Do/have you ever put your DC to sleep with a bottle?

[elizabethkott]

I'm just interested if anyone ever puts their child down for a nap or bedtime with a bottle. A co-worker looked at me like I said I feed my baby bleach when I said I sometimes put J down for his nap with a bottle... and I had had no idea that this was considered "wrong".
Just curious!

[elliput]

I have always found this interesting. For many it is considered incorrect or "wrong" to put a baby to bed with a bottle, but yet we have no issue with nursing our babies to sleep. Essentially the same practice, but viewed entirely differently- why is that?

I voted "no", but then it occurred to me that I will let DD take a sippy cup with water to bed with her. I guess that could be considered a "yes".

[MarisaSF]

How old is your DS and what's in the bottle? My kids never took bottles, but at some point (maybe around age 1.5-2? around the time that she weaned), we started putting DD to bed/nap with a sippy cup of water. Sometimes her babysitters would put a sippy cup of milk in her bed too. I thought that was pretty gross as the milk would go bad even just during a nap.

[californiagirl]

The difference between nursing to sleep and having a bottle to sleep is that you have to actively suck to get milk when nursing; the milk doesn't pool in the baby's mouth. Also, it never goes bad in the container. (And in my case, although I nursed her to sleep, we didn't nurse side-lying, so she didn't get to keep the milk after she fell asleep.)

When DD was older we started letting her take a sippy cup of water to bed. But no, we never put her to bed with a bottle.

[Marisa6826]

I used to put Sophie down for a morning nap with a bottle of formula all the time. It easily bought me an additional two hours of sleep. ;)

Fortunately, I knew better than to get Mia into that habit.

It's been suggested that it can lead to ear infections in babies, since their eustacean tubes are much shorter than adults, and milk can pool easier, seeping back into their ears (icky, when you thing about it). And then there's the teeth issue. Water (or almost all water) isn't a problem. Milk or full octane juice isn't great. And, well, Jamesons and Macallan's, from what I understand, isn't allowed anymore. Cuervo is always a no go, because it affects their walking and scurvy is no longer a problem so they don't need the limes :P

-m

(and yes, I am KIDDING, please no flames or nasty emails about giving children alcohol in bottles) ;)

[elizabethkott]

He's 8 months, and we'll do it for naps. Only about 4oz of formula, and about 10 minutes after we put him down, the bottle is removed from the crib. It's usually empty. :)

[elizabethkott]

Bwahahahahahahahahahahaha!

I hear that Bailey's is still acceptable, as it *is* part dairy product.

:)

[SnuggleBuggles]

Couldn't put my boobs in the crib. :)

Now, I don't know which of these potential culprits is to blame for ds' first ear infection at 20 mos:
-I had just stopped nursing him
-he went to babysitting at the gym for the first time
-went to swim class
-went to bed with a sippy cup of water every night at this time

All could have caused it but we quickly took the water cup away, just in case!

Beth

[megs4413]

does your coworker brush her kids' teeth before a nap? i never thought anything of it. certainly brush the teeth at night, but nap time? people need to relax.

[MamaMolly]

I didn't vote because we arent 'there' yet. But I'm glad you posted this question because I have been playing with the idea giving DD abottle of water in the crib at naptime/bedtime.
Thanks for your insight, Mamas!
Molly