At our babies ages I say you do whatever it takes to get them sleeping and worry about bad habits later.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Maybe I should have rephrased...
Im not so concerned about the eating part before nap/bed, its the falling asleep during the bottle, or almost asleep that shes dependent on to be sleeping Im worried about. Does that make any sense?

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Don't worry about it! It's fine....I promise! That's how Lily fell asleep until she was about a year old...and she's a great sleeper.
If it works - got for it!

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

So funny b/c I was just speaking to my secretary about this 15 monutes ago! She said she did it until her DS was 16 months old. My DS is 14 months old and we still do it. It is part of a routine. Sometimes he doesn't drink all of it, but most times it calms him down. I don't when i should try to end this.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

at this age, don't worry about forming habits - just do what works.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Once DS cut his first tooth (close to a year), we stopped doing milk before bed. Every once in a while, we'll give him a sippy with water if he's thirsty. At DS's 8 month visit, the pediatrician told us to break the habit...but we waited a little bit.

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

My DD drains a bottle before bed!! Honestly, even before naps she likes an ounce or 2, i never could get her to take a binky..

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

Kaydyn always gets a bottle before bed. It's calms her down and fills her up for the night. She gets her pjs on, gets put in her playpen with a bottle and at 10pm she goes to bed, whether or not she is asleep already or has finished her bottle.

We know she can fall asleep on her own because there are times when she is awake when we put her in. And we don't give bottles right before her nap (but my MIL does during the week)

Re: Is bottle before sleeping that bad?

DS gets a bottle before bed, and most naps. Although I do think it's not the best for habits (it may or may not be a hard habit to break later on) and it's not the best for teeth, I think it's worse to put them in their crib with the bottle on their own. Then the milk/formula kinda pools in their mouths and sits on the teeth and possibly causing bottle rot.
For now if it's working, I'm not changing it!