Drink with Bedtime

I had the same problem with my little guy. I'll tell you that the sooner you get rid of the sugary drink - the better!!! My 4-yr-old has crowns on all 8 of his back teeth. I feel SO guilty for not changing this very bad habit sooner. When he started having dental problems, we went straight to water at bed time. At first it was difficult, but he soon learned it was water or nothing. I gradually put less and less water in the cup until he was down to a sip of water after he brushed his teeth for bed.

Hi J.,
we have this exact same issue and a little girl I watch her parents are going though the samething. I just got my 3 yr old daughter potty trained and was tyring to do the samething and hasn't worked so for now we are still taking rthe sippy cup to bed ( her choice of drink is strawberry milk). With my middle son he was about 4 when we were able to get rthe sippy cup away at bedtime so I think i'm gonna do the same with my daughter. we will eventually get it down. Hope this helps you W. mom of 4 and home child care provider.

I would suggest maybe switching from kool aid to Crystal light. It's much better for them. I do allow my kids to go to bed but only with water. Maybe slowly start adding bits of water and if he complains let him know that kool aid is all sold out and this is the next best thing. When I don't want my kids to have to many sweets I tell them were out. As far as the potty training. The best luck I have had with my 2 kids is really skipping the pullups and going to underwear. My daughter was potty trained at 18 mos and my son is only 20 mos and has been trained for almost 1 month now. They will of course have accidents but they will get to the point where they don't like peeing on themselves. I also take him to the bathroom 1st thing when he wakes up, after he eats breakfest befor and after snack before we leave the house, when we get home...usually it works out atleast twice an hour and if he has a drink I do it more often. Even if he doesn't go he gets use to going to the bathroom. I never had any luck with potty chairs either. They played on them to mich. So I got the lid that sits on the big toilet for them and they love it cause it makes them feel big. I also sing a song and dance around silly and give them high five for going they love that to and even sing it to me sometimes when I go. If the kids go to a daycare it also helps when they have the potty in the room. If not just make sure the teachers know what you would like for them to do. My kid's school class rooms all have their own bathroom and they take them often and encourage potty training. This is just advice from what I have done and what worked for my kids but all kids are different but maybe something will help. Main thing is to be consistent. It does get frustrating always cleaning their accidents up but it pays off in the end.

I'd switch to water immediately because the sugar does hurt his teeth. Then just put a small amount in a sippy cup to limit how much he gets a night. Sips are okay, gulps are not!

Focus on this issue first before you work in the overnight potty training -- that way he doesn't have to deal with two big events at once. You can do potty training for daytime, then when he's ready start working on the night-time training. Remember you don't have to conquer both day and night training at the same time.

Do pull-ups during the night-time process. Maybe reward with a sticker or quarter for every morning he has dry pull-ups?

Good Luck!

Oh I feel you! My daughter insisted on taking chocolate milk to bed with her EVERY night. My biggest fear was that she would try to drink it after it had sat for hours and that it would make her sick! We didn't solve it, but we comprimised. She gets to take a glass of water to bed with her, and nothing else. I'm happy knowing that the water is safe and healthy to drink, and she's happy that she gets to take it. Maybe someday we will get her off it entirely!

I did the same thing with my son and finally had to put my foot down about it. I worried about the damage to his teeth and bed-wetting at night, even though he was potty trained. I just explained to him that after his teeth gets brushed he can only have a sip of water. It wasn't easy and I had some long nights over it but about the 3rd night it was much easier for both of us. Remember if you give in, they will know if they try hard enough, they will get it.

Best of Luck!

I agree with Jill, you should only serve water in a cup at bedtime because the sugar in drinks staying on his teeth overnight repeatedly can cause decay. You'll just have to explain to him that once he brushes his teeth for the night he can have water for bed if he's thirsty so he doesn't hurt his teeth. He's young but if you explain over and over again he'll eventually get it. Just be firm, remember you are the mommy! I'm sure he'll get used to it quick, he'll probably have a few bad nights at first but then eventually he'll never remember he had kool-aid at bedtime! Good luck :) And with the potty training too--good luck--we're trying to get that done too! :)

J.:

Kool-Aid is not really the best drink to give to kids anyway, as it is mostly sugar (and if given at night after brushing, it will eat away at the teeth). That being said, try to take it down a notch and give him water before bed (eventually leading up to you giving him some water as a bedtime routine, but not letting him take it in his bed). Habits are had to break, so give it some time.

A. L

You really shouldn't do both transitions at once. I would suggest he gives up the cup first. Potty training is hard enough without him peeing in the bed.

You just have to be firm. No drinks after a certain time. If you can't do that then it must be only water.

I have two older children and a one year old. I let my older children (and will do the same with this one), go to bed only with water. After we seriously started potty training and didn't want any wetness during the night, I started explaining that if the pants and bed were dry in the morning, he could pick out what to have for breakfast, or any other treat, playtime at the park, etc. that I could use for encouragement, and soon they learned that drinking that close to bedtime meant accidents in the night time. Dont' know if this will help any, but that's what worked for me!

No offense meant here, but have you thought of giving your chld fruit juices instead of the kool-aid?? I only give my children 100% fruit juices and popsicles. There are so many other things in the Kool-Aid besides the sugar that aren't so good for little ones teeth. I don't mean to offend...I am just more of a whole foods person that the prepackaged junk they have on the market now a days.

I guess the only think I can think of is to make a rule of no snacks or drinks in the bedroom or pass the kitchen/dinning room. That is what I do with my kids. Sometimes I catch them tryin to bring candy or a drink to watch tv in their bedroom and the rule is no drinks or snacks unless they eat in the kitchen. The only drink allowed in the bedrooms is bottled water. If you kid drinks kool aid, that is full of sugar and he is probably addicted to sugar which if he doesnt ge his teeth brushed after drinking the kool aid he will start having caveties :( with is the same with the milk if they sleep with a body since milk has glucose (sugar).
I hope it help,
A.

Well...I have completely different advice. My daughters, 2 and 4, share a bed. Both take a sippy cup half filled with water to bed with them at night. I've been telling my oldest that if she wants to wear panties to bed at night, she has to give up the sippy cup so that she won't need to pee. There have been some nights that she has just taken a sip before bed and not taken her cup with her and there are still plenty of nights where she wants her cup because sissy has one. I'm making it her choice and letting her be in control. It is really no big deal to me to wait another year for her sister to be in the same boat, then I can crack down on both of them at the same time. Meanwhile, I'm not forcing the issue with the oldest. I tend to pick my battles carefully, and I just don't think this is a huge enough issue to enforce "no drinks in bed" yet.

I just broke my son of the exact same thing. I just told him he could get a drink of water before bed and once he got in bed that was it. It was really hard for like the first three days but now we don't have a problem with it. He just get a drink of water and then he is off to bed.

I only allow my kids to have water at bedtime, and even then I only put a small amount in there. I let them have a little because even I get thirsty in the middle of the night and have a cup of water by my bed